2026 Lucid Air Road Test and Review

2026 Lucid Air Touring ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Five years ago, the first Lucid Air vehicles began to reach customers’ driveways. These electric luxury sedans from a brand-new startup had exotic style and performance – and prices and reliability to match. It hit the market with more than 1,000 horsepower and a $170,000 price tag, and its electronics were buggy. 

If you haven’t been paying attention in the years since then, you might still think of the Lucid Air that way. It might be cemented in your mind as a cool car that’s too expensive even for most luxury buyers, and one that can’t be counted on for something as elementary as unlocking the doors on command. 

But that’s not the case with the 2026 Lucid Air. The Air still looks like nothing else on the road. It still has world-beating speed and range. But Lucid has worked out many of its early bugs. And the car now starts at a more approachable $70,900 – where it’s priced alongside more “ordinary” luxury EVs. 

For this review, we just spent a week testing the 2026 Lucid Air Touring. That’s one level up from the base Pure, and starting at $79,900. Our test vehicle came to $102,100 with a mix of technological and appearance upgrades and a $1,500 destination charge. Keep reading as we walk through the Air’s pros and cons, how it compares with the competition – and why it’s our favorite luxury EV sedan overall. 

The Long-Range EV

Another Lucid Air keynote is its range of up to 512 miles per charge. That’s nearly 100 miles more than any other fully electric vehicle except for Lucid’s own Gravity SUV. Now, you need the $114,900 Grand Touring model to get this maximum range, thanks to a larger battery. But even the Pure and Touring get up to 420 and 431 miles of range, respectively, in EPA testing. The maximum-performance Sapphire, priced from $249,000, goes 427 miles per charge. 

Across the Air lineup, larger wheels cut into electric range. For example, our test car’s 20-inch wheels get just 396 miles of total range. (19-inchers come standard and make the car more efficient.) But even the lowest-range Air – the base Pure with 20-inch wheels – goes 372 miles. That’s already much more than the longest-range version of nearly any other electric sedan. 

Lucid says that a DC fast charger can add 200 miles of range to the Air in as little as 12 minutes, making it an uncommonly road-trip-friendly EV. As with other electric cars, the Air gives up some range at highway speeds and at temperature extremes (low or high). But it has enough range in reserve to cover a lot of ground. The Air has a CCS-style charging port, and it can now charge at Tesla Supercharger stations via an NACS adapter. 

2026 Lucid Air Touring ・ Photo by Brady Holt

It’s Efficient, Too

Anyone can boost range through a larger battery. But the Lucid Air doesn’t only have a big battery. It’s also the most efficient electric vehicle in the U.S. The base Pure gets the energy equivalent of 149 mpg in the city, 142 mpg on the highway, and 146 mpg combined. Even the Touring gets 134 MPGe, the Grand Touring gets 128 MPGe, and the Sapphire gets 105 MPGe. Again, larger wheels cut into efficiency, but the competition is less efficient. 

Our test vehicle fell far short of its EPA rating during a weeklong test in subfreezing temperatures – 84 MPGe versus its 123 MPGe estimate. But even 84 MPGe is extremely efficient for a big and powerful luxury sedan. And over the past 1,200 miles of driving, the car had averaged 108 MPGe. 

If you recharge at a public charging station, your electricity can cost as much as gasoline. But if you recharge at home, most Americans are likely going more than 100 miles for the cost of a gallon of gas. 

2026 Lucid Air Touring ・ Photo by Brady Holt

And It’s Fast

The Air’s extreme efficiency is all the more impressive given its speed. It’s one of the fastest cars you can buy. 

Even the base Pure, sold exclusively with rear-wheel drive, has 430 horsepower and zips to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds. Other trim levels have all-wheel drive, providing extra traction for hard acceleration and slippery weather. The Touring like our test vehicle has 620 hp and hits 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. The 819-hp Grand Touring needs just 3.0 seconds. And the wild 1,234-hp Sapphire hits 60 mph in a manufacturer-estimated 1.89 seconds. 

For comparison, the BMW i7 eDrive 50e and Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ cost six figures while needing more than 5 seconds to reach 60. The Tesla Model S delivers even more speed for the dollar than the Air, with the $109,990 Plaid model hitting 60 mph in a promised 1.99 seconds. But the Air pairs its speed with a smoother overall driving experience than the Tesla, and the Model S is ending production soon anyway. 

2026 Lucid Air Touring ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Glide Down the Road

While a Tesla Model S can feel like a crude rocketship, the Air is a smooth, quiet, and solidly built luxury car that’s wildly fast when you want it to be. The adaptive suspension doesn’t handle bumps quite as gracefully as the Germans, even in its selectable Smooth driving mode (versus the performance-focused Swift and Sprint). It took the edge off bumps well – no hard slams punched through. But low-speed ride motions felt abrupt rather than shrugging off broken pavement. 

The Air is in its element gliding down the open highway, though. The optional DreamDrive Pro hands-free driving system ($6,750) handles the acceleration, steering, and braking, and the car confidently eats up miles. In stop-and-go traffic, though, our test car sometimes drifted toward the left side of the lane. We also wished that the heavily customizable drive settings included a wider range of regenerative braking levels.

Don’t think of the Air as a purely comfort-focused luxury sedan, either. With its well-sorted suspension and low center of gravity, it’s also agile and fun to drive. It won’t quite chase down a Porsche Taycan, but the Lucid comes close – while also having a ton more space inside. 

2026 Lucid Air Touring ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Road Presence That Belies Its Size

Even without design changes since 2022, the Lucid Air still looks like a high-end exotic. And we don’t mean because it looks like a fast, angry racecar. It has unique proportions and a commanding presence while still looking like a high-end luxury sedan – and without taking up as much of the road as you might think. 

Dimensionally, the Air measures 196 inches long, 76 inches wide, and 55 inches tall. In aggregate, that means it’s only about the size of a humble Toyota Camry. But while the two sedans have similar lengths, the Air is an inch lower and 4 inches wider. That gives it a ground-hugging presence, as well as improved aerodynamics – a key factor in EV range. 

You’ll find a similar difference between the Air and fellow luxury EVs. The Air has the style, presence, and interior space of a luxury flagship like the BMW i7 or Mercedes-Benz EQS. But on the outside, it’s more like a mid-size BMW i5 or Mercedes-Benz EQE. 

The Air won’t be to everyone’s tastes. Its rounded-off body won’t suit someone who favors a more aggressive showcase of speed. But to us, it’s the perfect approach for a cutting-edge luxury sedan. 

2026 Lucid Air Touring ・ Photo by Brady Holt

A High-End Digital Interior Done Right

Many modern EVs – and other cars – have focused their interiors on big digital displays. Tesla famously sells cars with only a center touchscreen. Lucid doesn’t skimp on screen space, either, with 34 inches diagonal in total. 

The key difference is that the Air spreads around its screen real estate. A slim upper screen includes a gauge cluster in the traditional spot behind the steering wheel, with touchscreens on either side. A lower touchscreen connects the dashboard to the center console. This is a thoroughly modern experience, but the screens fit around a sculpted dashboard without becoming the only dominant element. And for a truly screen-light experience, the lower screen can pivot out of sight.

The screens also work well. Our test car had lightning-quick responses, attractive graphics, and generally thoughtful menu structures. And we liked swiping down on the upper touchscreen to put, say, a bigger map view on the lower one. We did wish we could set the upper and lower screens to different views, like pairing an upper radio display with a lower GPS map. And we were surprised there wasn’t a more obvious display of the Air’s remaining range per charge. 

No less significant than its digital experience, the Air is much less reliant on screens than most high-end EVs. Lucid also provides physical buttons and knobs for key functions. This not only keeps things functional, but also adds some more high-quality touch points to the interior. Its touchscreen also supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, rather than locking customers into Lucid’s own infotainment like too many rivals do. 

A few of the Lucid’s controls require a learning curve – remembering which button does what, and which menu holds which function. It’s not always what we’d have first guessed. But it’s easy enough to learn with some practice. That’s a big difference compared with a car whose controls will be distracting to use even for a longtime owner. 

Finally, we appreciated the Air’s high-end materials – a mix of metal, fabric, and leather (or leather-look) trim. They dress up the artfully but subtly sculpted dashboard. A couple nitpicks are small cupholders and a wireless device charger that got tangled in our phone’s case. But overall, this is a high-end digital interior done right.  

2026 Lucid Air Touring ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Massive Interior Space

We mentioned that the Lucid Air is sized like a mid-size sedan. But inside, you’ll find few four-doors with more space. You sit low in the Lucid, and you don’t have the extra-thick cushy yet supportive chairs of the best high-end Mercedes or BMW. But the Air's seats are comfortable and spacious in the front and rear. The latter is especially welcome, as many high-end luxury sedans sacrifice rear-seat room for style. 

Our test car included 20-way adjustable front seats with heating, ventilation, and massage functions. These cost $3,750 on lower-trim Airs and are standard on upper models. Heated front seats are standard, and heat for the steering wheel and rear seats are standard on all but the base model. 

The Air also has ample space for cargo, at least for a sedan. A huge trunklid opens up to reveal 22 cubic feet of space in the back, as much as some small SUVs. And another 10 cubic feet of space hides under the long hood. Both the front and rear trunks have large hidden storage areas under their cargo floors, which contribute to this total. A liftback like the Tesla Model S or Audi A6 e-tron would have even more cargo flexibility with the rear seat folded down, but you won’t find another sedan with this much trunk space (or should we say, trunks space).

2026 Lucid Air Touring ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Lucid Air vs. the Competition

Now that nearly every luxury brand includes an electric sedan, the Lucid Air faces a host of competitors. And between its flagship positioning and its mid-size footprint and price point, it sometimes faces multiple vehicles from the same brand. 

Versus mid-size models like the Audi A6 e-tron, BMW i5, and Mercedes-Benz EQE, the Lucid looks and feels more like a high-end vehicle to us. It has more design presence and the proportions of a bigger car. It also trounces the Germans for range and speed. The BMW and Mercedes have cushier rides, though, and the Audi has more cargo space. And some buyers will prefer how the BMW and Audi (less so the Benz) look similar to the brands’ iconic gas-powered luxury cars. 

The Air even compares favorably to the full-size, six-figure BMW i7 and Mercedes-Benz EQS. These are electric limousines that are masters of coddling, winning for seat comfort and ride smoothness. But the Lucid is just as roomy and expensive-looking, and it trounces their range and speed. 

The Audi e-tron GT and its Porsche Taycan cousin are smaller, performance-focused flagships. They have cozy cabins rather than huge interiors, and they look more like hunkered-down sports cars than quiet cruisers. But the Air is nearly as fun to drive while crushing their efficiency. 

Finally, against the class-defining Tesla Model S, the Lucid is a more premium product. It’s roomier and more richly finished, and the suspension is better suited to handle its extreme speed. But depending on the model you get, the Tesla is faster for the money. It also has more cargo space. 

One last note: Like Teslas, Lucids are sold direct from the manufacturer rather than a traditional dealership. That makes for an easy purchasing experience. But it also means you’re less likely to claim a massive five-figure discount like we see on some luxury EVs. If you’re not sure which EV fits your budget, shop around carefully – you might be pleasantly surprised. Steep depreciation also means that affordable pre-owned options abound. 

2024 BMW i5 eDrive40 ・ Photo by Brady Holt

A World-Class Experience at a Mid-Tier Price

The 2026 Lucid Air is a thoroughly compelling product, both as an efficient, long-range, and fast EV and as a comfortable, thoughtfully designed luxury sedan. The Air showcases imaginative design and engineering choices that add true value, not just conversation points. Few other cars have blown away the competition in so many different ways – from the engineering to the design, from the digital interface to the functionality, from its strengths as an EV in particular to its strengths as an automobile in general. 

By working through software kinks and keeping prices competitive, Lucid has made the Air better than ever. And new competitors haven’t managed to take it down. 

A few minor detail adjustments would make the Air even better. It would be easy to display the range more prominently and to allow a wider range of regenerative-braking options. It wouldn’t even be too challenging to rework the center console with bigger cupholders and a less-fussy wireless device charger. 

But these drawbacks don’t hold back the Air from its clear status as the best luxury EV sedan on the market. 

2026 Lucid Air Touring ・ Photo by Brady Holt