Lucid’s under-$80,000 base Air Pure EV is now available to order

Lucid is finally ready to ship a lower-end offering for customers who are interested in the automaker’s electric Air sedan. The new Lucid Air Pure RWD brings the line’s starting price down to $77,400 — the entry price announced by the automaker in 2020 — with 410 miles of range on a single charge when equipped with 19-inch wheels.

With a single, rear-wheel motor, the Lucid Air Pure saves customers $5,000 by eschewing the dual motors in the Air Pure AWD, which was Lucid’s lowest-cost offering at $82,400 since they cut prices in August.

The Pure RWD outputs 430 horsepower and accelerates from 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds, compared to 480 horsepower and 3.8 seconds 0-60 mph for the AWD version — but with no loss in range. Lucid does mention that the EPA officially estimates the RWD at a slightly higher 419-mile range, but the automaker seems to lean on its own lower calculation.

Lucid says the new RWD model “completes” the Air lineup, which includes the Touring, Grand Touring, Grand Touring Performance, and the ridiculously expensive Sapphire, which costs $249,000. For the top end, you get 1,234 horsepower with 1.89 seconds 0-60 mph acceleration and a 427-mile range.

The Air Pure RWD contains a new, smaller battery pack unique to the model and gives rear-seat occupants more legroom. Lucid spokesperson Emma Lattanzio said in an email that the Lucid Air Pure RWD supports 250kW DC fast-charging speeds and is equipped with an 88 kWh (16 module) battery. Air Pure RWD can add up to 150 miles of range in less than 12 minutes at compatible charging stations.

Lucid is one of the few remaining holdouts over Tesla’s EV charging connector, also known as the North American Charging Standard (NACS). Ten other automakers, including most recently Hyundai, are on board with NACS and will get Tesla Supercharger access starting as early as next year. Lucid owners will, for now, have to hope other charging networks catch up to Tesla’s reliability. (It’s also notable that Lucid’s CEO Peter Rawlinson is the ex-head engineer of the Model S, and he and Tesla CEO Elon Musk don’t seem to get along.)

Lucid has struggled with keeping up with production in the past couple of years. Before the recent price drops, Lucid had increased prices after posting a $81 million loss in the first quarter of 2022. This year, the company has increased deliveries up to 290 percent year over year in Q1, and introduced a new stealth appearance package as well.

At the lower starting pricepoint, Lucid’s electric vehicle could now contend with shoppers interested in picking up a Tesla Model S that starts at $74,990. However, it’s still a bit of a tough sell considering Tesla’s offering has AWD, is quicker, and has nearly the same range as the Pure RWD for less. But if you’re looking for something a bit more unique, and has CarPlay, you can order the Pure Air RWD today.