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Review of Lucid Air GT and EQS AMG by EQS580 Owner
I've had a couple of interesting days. I was in Arizona, and got the opportunity to test drive the Lucid Air Grand Touring. Then I got back today, and my local dealer invited me in to test drive an EQS AMG. Thought I'd share my impressions of each car.
EQS AMG
Excellent handling. The car has a good balance between flat handling and ride quality. Definitely a much smoother ride than an E63, but it did handle bumps in the road in comfort mode quite well and the ride quality felt good. My sense is most people who like to drive fast will like the suspension calibration here more than in the 580, however for my purposes, the 580 may fit better since I do a lot of city driving on broken roads.
Brake pedal feel is normal in every mode. This car did not have the weird brake pedal feel of the regular EQS in regeneration mode. The pedal always felt the same regardless of mode. I suspect the pedal doesn't move during regen, but I did not check that. I love how the brakes feel on this car. It's outstanding. The car had the Carbon Ceramic Brakes.
I like the AMG mode control on the steering wheel. This is kind of obvious, but having the wheel on the steering wheel to switch between modes is so much more intuitive than having to take your eyes of the wheel to use the touch panel in the center console. I wish they had steering wheel mode control on all models.
The range tradeoff seems not worth it. Range on the AMG is 277 miles vs 340 on the 580. The range on the EQS tab said 314 at 80% but I suspect it is not accurate as this car is new and so it may not have adjusted to real driving pattern.
Car definitely feels faster than the 580 but the difference is subtle - the real differentiator is the handling. This car is apparently half a second quicker to 60 than the 580. It does feel faster, particularly in higher speed acceleration. However the difference is subtle - not big enough to be a differentiator for me. The suspension calibration, and the more sensitive calibration of the throttle pedal are what really makes it seem more sporty, rather than the horsepower.
Interior seems substandard for a $160k car. The interior is good, but it doesn't have diamond stitching, it has areas of grain embossed plastic instead of leather. It is a bit disappointing at $160k. I do think the Manufaktur interior on the 580 seems nicer. BTW the dealer has a $100k ADM on this car so it's really $260k. Definitely not a $260k interior.
The AR HUD is absolutely amazing. I tested out the AR HUD and was blown away by how easy it makes navigation. IMO this is a must have feature. I am glad I ordered my 580 with this.
The car looks stunning. The AMG grill is definitely better, and the 22" wheels look aggressive. But the biggest thing is that the matte gray paint combined with the night package trim gives the car a bold look which makes the car look very special. People who don't like the look of the EQS won't have issues with this one.
Lucid Air GT
Overall I found this car to be disappointing for the price. It is $139k with a price increase coming to $156k. I will be cancelling my order. Here are my impressions: Strengths:
Suspension is very well calibrated. It offer a great balance of handling and comfort. Not as smooth as the EQS580, but smoother than most luxury cars. At the same time it handles very well.
Packaging is outstanding. The packaging of the car (how they use space) is brilliant. The way they fit a good size trunk by using vortexes behind the bumper to streamline space for the air intake. The deep sub floor storage in the trunk. The amount of interior room for an E Class size car is closer to EQS than EQE.
Interior is vastly better than Tesla but feels a little cheaper than a Mercedes, despite using better materials. The interior of the lucid is very good in terms of material quality. It is mostly leather and fabric. You don't have as much of the grain embossed soft touch plastic that you see in Mercedes. It also has a leather airbag. But nonetheless it feels cheaper. I think it is because of the design which is a bit too minimalistic, the lack of French-seam stitching, particularly on the doors and dash. And also the speaker grills are plastic instead of metal.The car does not feel like it has a $140k car interior.
Things I found unsatisfactory:
Steering is okay, but prefer the EQS steering on both AMG and non AMG models.
It is supposed to have 0-60 in 3 seconds. It didn't feel any quicker than my EQS580. Part of this is that it lacks launch control.
Handling not at level of Porsche which I think they need it to be if it is a performance model. I took a corner very fast, and it felt a little wobble. Not what you want to feel. TBH I think the regular EQS has the same thing because of the soft suspension, but I expected more based on the press reviews of the Lucid.
Interior does not feel nice enough for the price (as detailed above)
Lacks important features. When you can buy an EQS with AR HUD, CarPlay, Hyperscreen, etc. for less money, you feel like this car is not fully featured enough for its price point.
Rear seat is very low, and front seat is too low to put your foot under the front seat. Even though it has as much leg room as the EQS, it feels less comfortable sitting in the rear. It feels like sitting on a cushion on the floor. The only way to do it comfortable is to sit cross legged. They did this to optimize headroom. I think they would have been better off doing less headroom and a higher seat cushion like in the EQS.
I bumped my head on the header when getting in. The car has too low a roofline.
Last edited by stealth.pilot; May 15, 2022 at 09:41 AM.
Nice little write up, thanks for spending time trying out these different beasts and sharing your opinion. I agree that 580 is the way to go, with S-Class cars comfort is the overall goal, and the only reason in the past to get the AMG was the thunderous engine as handling in an S-Class always takes a backseat. With the 580, you're practically getting close to AMG speeds if not faster response times thanks to the electric motors, so to me the AMG-EQS would not be worth the upgrade or loss in range as I'm not too interested in sportier handling or noises in this class of car, although would like to see the AMG brake tuning make its way to the normal cars.
As for the Lucid, I love the design inside and out, but am turned off by the idea of a new car company. I'm very interested to see what lies in their future as from all the videos I've seen and what I've heard from some high-level journalisst, the people working their are great and really looking to set out and make great cars.
Anyone should be turned off by the fact that Lucid is owned by a murdering tyrant. Mohammed Bin Salman. The Saudi prince that odered the beheading and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Kashoggi.
@stealth.pilot that AMG EQS paint job on the showroom floor looks more stunning in person. But $260K can buy a brand new starter home in New Mexico with Solar Panels! Was just in Duluth on Friday talking to Bo Planin who sold me my AMG Wagon about a year ago. Was killing time waiting for a College buddy who works at Nuke Plant in Augusta. We had dinner plans at nearby Pappadeaux.
@stealth.pilot that AMG EQS paint job on the showroom floor looks more stunning in person. But $260K can buy a brand new starter home in New Mexico with Solar Panels! Was just in Duluth on Friday talking to Bo Planin who sold me my AMG Wagon about a year ago. Was killing time waiting for a College buddy who works at Nuke Plant in Augusta. We had dinner plans at nearby Pappadeaux.
As for the Lucid, I love the design inside and out, but am turned off by the idea of a new car company. I'm very interested to see what lies in their future as from all the videos I've seen and what I've heard from some high-level journalisst, the people working their are great and really looking to set out and make great cars.
The new history of Lucid is actually helping early adopters since their delivery number is still limited, almost every customer has had really good experience with the delivery orientation and subsequent service. I'd say head and shoulder above what I had from the MB local guy.
Anyone should be turned off by the fact that Lucid is owned by a murdering tyrant. Mohammed Bin Salman. The Saudi prince that odered the beheading and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Kashoggi.
This is completely irrelevant when discussing the pros/cons of the car, unless in the off-topic section.
MB has over 25% of Chinese & Kuwaiti share owners. This is not relevant when discussing the EQS either.
Thank you for the comparison. Am still on the fence given that the next Lucid dealer is over 400 miles away and the promise of mobile service is lukewarm.
The price increase is not impacting people currently on the list and I find the price point compelling for what Lucid offers.
Mercedes struggles with the cost/margins of the EQ models and asking frankly asking for too much for too little on the AMG model IMO.
This is 63 model pricing…
Thank you for the comparison. Am still on the fence given that the next Lucid dealer is over 400 miles away and the promise of mobile service is lukewarm.
The price increase is not impacting people currently on the list and I find the price point compelling for what Lucid offers.
Mercedes struggles with the cost/margins of the EQ models and asking frankly asking for too much for too little on the AMG model IMO.
This is 63 model pricing…
I agree the price point is compelling for the Air Touring. At $95k you get a car which has similar size, price and driving dynamics to an EQE 53, with interior space almost similar to the EQS.
My review was aimed at the Air GT. I have a GT reservation and I recently got an email asking me to confirm the order to avoid the upcoming price increase to $156k.
The new history of Lucid is actually helping early adopters since their delivery number is still limited, almost every customer has had really good experience with the delivery orientation and subsequent service. I'd say head and shoulder above what I had from the MB local guy.
When I say new company, I mainly mean from a servicing and parts availability/issues standpoint. I’m spoiled with an MB dealer 10 minutes from my house and friends with the GM, so servicing and loaners are never an issue for me. Closest Lucid store is in Virginia and a bit weary of mobile-service. I’m not exactly in the market for EV’s yet either since I still take quite a bit of long trips in the S-Class for work, so maybe in the future I’ll be in one.
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