Anybody with any experience in a newer model year Lucid Air Grand Touring? How do the interior and ride quality stack up against an S-Class? I'm currently in a S580e and contemplating going all-electric. The EQS really doesn't interest me, and it looks like it will be a few years until the "real" S gets an electric version.

 

I drove a couple of them, they are no comparison to an S Class. They don't ride as well, nowhere near as luxurious. If you want an EV that really is comparable to an S Class I woiuld highly recommend you drive a BMW i7.

 

Thanks. That was my suspicion. I'll drive one this weekend, but don't think it's going to do it for me.

I like everything about the i7 except that exterior.....I'll probably just stick with the hybrid s580e until the full electric versions are out in a few years.

 

What are you looking for in a sedan? Have you been driving strictly S-class cars for years? If so, am not sure how you'd feel about the Lucid. Personally, and for what I want in a daily, I'd go for a Lucid Air Grand Touring over a W223 ICE nowadays, but that's simply because the EV experience is much more important to me than the luxury feeling in a W223. Your W223 PHEV is probably a better option for you though. I feel it has the right balance except that the drivetrain in EV mode is not as fun to drive as a Lucid. It's a tough comparison and very hard to compare. I don't think that the Lucid and W223 have many things in common; they are different in many ways. As far as quality, Lucid's build quality has improved significantly over the years, I love the materials, the leather is great, the options that one would care about in a car mostly available in the Lucid, and certainly the drivetrain as an EV is superior. But again, the W223 brings luxury experience that is much different (better) than Lucid.

I don't think there is one right or wrong answer here... but I always rent a Lucid whenever I find it in the National Emerald/executive aisle, and over the past 2 years I have accumulated almost more than 1 month (probably 5-6 weeks at least) with this car.. you only can decide on what works best for you. I went with a product that most people would perceive as an inferior product, a Tesla Model S, over the S-class and I'd still choose this car over and over again. For what I want in a daily vehicle, it's the better car. For a family road trip hauler, assuming I want a sedan for that, the answer is probably different --> but that's where I think the Lucid has it all... luxury, spacious interior, range, great for family road trips. I never owned a Lucid though so I'd talk to Lucid owners and look for Lucid forums. I bet you'll find most of them coming from BMWs and Mbenz cars anyway, just like the Tesla S owners, so they have a better idea than most of us here as they owned both. Keep in mind that EV forum users are so biased to their EV experience, but that's mostly the case for most owners once they switch. You'll quickly love the drivetrain experience so much that will make it hard to switch back to ICE even for a better car.

I'd rent one for a few days and see how you feel about it. My guess is that you will like it, especially that you own a PHEV W223 now. I don't there there is a lot to lose unless you have one of a kind fully equipped W223, otherwise you will find the same options and even more in the Lucid. The ride isn't as soft as the W223 though, but still better than most cars around.

 

A sportier ride for sure, think sports sedan. Agree with the i7 being more like the 223, although I'd say its (i7) got better body control. The i7 has the quieter cabin, compared to the GT. Also better sorted in the infotainment department, although I like the operating concept Lucid is going for with the Air.

If you can live without them magic 500 number, the Touring has better rear seating thanks to a lower floor, and it's a fair but cheaper to get into, compared to the GT.

I've been eyeballing them myself, the very favorable18-month leases makes it fairly painless to sample EV life. It's also the only EV I'm interested in that has adequate range for my usage. Becomes a short list of one, for that reason.

 

I have yet to drive one, but did get a chance to sit in one and mess about for a bit. So this is not an ownership experience review, just some opinions:

1) This is not an S-class, especially a W222/C217. But it is a pretty cool car though.
2) The design on the inside and outside is pretty beautiful in my opinion. The interior materials chosen are a nice blend of "new/modern" without being tacky or boring like a Tesla interior. Very well designed and use of different textures
3) Cockpit layout feels very "nice" when sitting in the vehicle
4) Packaging of the car, specifically the rear seat and trunk, is amazing. I've never been in a car that had so much leg room and space in the back seat
5) Other design nuggets such as how the rear trunk opens and the width of the opening, are pretty neat
6) The windshield glass scares me for rock chips and cracks
7) The large 21" wheels may look nice, but leave very little rubber on the road and are prone to pothole damage (wheels and destroyed tires)
8) While their service centers are starting up, it's still a very small company with very small reach, and the potential to go bankrupt, so there's that...

Overall, I'd totally lease one if I needed a daily driver (home to work, and just plug it in at home)

 

If you're worried about range and time spent charging then Lucid is the clear answer. State of Charge got 463 miles (4.1 miles per kilowatt hour) and 319 kW charge speed. Nobody else even comes close.

 

That reminds me, think twice about getting the duper windshield. Owners are reporting 5k to fix dings, that's beyond what the insurance covers, something to do with the way it's installed. It also reportedly has more road noise, hurts your tunes, and can increase the heat loading substantially. Lot of people recommend a skip on it. I think the final straw for me, is that with the duper glass you also get the odd accents. I'm pretty much a buy loaded guy, but no chance I get the duper glass.

Another one to consider is the zoot driver assistance. I'd check that box because it does bring a lot, and they've been actively adding to it via OTA. On the other hand, they literally promise "possible" updates in the future. So in some respects you're paying for the possibility of a tentative maybe, but Godfather style, that day may never come.

Lucid has an owners' forum, which is reasonably active. Like Tesla, a lot of fanboyism, but also a great deal of information about the different options, and their worth. I'd consider perusing it, if you get serious.

 

Lucid Air is apparently great car (far better than any Tesla, even just from an engineering standpoint), but it’s definitely more of a BMW i5 competitor, in my opinion. However, I will say the Sapphire is a very nice preview of what Lucid could do with a more luxurious, high-performance car. A potential EQS/Future S-Class EV beater?

 

It's the engineering of the electric motor that makes it great. 900 volts and ridiculous amount of power for the size and weight. I'm an SUV guy so Gravity is on my short list. Just wish they'd make it more off-roady and less mini-vany. Oh well...

 

Drove a touring a couple of weeks ago. Was surprised to see how nice the interior felt. On the road while the handling was great, it didn't ride any better or wasn't any quieter than my E -Class and I think this is the biggest thing I noticed it didn't have that carved from granite feel that my car has. I'm a huge fan of the reported efficiency but when we pulled up the recent efficiency it wasn't all that great. The other thing is that it is only a little bigger than my E Class but felt bigger over all. Summary is I didn't walk away wanting one and actually prefer my E Class but maybe with more time with it I could be persuaded especially if I saw it demonstrate the big efficiency numbers.

 

Sport sedan is the right word here. The 2025 models are quieter and a bit more sorted.
Software and some features are spartan compared to the BMW or MB with less eye candy but they are pumping out software updates at a rapid pace. Something the Germans are still lacking.

Service right now are almost best in class, personal, friendly and customer-centric. Nice to see when they service the car at your house or bring you a loaner.

As stated, E-class on the outside, S-Class+ size inside. Storage is cavernous.
But even a Touring delivers E63s quarter-mile performance and EV acceleration is just fun. The sound system lacks some base but the Dolby Atmos tracks really make the cabin come alive.

Given the 18 months leases you get a lot of car for the money or more important reward good engineering and innovation.
Apart from questionable design choices I do like electric BMW’s but technically they are behind IMO.

 

Interesting that you mentioned the 2025's being quieter. The one I drove was likely not that new it was an owners vehicle at an EV event and your post reminded me that I think the motor whine died down on the highway but I certainly wouldn't want to live with the noise that it made when you accelerated it. The noise I was referring to in my previous post was wind / road noise.

 

I also found the motor whine annoying in the unit I drove

 

The motor whine has been addressed earlier this year with the 2025s (not sure if all 2024s also had that addressed, or only late production ones). This was discussed before in the forum. I rented older Lucids, and just recently a 2024 from National form their Charlotte airport location (they always have at least one available there). Whine wasn't that bad in earlier models (was still better than EQS), but was completely gone in the 2024. Well documented also in Lucid forums.

 

They've made real improvements between the first one I drove, and my most recent spin. The infotainment is snappier, way snappier. The first time I saw a misaligned trunk as I walked up to the car. I could see trim that didn't line up in the driver's side mirror. Lots of misaligned panel gaps. Think 1995 GM. This time, nothing jumped out at me. The motor whine was gone to my ears.

There is a lot of talk about them going under, and I'm going to leave the politics out of my comments on their current backing. I'd say that it would be good to keep in mind how long it took Tesla to stop the bleeding. That it was a long term investment, made fully in the knowledge that profitability was a long ways away. I think lastly, if it seems like the sunken costs might eventually get them to walk away, I'd remember what the big sell was: Just imagine you got in early, and own half of Tesla...

 

Magazine reviews of the Lucid constantly mention gobs of tire noise at highway speeds.

 

The 50 kW limitation on Tesla Superchargers sux though. I'd hate to have to rely solely on EA for fast charging. Worked out OK for Jordan on this road trip anyways:

 

That's a good point. That being said, I don't take many road trips that are outside of the GT range apart from a 750 mi drive from Boston to Michigan every summer with an overnight hotel stop (this is my primary reason for looking for something with the range of the GT). A good chunk of that trick is along the NY Thruway, and from what I've seen EA infrastructure seems fairly well built out at those rest stops.

 

I've heard that as well, which is definitely why I want to get in one. The silence of the S-class (especially when it's running on the battery) is one of my favorite parts of the car.

 

Motor whine in the EQS? Our Mercedes EQs (non-AMG and AMG) have zero motor whine even under full acceleration. We have and have had other EVs with motor sounds, the EQs are silent.

As far as the Lucid... I wouldn't consider it a real competitor to the S-Class. It's a great competitor to the Model S. The only thing the Lucid has going for it is rear seat legroom. No head room however, neither in the front.

If you're tall, I would heavily reconsider the Lucid. I'm too tall to see out of the windshield. My eyeline is right where the windshield transitions to the darker tint near the edges. I fit just fine in a Model S, S-Class, EQS, i7.

Lastly, it's hard to consider it a competitor when you can't even get air suspension, anti-roll stabilization, road-scanning, rear-wheel steering etc. It has a basic adaptive damper setup. That's it. Sorry but cars in this class NEED a sophisticated suspension.

The best S-Class electric competitors are the EQS and BMW i7. Nothing else really exists.

 

I think this is a subjective topic. Nobody can choose for you the right car, but personally, I wouldn't put the EQS even on a 2nd tier or alternative to the S-class (not even close). It's a completely different car (not as good as the S-class for sure, but not even an EV I'd consider). No wonder that Mbenz may completely kill that lineup ("EQS electric sedan will not survive into a second generation, according to Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius", source: caranddriver and Autocar). If someone wants a true replacement for the S-class, without any compromises, i7 is the only option, period. If someone wants an EV, and not overly concerned about the ultra luxury experience, am not sure if there are any better options than the Lucid and i7 in that case; I'd go for a Tesla if technology and practicality and range is priority, then but not the EQS. The technology isn't as good, no self-driving, mileage isn't as impressive as Lucid/Tesla, and at the same time the exterior styling is questionable to most Mbenz owners. Other than the typical great EV drivetrain experience, it brings nothing to the table compared to all other options.

 

Agree with all of this. The EQS is a non-starter for me. I've driven it multiple times and not at all interested.

 

Glad they're better where you live. Where I live there aren't any EA chargers and I haven't used a full 30 minutes of free charging since I bought my EQE SUV over a year and half ago. That incentive is truly useless for me. Cybertruck is 800V and it charges just fine on v3 chargers so really wish Lucid would address this problem. For now though, kind of makes not having a NACS port a non-issue as you'll probably want to use a CCS station anyways. NACS is much more of a deal breaker on 400V vehicles like, ahem, a 2025 EQE /EQS.

 

Super curious why you would say that.