Lucid hasn’t even launched its first car, the 1080-horsepower Air sedan, but it is already working on a sophomore album in the form of this sleek and refined electric SUV based on the same architecture. Not much is known about the SUV, not even a name, but we can guess that it’ll debut with the same dual-motor and floor-battery setup as its Air sibling.
Does that mean the Lucid SUV will have identical specs, as in 1,080 horsepower, 517 miles of estimated EPA range and a 112 kWh lithium battery pack? There’s no telling, but the heavier and less-aerodynamic SUV likely wouldn’t be able to match the smooth sedan’s range.
Based on these images, the SUV will be roughly the same size as the Air, which itself is about the same as a midsize German luxury sedan, be it 5 Series, A6 or E-Class. Imagine that: the Air sedan on stilts, with a full-height rear hatch rather than a trunk. It’s possible that Lucid will be able to squeeze a third row under that extended roof.
While the front of the SUV isn’t shown in full, it’s likely going to carry a very similar design element to the front as the sedan, cribbing the brushed metal front edge contrast. You can just barely make out the thin slitty headlamps along the leading edge of the hood in the image below. Because it’s an SUV, you can probably expect the front fascia to be a bit more brash and upright. That’s what sells these days, after all.
You can see the same exaggerated full-width heckblende tail lamp setup. This is one of my favorite design elements on the Air sedan, and it’ll carry over handsomely to the big two-box. In some of these shots you can make out the large black plastic cladding around the wheel openings that is traditional in today’s SUV market. I truly hope this is something that will be gone by the time the SUV makes it to showrooms in 2023. It won’t, but I can surely hope.
Another carryover from the Air’s design is the stainless upper roof panel linking the A-pillar to the D-pillar. It is this element, in and of itself, that makes the Lucid visually striking and unique. It’s almost something you’d expect from a French car.
I’m not quite sure of what you can fit in this low-profile factory accessory roof box, and if this SUV is as tall as it looks in the pictures, you’ll have a rough time reaching anything in there without a step ladder anyway. Maybe it’s for skis? Maybe it’s for several small briefcases of cash and/or illicit drugs?
Here’s hoping we’ll learn more about this promising design in the near future. Until then, just keep looking at these wide hips soaking in the last drops of evening sunlight. I truly despise SUVs on a deep personal level, but this one is designed so very well, from what we can see of it, that I almost can’t even find bad things to think or say about it.
I’d guess that the lower-tier versions of the Lucid SUV will head to market facing off against the Rivian R1S and Hummer EV SUVs. If pricing is anything like the Air, this thing will start around $85,000 for a 620 horsepower base model and blow up to the top spec models around $175,000. Might a pickup version be coming shortly thereafter? Honestly, they’d be silly not to at this point.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
