We’ve been talking a good bit about the upcoming Lucid Air battery/electron-powered vehicle, mostly because the company claims it’ll have a range of more than 805 km and, less mentioned, it appears to have 20 pop-up headlamps. One thing it isn’t, though, is an SUV, the biggest money-making segment of the American market. Perhaps because the executives enjoy acquiring money as well (perhaps to exchange for goods or services), Lucid is adapting: An SUV version of the Air has now been spotted testing.
These photos were taken and posted to Twitter by someone using an ID of Coast Redwoods:
I was just drive through Pescadero and came across a Lucid shoot. They blocked off the road with CHP for the Lucid Air & Lucid SUV
The pics aren’t that great but here they are. #LucidAir #lucid pic.twitter.com/9BzJq5h59S— Coast Redwoods (@mvahead) August 15, 2020
It appears that the car was being used for some manner of promotional shoot, and the poster mentions that California Highway Patrol had shut down that section of road, though that didn’t stop ol’ Coasty from zipping through it in his Tesla Model Y.
My iPhone 10 zoom isn’t clear enough to show how beautiful these Lucid cars are. I’d buy one now! pic.twitter.com/bJkB6Q9a4Z
— Coast Redwoods (@mvahead) August 15, 2020
While clearly based on the Air and keeping the Lucid design language, the SUV version is significantly different, with a much higher ride height, wagon-like roof, very upright rear, squared-off wheel arches and a taller, blunter hood with a shorter overhang.
You can compare the Air sedan and Air-SUV well in this shot:
I think it’s looking pretty good, with an unapologetic box-like shape to maximise interior room, but keeping a futuristic look, especially with the contrasting silver roof and lean, slit-like lighting.
Clearly, an SUV is the smart, safe choice for Lucid, and I think you could even argue that introducing the SUV before the sedan would make sense, too, though that’s unlikely to happen.
Assuming it’s based on the same basic platform and drivetrain as the Air, we could possibly see the SUV released not too long after the Air’s planned sale date sometime in the second quarter of next year.
Lucid’s CEO Peter Rawlinson has suggested that the SUV is likely to be released in 2023.
If that’s the case, then thanks to these pics you have plenty of time to decide whether you like it. That’s one less thing for you to worry about.