Brooks Weisblat, the renowned videographer behind the "DragTimes" channel on YouTube, believes Jason Cammisa may have recorded a new EV record while at Sonoma Raceway for the start of deliveries of the mind-bending 1,234-hp Lucid Air Sapphire.
Just a couple of days ago, Lucid Motors proudly announced the introduction of the Air Pure RWD version, a base model that follows Tesla's lead in offering their EVs at a reduced price. It's still not as cheap as a base Tesla Model S that starts from $74,990 with dual-motor AWD and 405 miles of range, but the Air Pure RWD is on the right track with a single motor, RWD and an MSRP of $77,400 plus up to 410 miles on a single charge.
However, there's a second reason for the company to be proud of – the start of initial deliveries of its flagship Lucid Air Sapphire, which costs no less than $249k but also comes "fully equipped." Naturally, the brand also wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. So, they invited renowned socialites, professional racers, and journalists at Sonoma Raceway to experience both the road course and dragstrip at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, California.
The 12-turn hilly course was, of course, the chosen venue for the former Stig Ben Collins to get jiggly with the 1,234-hp Air Sapphire and try to explain why the "future is faster." If you're not convinced that the bulky Lucid Air Sapphire can also be reviewed as "the best-handling sedan in the history of the world," as per Jason Cammisa's words, then there's one last argument to make you treat it like the new king of the EV world: a quick quarter-mile dragstrip brawl.
Weisblat was the one who directed our attention toward the action at Sonoma, and we're grateful for his keen eye. Sure, we would love to see him duke it out with his Tesla Model S Plaid against the Lucid Air Sapphire to see if there's truth to these bombastic statements, but until that happens, let's just see if his findings pan out – and if the Sapphire indeed posted a new EV world record for the quarter-mile pass.
So, the footage comes courtesy of Cammisa and shows the Lucid Air Sapphire as "the fastest production car… when it's not busy being the most efficient car ever made." The short video, in fact, depicts two blue Lucid Air Sapphire EV sedans ducking it out with each other to see which driver is best, as the powertrains are virtually identical. And we have to admit, the results aren't too shabby at all!
If you look closely at the impromptu footage, the Lucid Air Sapphire racing in the left lane was a smudge faster to the quarter-mile finish line with an official time of 9.004 seconds at over 154 mph (248 kph), followed remarkably closer by the one on the right with an ET of 9.030! If these times can be run consistently by amateur drag racers, I'm sure we're going to see some might Plaid versus Sapphire brawls pretty darn soon.
However, the giant bomb is dropped by Brooks from a previous test run where one of those blue EV monsters ran an 8.945s pass at 154 mph – there's even a photo showing the ET scoreboard followed by a time slip. Remember, nothing is officially official at this point, but the results are – nonetheless – awe-inspiring.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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