Motor Trend recently completed testing on the all-new Lucid Air Sapphire test mule in the quarter and half mile. The Sapphire beat the Plaid, completing the quarter mile in an unbelievable 9.2 seconds. The trap speed was 157.1-mph and quickly climbing. The Sapphire is slower to 60mph by a tenth of a second however after the initial 0-60 the Sapphire blows past the Plaid, ending the quarter mile 4.9mph faster than the Plaid, and rising. The horsepower advantage of the Sapphire is clear.
One of the fun things about getting numbers on a runway is that the Motor Trend team were able to run the half mile in 14.4 seconds at 187.3 mph. Absolutely insane time considering the cars in that speed bracket. Lucid promises the Sapphire will be capable of an 8-second quarter mile on a prepped surface. The Tesla Plaid gained less than a tenth of a second from going from concrete to a prepped surface. The Motor Trend team believes that the actual production Sapphire will be even quicker than the mule that they tested. The Motor Trend team compared the acceleration to jumping out of an airplane sideways.
Lucid is still refusing to acknowledge how much horsepower the new Lucid Air Sapphire makes with its triple electric motor setup. It is reported that each of the Lucid Air Sapphire's motors are capable of producing 670 hp individually. In the Air Dream Edition, two of the motors make a combined 1,111 hp. With those numbers, three should put the Sapphire at 1,667 hp. Lucid has guesstimated that the Lucid Air Sapphire will make between 1,200 and 1,500 horsepower. Motor Trend believes that anywhere between 1,300 to 1,500 is a safe bet. The production Sapphire's real numbers will be revealed later this summer. As the Motor Trend team put it: "the Tesla Plaid remains the king of the quarter mile for now".
