NEWARK — Luxury electric car maker Lucid Motors has won the prestigious 2022 MotorTrend Car of the Year award for Lucid Air, the first time in which the first car from a new automotive brand has been awarded the “Golden Calipers.”
“Earning this coveted distinction for Lucid Air, our very first car, is a resounding endorsement of our ability to deliver the most advanced electric vehicles in the world,” said Peter Rawlinson, CEO/CTO, Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID). “Our objective of achieving range through efficiency and technical innovation is crystallized in Lucid Air, and we’re elated that this effort has been recognized by MotorTrend against such formidable competition from well-established automakers.”
Lucid Motors designs its vehicles in Silicon Valley and manufactures them at its factory in Casa Grande, AZ.
On December 3, Lucid Group received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) requesting the production of certain documents related to an investigation by the SEC. The investigation appears to concern the business combination between the Company (f/k/a Churchill Capital Corp. IV) and Atieva, Inc. and certain projections and statements. The Company says it is cooperating fully with the SEC in its review.
Lucid went public on July 26, 2021 with a SPAC merger with Churchill Capital Corp.
MotorTrend Car of the Year judges evaluated six key criteria for Car of the Year, with Lucid Air excelling at each: efficiency, value, advancement in design, engineering excellence, safety, and performance of the intended function. The Lucid Air was evaluated side by side with 24 highly-regarded vehicles, coming out on top against finalists that included the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Mercedes-Benz EQS, Porsche Taycan, Honda Civic, and many more.
“With the longest driving range of any electric vehicle on the market, an EPA estimated 520 miles, and over 1,100 horsepower available, the Lucid Air is a technological tour de force,” said MotorTrend Group Head of Editorial, Ed Loh. “The sleek futuristic Lucid Air sedan looks like nothing else on the road, while its gorgeous, smartly-packaged interior sets the standard for the next generation of luxury cars. Against our award’s criteria, there could be no doubt—the Lucid Air is MotorTrend’s 2022 Car of the Year.”
Lucid recently started customer deliveries of Lucid Air, an EV with a revolutionary approach to automotive layout and engineering packaging that capitalizes on the miniaturization of Lucid’s in-house developed EV powertrain and battery pack. The result is a large and luxurious interior cabin within a beautiful, streamlined exterior design along with a relatively compact footprint.
The optimization of efficiency is exemplified across the Lucid Air model lineup, which includes the longest-range electric vehicle ever rated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—the Lucid Air Dream Edition Range. Lucid recently announced that with a 118kWh battery pack, it delivers 4.4 miles per kWh when equipped with 19″ wheels, a mark surpassed only by another version of Lucid Air, the Grand Touring, which features a 112kWh battery pack and achieves 4.6 miles per kWh. The Dream Edition Performance model offers 1,111 horsepower, and Lucid’s testing indicates a 0-60 mph time of just 2.42 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 9.67 seconds (with the 21″ wheels and tire package)—while still capable of an EPA-estimated 471 miles of range (with the 19″ wheel and tire package).
The Lucid Air pricing starts at $77,400 with the base model and up to $139,000 with more features.
