TRACK TESTED: 2022 Lucid Air Dream Range Breaks 3 Seconds to 60

• The all-electric 2022 Lucid Air Dream Range is about more than just 500-plus-mile range, delivering a combined 933 horsepower and 1,025 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels.
• Get all the settings right and the Air Dream Range blasts to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds per Edmunds' testing.
• The combination of massive power and modest 19-inch tires would not be the spirited driver's choice, but 21s are available.

The Dream Range variant of the 2022 Lucid Air is undoubtedly one of our most anticipated test vehicles this year. It's a 933-horsepower, all-wheel-drive spaceship of a car, costing a cool $170,500 (before federal tax credits). There's an even more powerful variant called the Dream Performance that packs 1,111 ponies and costs the same, but its range maxes out at 471 miles. We figured we could live with 933 hp in exchange for the Dream Range's eye-popping 520-mile EPA range estimate, which we nearly matched with our own 505-mile result in real-world testing.

But this test is about acceleration, braking and handling. On the first count, at least, the Air Dream Range figured to be no slouch, as it pairs those 933 horses with an insane peak torque of 1,025 lb-ft that's available the moment the wheels begin to turn. But to earn that gaudy 520-mile range stamp, it has to roll on humble 19-inch all-season tires like a Hyundai Sonata. We had never tested anything quite like it. Here's how Lucid's long-distance king accelerated, braked and handled at the Edmunds test track.

How does the Lucid Air Dream Range perform?

Not surprisingly, we found that the Air Dream Range's acceleration is awesome, but more capable tires would be welcome. The high-level summary, though, is that it's simply wild to record a 505-mile range and a sub-3-second 0-60 sprint in the same electric car. This remarkable achievement likely has much to do with the Air's industry-first 900-volt electric architecture, which provides various power and efficiency advantages.

Here's how the Air Dream Range compares to other recently tested EV luminaries.

Our first acceleration run in the Lucid was quick but felt underwhelming for a car packing 933 horsepower. A 3.3-second 0-60 time flashed on our VBox display, well off the official time of 2.7 seconds. Granted, that official time was achieved on a prepped surface with the 21-inch summer tires (details disclosed by Lucid), but the lack of grip from the all-season tires didn't feel like the limiting factor here.

We double-checked the settings and found that the traction/stability control was in the partially active setting. In order for launch control to activate, the system needs to be fully on and the drive mode set to Sprint. Repeating the launch procedure, which is simply depressing the brake pedal with your left foot and flooring the accelerator, summons Lucid's spirit animal, a blue animated California grizzly with a checkered flag, displayed on the left side of the driver's instrument screen.

The extra punch in this mode is, well, palpable. The 60-mph time drops by half a second to 2.8 seconds, and we're pretty sure all four tires were spinning at some point during the launch. While not quite as mind-bending as launching the Model S Plaid, there's plenty here to make your passengers pucker. The quarter mile comes up in 10.3 seconds at 132.2 mph, a whole 2 seconds and 20 mph quicker than the Mercedes-Benz EQS 580, and that Benz is not slow.

While the tires and brakes felt sufficient stopping from 60 mph, the distance of 127 feet is on the long side for a modern car. Also, quickly slowing from over 135 mph was a little hairy since those all-seasons didn't have the bite we'd have liked for the amount of inertia built up at that point. In related news, the Lucid was prone to understeer around our skidpad and turned in a semi-respectable 0.89 g average, which again isn't surprising for its weight on those all-season tires.

Turning stability control off completely allows a little more freedom of movement, helping turn a lap into a bit less work. But we'd probably leave it on in most other instances, as tire grip is limited and all that power can be tricky to modulate. At least the steering does a decent job of transmitting some road feedback. The Lucid's skidpad performance was better overall than we expected from the agonizing sounds of the tires, but only slightly better by the numbers than the 7,150-pound Rivian R1T pickup truck.

We're curious to get our hands on a Lucid equipped with the larger 21-inch summer tires, which are still 245 mm wide in the front but gain an extra 20 mm in the rear. A stickier compound will go a long way toward adding more confidence and consistency behind the wheel and closing some of the performance gaps on the Lucid's competition. We think that's the better route, even at the expense of some range.

Edmunds says

The 2022 Lucid Air Dream Range proves it can sprint with the best of them despite wearing cross-country shoes. Unfortunately, performance in other areas like stopping and turning isn't as good, which leads us to believe the summer tires are definitely the way to go, even at the expense of some range. The Lucid Air is far from perfect, but it is an impressive first effort from a new and intriguing auto startup. We're looking forward to witnessing its evolution over the next few years. You can check out our full Lucid Air review right here or see how it stacks up in our EV rankings.