Lucid Motors begins Air Touring deliveries; Pure to follow this year
Less than two weeks after promising to unveil its full electric sedan lineup with the public, Lucid Motors has officially launched the Air Touring with the Air Pure to follow this year. Even as the lowest-tier version of Lucid’s flagship sedan, the Air Pure is promising 410 miles of range and 0-60 mph acceleration in under four seconds. Delicious.
Lucid Motors ($LCID) continues to grow its recognition as a luxury EV brand one year removed from the first deliveries of its flagship Air sedan, beginning with the limited-run Dream Edition. That version was eventually followed by the Air Grand Touring, which already saw a Performance upgrade earlier this year.
From the first announcement of the Air, Lucid has promised four different variations in addition to the two above. This includes both Air Touring and Air Pure. While we were given initial pricing (which has since changed) and a few breadcrumbs spec-wise, most of the pertinent details of those last two versions have remained on the DL.
As the American automaker continues to bolster its EV production in Arizona, it’s finally sharing some exciting updates ahead of a busy week in Southern California for Automobility LA. Now, just hours before it officially shares a company update that will include a look at its upcoming Gravity SUV, Lucid has shared details of its last two versions of the Air – Touring and Pure. Have a look.
Touring deliveries begin, Air Pure will follow in two configs
Lucid Motors shared the latest details of its last two Air variations in a press release this morning, mere hours before it streams live during its anticipated “In the Air and Beyond” event. This will be the first time the public gets to see all versions of the Air in one room, including the tri motor Air Sapphire, which is promising a blistering 0-60 mph in 1.89 seconds. Lucid Group CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson spoke:
Performance. Range. Luxury. Technology. Design. It’s all here in the newly expanded Lucid Air model lineup as Air Pure and Air Touring – with their remarkably spacious interiors – take their place alongside Air Grand Touring, Grand Touring Performance, and the recently announced Air Sapphire. Air Touring matches the landmark 4.6 miles per kWh efficiency of the Grand Touring – albeit at a more affordable price point – an important incremental step to making ultra-efficient EVs more attainable.
The Air Touring arrives as a dual-motor, AWD EV that delivers 620 horsepower and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds. Its 18-module long-range battery pack helps deliver the kWh efficiency Rawlinson mentions, as well as an EPA estimated range of 425 miles. Inside the cabin (see below), the Air Touring features seating surfaces wrapped in Nappa full-grain, carbon-neutral, leather alongside recycled textiles and synthetics. Its wood accents are sustainably harvested and feature an open pore finish with minimal coating.
The Air Touring comes standard with a solid aluminum roof, but can be upgraded to the full glass canopy to match its Air predecessors. According to Lucid, the first customer delivery of the Air Touring has been completed and will be followed by Air Pure deliveries before year’s end.
Lucid also shared that the Air Pure will come available in two different configurations, beginning with a dual-motor AWD drive option that will hit production at AMP-1 next month. A single motor RWD option will follow sometime next year, but that’s about all we know at this point.
Even as the “lowest-tier” version of the Air sedan, the AWD Pure will deliver 480 hp, 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds, and an EPA estimated range of 410 miles. It can also replenish 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes on a DC fast charger thanks to Lucid’s Wunderbox system, standard on all models.
Like the Touring version, the Lucid Air Pure will come standard with the aluminum roof, but without the option to upgrade to the glass canopy. You can see the difference between the two roofs in the images above. Although it offers the lowest performance of any of the other Lucid Airs, the Pure is still one of the best EVs in the industry on paper. Here’s how it stacks up against its siblings:
Today marks the official launch of these next two versions of the Air, but this won’t be the only news we cover from Lucid Motors today. We will all have to tune in to its livestream event in a few hours to learn more about Air pricing and truly grasp the “Gravity” (wink wink) of its current EV lineup, in addition to what the automaker has in store for the future.
Speak soon.
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Tesla has started to offer discounted financing on Cybertruck as the electric pickup truck undoubtedly turns out to be a flop.
Tesla claimed over 1 million reservations for the Cybertruck, and CEO Elon Musk said he could see Tesla producing 500,000 units per year.
However, that was before Tesla announced that the production version would be much more expensive and have a shorter range than what was initially announced.
The Cybertruck has now been in production for a year and a half, and it looks like Tesla would be lucky to sell about 10% of Musk’s goal of 500,000 units.
The automaker doesn’t report Cybertruck sales, but it is estimated that Tesla delivered roughly 40,000 Cybertrucks in 2024, and it is expected to have even more issues selling the truck this year.
Tesla has taken several steps to help sales.
We reported that Tesla launched Cybertruck leases to help move vehicles. The company is even still tucked with “Foundations Series” Cybertrucks, and we found out that Tesla buffed “Foundations Series” badges out of some trucks to sell them as cheaper regular Cybertrucks.
For the remaining “Foundations Series,” which there still are despite Tesla switching to regular Cybertruck production in October, Tesla has even offered free Supercharging for life.
Now, Tesla is stepping up its game, and it is offering discounted financing on new Cybertruck orders:
Tesla announced 1.99% APR for a limited time:
1.99% APR available for a limited time for well-qualified buyers
WIthout the “promotion”, the rate for excellent credit is 5.84%.
While Tesla is discounting the rates, it is not discounting them as much as for new Model 3 orders.
We reported earlier this week that Tesla offers 0% and 0.99% with $0 down on new Model 3 orders in the US until the end of the quarter.
Electrek’s Take
It is very possible that Tesla can’t sell more than 10,000 Cybertrucks this quarter, which would extrapolate to 40,000 units per year or less than 10% of what Elon said he would see Tesla delivering.
Now, the cheaper single motor Cybertruck should help, but by how much? It could bring Tesla to 20-30% of the volume Elon saw possible?
I think it’s fairly clear that the Cybertruck is a flop.
Tesla launched a single new vehicle in the last 5 years and it is a flop.
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Environment
Toyota launched its cheapest EV in China and it crashed the server starting at just $15,000
Toyota looks to grab a bigger share of the world’s largest EV market as it takes aim at BYD and other low-cost leaders. On Thursday, Toyota launched its cheapest EV in China, the bZ3X, starting at roughly $15,000. The new electric SUV crashed the server with over 10,000 orders in an hour.
Meet Toyota’s cheapest EV in China, the bZ3X
The bz3X is Toyota’s “first 100,000 yuan-level pure electric SUV” in China and its cheapest EV to hit the market so far.
Toyota’s Chinese joint venture, GAC-Toyota officially launched the “Bozhi 3X,” or bZ3X for short, in China on March 6. Shortly after, the company said orders for its new electric SUV were “so popular that the server crashed” after revealing prices start at just over $15,000 (109,800 yuan).
After securing over 10,000 orders in just one hour, Toyota boasted again that “the server is overwhelmed.” The launch comes after blind pre-orders opened in December, starting at just under $14,000 (100,000 yuan).
The bZ3X is available in two versions, with or without its full-scenario smart driving tech. The non-smart tech model starts at 109,800 yuan ($15,000) with five trim options while the smart driving model starts at 149,800 yuan ($20,500).
For 159,800 yuan ($22,000), the range-topping “610 Max” trim provides up to 610 km (379 miles) CLTC range from a 67.92 kWh LFP battery. The base “430 Air” gets up to 430 km (267 miles) from a 50.03 kWh LFP battery pack.
Toyota said the interior provides “a mobile space that is comfortable as home,” with front and rear seats that can fold down to provide nearly 10 feet (3 meters) of space.
Inside, the electric SUV has a 14.6″ infotainment screen with voice recognition and an 8.8″ driver display. It also includes a two-spoke multi-function steering wheel.
Toyota’s new bZ3X is its first vehicle with the Momenta 5.0 Intelligent Driving System. Powered by NVIDIA Drive AGX Orin X, it comes with 25 ADAS features, such as parallel parking, remote control parking, high-speed pilot, light traffic assist, and blind spot monitoring.
GAC-Toyota claimed it will be “one of the first automakers in the world to realize a one-stage end-to-end intelligent driving model.” With human-like intelligence, the vehicle “gets smarter and better with use.”
At 4,600 mm long, 1,875 mm wide, and 1,645 mm tall, Toyota’s cheapest EV in China is about the size of BYD’s Yuan Plus (Atto 3) at 4,455 mm long, 1,875 mm wide, and 1,615 mm tall. Starting at 115,800 yuan ($16,000), Toyota’s new bZ3X slightly undercuts BYD’s electric SUV.
What do you think of Toyota’s new electric SUV? Would you buy one for around $15,000? We’ll keep dreaming.
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