Lucid Group, which have been setting new standards with the longest-range, fastest-charging electric car on the market with the award-winning Lucid Air, have introduced the Sapphire. This is Lucid’s new ultra-high-performance brand, led by the new Lucid Air Sapphire, the world’s first fully electric luxury super-sports saloon.
This model looks to set new standards and takes on all the biggest names in the luxury electric vehicle (EV) market. This includes brands like BMW, Mercedes and Tesla, thanks to its outstanding performance. To be honest, its performance is so impressive it will take on many electric hypercars.
Peter Rawlinson, Lucid CEO, said: “Last year, Lucid rocked the world with the launch of Lucid Air, a fusion of unsurpassed range, efficiency, superior driving dynamics, and interior space, uniquely enabled by our in-house technology.
“With the introduction of the Sapphire line, we take the next logical step of advancement. Lucid Air Sapphire, being the first Lucid product to bear the Sapphire name, builds upon our technical prowess to take electric high-performance on to next level.
“Sapphire represents the pinnacle of electric performance; finally achieving the performance that I’ve so long searched for. After painstaking development work, I am able to confirm Lucid Air Sapphire has achieved a satisfactory performance, and I trust the most discerning drivers will agree.”
Derek Jenkins, Lucid Group SVP of Brand and Design, said: “Sapphire is the embodiment of what ultra-high-performance luxury means to Lucid. Sapphire is among the most valued gemstones, prized for their brilliance, colour, and hardness.
“Imperial Blue has long been the de facto national colour for American motorsports teams engaged in international competitions. As Lucid’s dedicated ultra-high-performance brand, Sapphire references this history while setting new standards for innovation and technology.”
Lucid Air Sapphire: The World’s First Luxury Electric Super Saloon
At the heart of Lucid Air Sapphire lies a three-motor powertrain, the first from Lucid, featuring a new twin-motor rear-drive unit and a single motor front-drive unit.
Eric Bach, Lucid Group SVP of Product and Chief Engineer, said: “With three state-of-the-art electric motors – all developed and manufactured in-house by Lucid – Lucid Air Sapphire reaches an entirely new level of performance.
“And because a three-motor Lucid Air was always part of the development program, it retains all the strengths of Lucid Air variants already on the market – including limo-like rear legroom, a voluminous trunk and frunk, and impressive efficiency.”
These technically innovative electric motors incorporate Lucid’s microjet stator cooling and wave winding. The twin rear-drive unit also introduces new heat exchanger technology and heightened coolant flow rate. The battery system is also upgraded for higher power and more precise thermal logic.
As expected, Lucid Air Sapphire’s three-motor powertrain delivers even more horsepower than the car’s dual-motor siblings, including the 1,050-hp Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance. With over 1,200 hp, Lucid Air Sapphire is not only the most powerful electric saloon in the world, it is the most powerful saloon in the world.
With this vast power and the enhanced delivery afforded by the twin rear-drive unit, Lucid Air Sapphire will accelerate from a standstill to 60mph in less than two seconds. It will 0-100 mph in less than four seconds and the standing quarter mile in under nine seconds.
These figures are achievable with no extra-cost equipment upgrades or protracted preconditioning routines. Additionally, massive carbon ceramic disc brakes come as standard, endowing Air Sapphire with stopping power to match its prodigious performance.
Final horsepower ratings will be announced later, along with instrumented demonstrations of the incredible performance capabilities of the vehicle.
Performance in Perfect Harmony: Track-Capable Handling and Braking as Standard
As with other Lucid Air variants, Lucid’s engineers followed a holistic approach to the development of the first Sapphire model. In practice, this meant devoting exacting attention to every facet of performance.
David Lickfold, Lucid Group Director of Chassis and Vehicle Dynamics, said: “Our aim with this, our first Sapphire model, is to complement the exceptional powertrain with sharper, more responsive driving dynamics and increased body control.
“At the same time, it was important to retain the exceptional ride quality for which Lucid Air has come to be known.”
Lucid Air Sapphire features stiffer front and rear springs, unique damper settings, stiffer bushings, and a unique tuning for ABS, traction, stability control, and electronic power steering.
Standard carbon ceramic brakes provide exceptional stopping power and contribute to Lucid Air Sapphire’s endurance in high-performance driving. This advanced chassis setup is conceived to maximise the benefits of the torque-vectoring capabilities of the three-motor powertrain, as well as the wider, more aggressive wheels and tyres.
The car rides on ultra-high performance staggered Aero Sapphire wheels, with specially developed Michelin PS4S tyres, sized 265/35R20 at the front and 295/30R21 in the rear. These unique wheels also feature removable carbon-fibre aero disk wheel covers. These further optimise the aerodynamic efficiency of the car.
In addition to delivering prodigious power to the rear of the vehicle, the twin rear-drive unit allows for torque vectoring that extends the capabilities of the car beyond that achievable with a passive all-wheel-drive system.
For example, the twin rear-drive unit can effectively pivot the rear of the vehicle, providing torque to the rear wheels in opposite directions to promote either turn-in or straight-line stability. This is similar to a brake-based setup and a rear-wheel steering system but faster, quieter, and more seamless.
In tight corners, the system is able to apply regenerative braking on the inside wheel while powering the outside, greatly enhancing vehicle turn-in rotation and with much quicker response times than rear-wheel steering systems.
The benefits for drivers are wide-reaching, with improvements to turn-in, cornering balance across all speeds, corner exit, and high-speed stability and disturbance rejection. The driving experience differs across drive modes to give multiple characters in conjunction with steering, suspension, powertrain, and brake settings.
A New Shade of Speed: Sapphire Design, Inside and Out
The Lucid Air Sapphire is designed to be as functional as it is beautiful. Special attention has been given to refining the aerodynamic character of the body for Lucid Air Sapphire.
The outcome of this effort is a balance between added downforce, which enhances vehicle stability at higher speeds, and reducing drag, which affects both performance and efficiency.
The launch of the Sapphire brand from Lucid also marks the introduction of a new Sapphire Blue exterior paint, a radiant colour that will be exclusive to Sapphire vehicles. Initially, all Lucid Air Sapphires will be finished exclusively in the new Sapphire Blue colour to mark the brand introduction.
Lucid Air Sapphire is augmented with the recently announced Stealth Look as standard, bringing a more sinister, sporting character to the exterior of the vehicle.
The cabin of Lucid Air Sapphire extends the purposeful beauty of the exterior with a new interior theme called Sapphire Mojave.
This includes new highly bolstered 18-way power sport seats, upholstered in black leather trimmed with black Alcantara and Sapphire Blue contrast stitching. Though designed for spirited driving, the seats still provide decadent comfort, with heating, cooling and massage functionality.
The headrest showcases a debossed Lucid bear logomark, one of the icons of the Lucid brand identity reflecting the California origins of the brand. Dash and doors are decorated with Mojave dark wood veneers, while the steering wheel and upper roof structure for the standard Glass Canopy roof are trimmed in black Alcantara.
Lucid Air Sapphire also features a unique Sapphire-themed on-screen display, with specially configured drive modes and performance settings.
The Future is Faster
Lucid Air Sapphire will be offered as a limited-production model, with deliveries planned in the US and Canada next year. The price is $249,000 USD and $325,000 CAD. Reservations are now open and information about availability for markets outside of North America will be communicated in the future.
The Lucid Air Sapphire is just the beginning, representing the launch of an entirely new performance-focused brand within Lucid. Additional Sapphire models will be available for all Lucid models moving forward, continuing to set new standards for what luxury performance can look and feel.
