I had the opportunity to ride in a Lucid. I wanted to ride (not drive) so I could more easily play with buttons, etc.

Lucid - pros
No start button, no profile selection. Just get in and drive.
Always in regenerative mode.
Screen navigation is extremely intuitive.
500+ mile range.
Toll transponder works INSIDE of vehicle.

Lucid - cons
When backing out of a garage, you have to wait until the screen reverts to the forward camera before you can close the garage door.
If you are tall (6-3 +), the shading on the windshield hits you right in the middle of the road vision. I'm told you get used to it.
Doors lock as soon as you walk away from the vehicle. Not a good thing if it's parked in your garage.


Mercedes 580 - pros
Doors will not necessarily lock when walking away from vehicle. Nice when parked in your garage.
Built in direction navigation is excellent.
A bit smoother ride than Lucid.

Mercedes 580 - cons
Start button. Really? Then you have to select your profile. Then you have to select regenerative mode.
Mercedes screens are obtuse, hard to find options.
Hyper-screen looks good on M580, but passenger screen is seldom, if ever used.
300 mile range, on a good day.
Had to mount toll transponder on a front license plate that I don't need in Indiana.

Both vehicles have a mix of screens and hard buttons, unlike Tesla where everything is on a screen. Both have Apple Car Play. While not as fast as a Plaid, either have more than adequate acceleration.

I'm just speculating, but maybe Mercedes in there design approach, was looking to keep their customer base, where Lucid was starting with a clean slate.

We're both previous Tesla owners and our wives still drive X's. As high-end EV's go, both of these vehicles are far above what Tesla offers. However, I honestly have to say if I were doing it all over again, I'd probably go with Lucid.

 

You state that the range of an EQS is 300 miles on a good day. That’s far from the truth unless you drive like a maniac. Most of us get 400+ miles in the warm months and about 300 miles in bitter cold.

 

How about service after the sale? Lucid is still having fit and finish panel misalignment, units that unexpectedly brick on the road, AC that is minimal in hot weather and service centers understaffed that take long periods of time to fix any problems. I had a reservation on a Grand Touring and finally cancelled the week of a one year stall build date. Their “We won’t make the mistakes Tesla did” quote is still not working for them. I went with MB after already owning 3 for the simple reason I can depend on a 100 year old company to be there when I need them. Lucid is a great car to drive… when it works. Go and look at how many are on the used market just a few months after initial ownership.

 

Rather than talk about range, you should talk about efficiency. The lucid is extremely efficient and it has the same coefficient of drag without looking like a blob.
There is no reason to state the absolute max range of the Lucid Vs the absolute minimum range of the EQS. That makes you look extremely biased and thus negates anything else you say.
Lucid also has a massive frunk while the EQS doesn't have one at all.

The only thing I agree with on your lists is the start button. In the EVs it is unnecessary and in the EQS 580 the start button is poorly placed.
As for the profile, I have never selected a profile, it is automatically selected. I start the car and drive. That just sounds like you have not enabled the facial recognition and that's just a failure on your part not Mercedes.

 

My height is in my upper body and the steering wheel does not go up high enough for me to use facial recognition. I’ve tried lowering the seat but then I feel like I’m sitting in a hole. 😊

 

It's charging speed where Mercedes is lagging. A lowly and much cheaper Ioniq 5, EV6 or GV60 easily beats anything you can buy from Mercedes, no matter how much money you spend. And these guys got a Lucid to suck 304 kW out of a 350 kW EA charger:
https://insideevs.com/news/550025/lu...arging-review/

 

that is because they buy their 800v tech from VW group.

 

I'm intrigued by the Lucid technology, considered buying one. I, too, have been disappointed by the real world reports from early owners. Also, the nearest service center for me is either Houston or DFW.....either is a long drive for service. I'm very happy with my EQS, and have had no problems with range or charging speed. YMMV

 

I have to disagree that the Mercedes screens are set up where the options are hard to find. I will be 70 years old this next birthday and I spent less than 10 minutes when I first got my 580 SUV going through every screen and I can find anything within seconds and I am from the generation that came before computers and cell phones. I also use the voice commands 90% of the time.

 

Main downsides to Lucid
- Owned by Mohamed Bin Salman the Saudi monster who likes severed journalist heads.
- Start up company that may not be around in the next decade.
- Expensive.
Personally I wont buy a Tesla because the owner is a jackass. Why would I ever put a cent on a company owned by a murdering tyrant?

 

I agree 100%!!

 

Agreed with the comments above about Lucid and Tesla. I would not want to spend $150,000 on a Lucid, only to have it (maybe) become the Bricklin of the 2030's.

 

Ah... but to own a Bricklin today!!

 

Range of my "poor mans" EQS 450 is slightly better than the claimed 405 miles of my long gone '22 Tesla S Model, and the ride is heads better than the Tesla.

300 Miles in a EQS on interstate hwys ? Was it on a flat bed truck? IF you live on the eastern border of the USA, that might be possible with the outrageous speed limits there.

 

Out of spec got 344 mi on a EQS 450+ during their 70 mph test

Out of spec got 435 mi on a Lucid Grand Touring during their 70 mph test

Which makes the Lucid about 20% more efficient.

 

In fact, no. The Lucid battery is 6 kw larger (usable) and the EQS was on winter tires. The EQS had a 424 mile range on Edmunds loop. The Lucid was 505. Kyles result's are useful and informative but unfortunately, he doesn't have the resources to do apples to apples comparisons as the big guys do.
107/424 is .252
113/505 is .223
difference 12%
Its smaller and 700 lbs lighter, thus the better efficiency.
Lucids efficiency is similar to Teslas. The Lucid with the smaller battery, 92 kw, provides 400 miles of range.

 

I think I'll continue to sit on the sidelines until solid state batteries come to market. I hear Toyota
might be the first to market but I'd rather wait for German luxury. Imagine charging once a month? That's one way around the lack of charging infrastructure.

 

Toyota is trying to overcompensate with promises the fact that their first EVs are utterly non-competitive. The BZ4 is an unmitigated EV disaster. Japan, has utterly botched their EV roll out. Only Honda has smartly waited to till (hopefully) they have a competitive car may still save the day for the Japanese car industry. Korea has one upped them badly and is spending tens of billions to keep it that way.

 

Good point on the winter tires I had forgotten that.

Under the heading of apples to apples the Lucids are AWD so the appropriate comparison would be the EQS580.

On comparison methodology the EPA takes into account overall operation

From the EPA website:
Vehicle kWh/mile
EQS .36
Lucid GT 21 in wheels .28

Which is 27% better overall efficiency.

The EQS is a bigger heavier car so lets look at apples to apples on size. the EQE500 using Mercedes website range number (EPA site isn't posting it)

EQE500 90.6/260 0.35

 

Its no surprise that Lucid efficiency numbers mirror Teslas kw/kw since Lucids engineering team is mostly a bunch of ex Tesla engineers. LIke Tesla they use batteries instead of rectangular cells as other manufacturers do.
BTW The Lucid most akin to the 580 the air Touring the range estimate is 425. 0-60 is 3.4 VS 3.7 for the 580. Price is 124k to start.

 

The biggest reason I pulled my Lucid reservation was the software. It may have improved since last year, but saying the car can do Android Auto/Car Play, but in a future update...and having to wait 20 seconds from the time I get in the car until I can pull out of my garage was just not worth it, especially at that price point. It's a good looking car with a nice interior, but it wasn't ready for prime time.

 

For sure nothing is perfect. I am trading in my Lucid (and etron GT) for an EQS tomorrow. Told myself I should stay off forums until after purchase!

Lucid has got better but, like the Tesla’s when I had them, always felt like the entire car was in beta. I love the GT but reducing vehicles and my kid plays hockey!

if they had an SUV (shipping) I would have considered. The range is amazing though but I don’t drive that far that often.

 

You dont have to select your profile....the monitoring cameras recognize you almost instantly, most of the time.
Personally I like the start button. An extra layer of safety. Finally, I don't like one pedal drive as default. I only use it in big city driving, which is rare for me.

 

I got rid of my Dream Edition for an EQS 580, which I’ve been driving for about 3 months now. I took delivery of my Lucid in January of 2022, so I drove it for about 14 months. I really liked the Lucid but the software drove me nuts. Until they released version 2, it was brutal. However, slow software updates were only part of the reason I made the switch. I wanted CarPlay, which was not a huge part of the reason I switched but it was a factor. I was actually expecting it when I reserved the car, as there was no mention (early 2021) that it would be later on. Ironically, Lucid got CarPlay the day after I made the switch. Another thing that I didn’t like about the Lucid was the all glass roof. I have sensitive eyes and even with it tinted, it was tough. At least with the Mercedes, I have the option of somewhat covering it. I miss the strong regen, which took quite a bit of getting used to. I also have a Model S, so that’s what I was used to and the Lucid is incredibly strong. Once you get used to it though, it’s hard to go back from. I have the Hyperscreen in my 580, so imo, there’s no comparison between that and the Lucid. The Lucid displays were only ok. Other things I miss on the Lucid, the cameras that pop up when you put your blinker on, the 360 surround view, not having to start the car (the stupidest thing on the Mercedes) and auto lock on walk away. 3 months into it and both my wife (Model X) and I cannot get used to having to shut the thing off and lock it. We’ve been Tesla since early 2013, so the no on/off and auto lock is now deeply ingrained in us. Seems like the auto lock on the Mercedes could be done via a software update, so that’s a bit puzzling.

 

You don't have to shut off the car either. Simply lock it and it turns itself off after a brief interval..... Im always surprised about complaints that arise from user lack of info.