- Edmunds in contrast the Lucid Air Sapphire with the Tesla Mannequin S Plaid with the non-compulsory Monitor Pack.
- Collectively, the 2 American EVs produce over 2,200 horsepower.
We stay in fascinating instances. You may go surfing proper now and place an order for a four-door electrical sedan that goes the space, is snug and is significantly quick–among the many quickest on the planet, the truth is.
Two fashions match the invoice at present, they usually’re each made in the USA. There’s the unique Tesla Mannequin S Plaid, with its 1,020 horsepower and sub-2-second dash to 60 miles per hour. Then, there’s the newer, fancier and dearer Lucid Air Sapphire.
There have been loads of comparisons between the 2 EVs, however none fairly just like the one put collectively by our associates at Edmunds. As you’ll see within the video embedded beneath, Edmunds pitted the 2023 Tesla Mannequin S Plaid with the non-compulsory $20,000 Monitor Bundle towards the 2024 Lucid Air Sapphire.
Tesla’s dear add-on comes with carbon ceramic brakes and cast brake calipers, which permits the 4,810-pound EV to, you recognize, brake correctly. Some fancy wheels are additionally included, as is a few “track-ready brake fluid.” The automotive’s firmware can be barely totally different, to reap the benefits of the brand new stuff.
Just like the Mannequin S Plaid, the Lucid Air Sapphire is powered by three electrical motors. Not like the Plaid, nonetheless, Lucid managed to squeeze out 1,234 horsepower from the setup, decreasing the 0-60 mph time to only 1.89 seconds, versus the Mannequin S Plaid’s 1.99 seconds. On paper, not less than.
Suffice to say, they’re very quick. Edmunds’ course consists of a quarter-mile drag race, adopted by a braking part, a U-turn after which one other dash towards the beginning/end line. It’s a quite simple structure nevertheless it’s designed to check acceleration, braking and dealing with. Two runs are clocked and on the finish of the primary run, the drivers change automobiles to get rid of any potential benefit or drawback.
Within the Mannequin S Plaid, the battery was preconditioned for the Drag Strip mode, which took about quarter-hour to finish. The suspension was set to Sport and within the lowest trip peak.
Within the Lucid Air Sapphire, Monitor mode was chosen, then the Drag Strip choice–a little bit simpler than within the Mannequin S, however I’ll give Tesla credit score for making the entire operation a little bit extra dramatic, particularly in the case of the Cheetah stance that the Mannequin S Plaid takes proper earlier than launch.
Now that the specs are out of the way in which, I’ll simply say this: the race you’re about to see within the video is intense. On the finish of the primary run, the Lucid Air was clocked at a pace of 164 miles per hour. Let’s not overlook that each these automobiles are four-door household sedans, so experiencing this quantity of energy and pace looks as if dishonest physics a little bit bit.
The second run was a little bit totally different, with the Mannequin S set in Monitor mode as a substitute of Drag Strip mode within the hopes that the automotive would ship extra energy to the wheels when exiting the nook on the finish of the straight. Did it assist? Nicely, probably not. For what it’s price, although, the Mannequin S Plaid, even with the $20,000 Monitor Pack, continues to be half the worth of the Air Sapphire, which retails for a candy, candy $250,500. In the meantime, Tesla is asking $91,630 for a base Mannequin S Plaid with out the Monitor Pack.
So, is it price spending 1 / 4 of one million {dollars} on an admittedly very good EV? You be the choose.
