Electric car fever: Heat rises at unveiling of Lucid Air, watch for 2018

(Tech Xplore)—Here we go down the electric car path but for this one you had better prepare for a luxury electric sedan experience not unlike first-class travel.

Menlo Park, California based Lucid Motors is introducing the Lucid Air and is taking reservations. Its promotional video said "we are re-imagining luxury mobility." Several reports said it would swing into production in 2018.

The luxury factor scores highly in its expensive look and technical details.

The standard Air comes with a 100 kWh battery, said Engadget. Roberto Baldwin in Engadget said the "powertrain has been integrated with the HVAC and suspension system in the front of the vehicle. The rear wheels get the same set up with an integrated transmission, motor and suspension."

The company had this information about the battery: "Nearly ten years of battery pack development have led to best-in-class energy density. Our battery is capable of 1,000 horsepower and enabling up to 400 miles of range."

Earlier this month, Samsung SDI and Lucid Motors announced a partnership for battery cell supply. Samsung SDI will be a major supplier of the lithium-ion cells for Lucid's 2018-scheduled sedan. "The breakthrough battery life demonstrated by the new cell from Samsung SDI will be of tangible benefit to our customers, particularly companies with ride-sharing services operating around the clock," said Peter Rawlinson, Lucid CTO.

Lucid said, "Lucid vehicles will be delivered autonomous-ready with a comprehensive sensor suite able to scale to complete autonomy through ongoing software upgrades."

Wayne Cunningham, managing editor/Roadshow, reported, "For self-driving, the Air includes six radar modules, eight cameras and four LIDAR sensors, all letting it detect obstacles and other traffic."

As for voice systems, the company said that beam-forming microphones capture the person's voice instructions no matter where the person is seated.

They referred to rear "executive" seats with up to 55 degrees of recline. They referred to a "first-class aircraft seating experience" in the back of your car.

They said they improved energy efficiency by up to 50% compared to conventional LED headlights, with their lighting system —it mimics insect eyes "by utilizing literally thousands of micro-lenses."

There is a Lucid mobile app.

They also address the acoustics factor. They address the kind of environmental noise that may be distracting. There is a 29 speaker audio system, they said, with noise cancellation.

They are now accepting pre-orders and their reservation fees range from $2,500 to $25,500.

Why the range? "Standard production models will be produced after the 255 launch edition cars are complete. Options and pricing to be finalized closer to start of production." The 255 they refer to is about the 255 special edition cars to go first off the production line. "Launch edition will be well optioned and include distinguishing features."

"Lucid Air is largely an exercise in bleeding-edge tech," said Marco della Cava in USA Today.

© 2016 Tech Xplore