Road Test: The Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance

Yahoo Finance automotive reporter Pras Subramanian joins the Live show to his recent test of the Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: Well, Ford was a mover today, closing up just over 1% after announcing a billion-dollar investment in a Canadian EV manufacturing hub, part of that transition process here to EVs. Pras Subramanian has been tracking this story for us. And, Pras, we know Ford clearly wants to be a massive competitor within the EV market, take on Tesla. How significant is this?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You know, it's a pretty big investment-- 1.3 billion US there in an existing Ford plant they have there in Canada. Right now, they would transition that into an EV hub, battery hub-- production to begin in 2025 as they, sort of, ramp up to 2 million EVs by 2026.

But, you know, I think it's a really smart move by Ford. This is an existing plant that builds the Ford Edge and the Lincoln Nautilus. They're going to retool it. It's going to be basically plug and play. They're not building a new factory or creating new ground, so this is a cost-effective way to do this.

And then-- and then we talk about the fact that this-- the Canada factor is a way to leverage the IRA effects, the IRA benefits, right, the tax benefits for both producers to make these cars and batteries but also consumers, who then are the end user, and they buy these cars they get that tax rate. So it's all a win-win here for Ford with this new EV plan.

SEANA SMITH: All right. Well, Pas, switching gears here just a bit, because I know you got to test out the Lucid Air, which looks very, very cool. I know it costs just a little bit of money. But give us your review. Does it live up to all the hype?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You know, I have to tell you, Seana, it really does. This is the Lucid Air Grand Touring edition, starts at $138,000, OK, but hey, a lot there. You get a lot for that design wise. So, like I said, I keep saying this is alien technology. It looks so out there, unlike any other car out there in the market.

Super cool. Super low. Super wide. Interior wise, very minimalist, but also very luxurious. Extremely huge greenhouse there. Floating visors that kind of stick in the glass. It's really kind of a strange look. But I think it's a fantastic interior, very comfortable, and also very intuitive.

The drive, though, let me tell you-- this car is 1,000 horsepower-- 1,000 horsepower, dual motor, but also 560 miles of range, which is kind of a big deal from a-- this is the biggest car, the biggest range in terms of any car in the market right now for EV. So it drives great. Very stable. Also can kind of ride over potholes and ruts and stuff like that because of the air suspension.

And then when you get in the sporty mode, it can be very taut, very smooth. I mean, 1,000 horsepower, I can't explain to you what that's like. But it was pretty amazing. I think it's an impressive, impressive technological car. I will say, a lot of competition-- the Tesla Model S, Porsche Taycan, Mercedes AMG, the EQS. Very competitive space, but the Lucid is its own thing.

SEANA SMITH: Yeah. I was going to say, how do you-- how does this stack up to Tesla there and their offering within that category? Because the base price is significantly lower than the model that you were testing out, right?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Correct, yeah. So the Model S just got cut to $87,000. Guess what, the Lucid Air Pure edition is around that same price as well. So they're competing there at that entry level of the extreme luxury SEV sedan. But yeah, the Model S is definitely its direct competitor. That's what Lucid's going after. And I think they're very evenly matched.