During the development of the Lucid Air, the company showed off a three-motor version that seemed capable of delivering very impressive performance. Judging by the new teaser, we’ll see a production version of that fast EV at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, on August 19.
A brief teaser animation shows three cylindrical objects turning and turning. These objects have similarities with the stator, which is the main component of an electric motor. To push the message even harder, the company included the statement: “Three is the magic number.”
Assuming these really are the three Air motors, then it could be a real contender against the Tesla Model S Plaid. In 2020, the company is shipping a tri-motor prototype around Laguna Seca and managed to set a lap time of 1 minute and 31.3 seconds. As a comparison, Plaid was able to do it in 1:30.3.
Lucid also shows off tri-motor prototype that covers the quarter mile in 9.245 seconds at 157.26 miles per hour. Although as a pre-production vehicle, we cannot confirm whether the version that will be sold is also capable of this acceleration.
When Lucid released all the details about the Air Dream Edition in 2020, it also provided some hints about the three-motor model. The company claims two motors on the rear axle capable of producing an outrageous 1,300 horsepower (969 kilowatts).. At the time, the automaker hoped to launch this vehicle by the end of 2021.
The most powerful version of Air so far is a Dream Edition Show which produces 1,111 hp (829 kW). Lucid no longer offers this trim level, so Grand Touring performance with 1,050 hp (783 kW) is the current top dog in the lineup. One of them is the fastest production vehicle at the Goodwood Festival of Speed hill climb 2022 with a time of 50.79 seconds.
In August, Lucid reduced its forecast for Air production by 2022 between 6,000 and 7,000 units. This is the second reduction so far this year after initially hoping to build 20,000 vehicles and then revising that number to between 12,000 and 14,000 cars. The automaker cited “tremendous supply chain and logistics challenges” as reasons for changing plans.
The Lucid Air Stealth Look package will also be on display during Monterey Car Week. For a discussion of them and other vehicles that made their premiere during the big auto show, check out the latest episode of Chatting About Cars broadcast:
