After a long wait for the 118-kWh, 900-volt battery pack to precondition, the Air Sapphire makes a good first impression on Chuckwalla’s 17 corners. “It’s absolutely incredible what this car can do,” features editor Scott Evans said. “The speed is reality-warping, and the grip is difficult to comprehend. The fact you can just floor it off every single corner and never worry about wheelspin or oversteer is amazing.” Deputy editor Alexander Stoklosa concurred: “The virtual wheelbase is transparent, but you’ll know it’s working when you fling the car through a chicane like a Porsche then get on the power through a gentle sweeper, where the Air is suddenly a super-stable, long-wheelbase sedan.”

That predictable performance encouraged judges to push the track-focused Air Sapphire until it suddenly became not so predictable anymore. “The brakes were reassuring for about 60 percent of my lapping; beyond that they began fading, or something about the motors’ regen changed to keep heat in check,” Stoklosa said. And, as executive editor Mac Morrison and others found out, the tires and battery conditioning are quick to go after the brakes go hot. “The brakes started to fade by the end of my second lap, and the Endurance mode that promises repeatable lapping went back into Conditioning mode around the same time—and this was after I waited for the car to complete its conditioning cycle for more than 20 minutes in the paddock,” Morrison said.

Evans, who previously spent time lapping a Sapphire on the straighter Sonoma Raceway, posits that owners will have to be choosy with which tracks they choose to lap. “On Chuckwalla, with its multiple big braking zones and long, late-apex corners, it kind of shows this car’s limitations fairly quickly.”

Although it was engineered with track duty in mind, the real world is where most Air Sapphire owners will uncork their cars. At those (hopefully) lower speeds and lighter duty cycles, the Lucid is sublime. Even so, with our driver confidence criteria in mind—not to mention its quarter-million-dollar sticker price and heat-soaking issues—we couldn't pass this former OTY winner forward to our finalist round.

2024 Lucid Air Sapphire Specifications
Base Price/As Tested	$250,575/$250,575
Power (SAE Net)	N/A hp (fr), N/A hp (rr), 1,234 hp (comb)
Torque (SAE Net)	N/A lb-ft (fr), N/A lb-ft (rr), 1,430 lb-ft (comb)
Accel, 0-60 mph	2.2 sec
Quarter Mile	9.3 sec @ 156.0 mph
Braking, 60-0 mph	109 ft
Lateral Acceleration	1.05 g (avg)
MT Figure Eight	22.6 sec @ 0.94 g (avg)
EPA City/Hwy/Comb	108/101/105 mpg-e
EPA Range, Comb	427 miles
Vehicle Layout	1x front- and 2x rear-motor, AWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan
Motors, Transmissions	Permanent-magnet electric, 1-speed automatic
Curb Weight (F/R Dist)	5,335 lb (49/51%)
Wheelbase	116.5 in
Length x Width x Height	195.9 x 78.5 x 55.4 in
On Sale	Now