- Edmunds in contrast the Lucid Air Sapphire with the Tesla Mannequin S Plaid with the non-compulsory Monitor Pack.
- Collectively, the 2 American EVs produce over 2,200 horsepower.
We dwell in fascinating occasions. You would go browsing proper now and place an order for a four-door electrical sedan that goes the space, is snug and is critically quick–among the many quickest on this planet, in truth.
Two fashions match the invoice at present, they usually’re each made in the US. There’s the unique Tesla Mannequin S Plaid, with its 1,020 horsepower and sub-2-second dash to 60 miles per hour. Then, there’s the newer, fancier and costlier Lucid Air Sapphire.
There have been loads of comparisons between the 2 EVs, however none fairly just like the one put collectively by our pals at Edmunds. As you’ll see within the video embedded under, Edmunds pitted the 2023 Tesla Mannequin S Plaid with the non-compulsory $20,000 Monitor Bundle in opposition to the 2024 Lucid Air Sapphire.
Tesla’s expensive add-on comes with carbon ceramic brakes and solid brake calipers, which permits the 4,810-pound EV to, you recognize, brake correctly. Some fancy wheels are additionally included, as is a few “track-ready brake fluid.” The automobile’s firmware can be barely completely different, to reap the benefits of the brand new stuff.
Just like the Mannequin S Plaid, the Lucid Air Sapphire is powered by three electrical motors. In contrast to the Plaid, nonetheless, Lucid managed to squeeze out 1,234 horsepower from the setup, reducing the 0-60 mph time to only 1.89 seconds, versus the Mannequin S Plaid’s 1.99 seconds. On paper, a minimum of.
Suffice to say, they’re very quick. Edmunds’ course consists of a quarter-mile drag race, adopted by a braking part, a U-turn after which one other dash towards the beginning/end line. It’s a quite simple format nevertheless it’s designed to check acceleration, braking and dealing with. Two runs are clocked and on the finish of the primary run, the drivers change automobiles to eradicate any potential benefit or drawback.
Within the Mannequin S Plaid, the battery was preconditioned for the Drag Strip mode, which took about quarter-hour to finish. The suspension was set to Sport and within the lowest experience top.
Within the Lucid Air Sapphire, Monitor mode was chosen, then the Drag Strip choice–slightly simpler than within the Mannequin S, however I’ll give Tesla credit score for making the entire operation slightly extra dramatic, particularly in the case of the Cheetah stance that the Mannequin S Plaid takes proper earlier than launch.
Now that the specs are out of the best way, I’ll simply say this: the race you’re about to see within the video is intense. On the finish of the primary run, the Lucid Air was clocked at a pace of 164 miles per hour. Let’s not neglect that each these automobiles are four-door household sedans, so experiencing this quantity of energy and pace looks like dishonest physics slightly bit.
The second run was slightly completely different, with the Mannequin S set in Monitor mode as a substitute of Drag Strip mode within the hopes that the automobile would ship extra energy to the wheels when exiting the nook on the finish of the straight. Did it assist? Nicely, probably not. For what it’s price, although, the Mannequin S Plaid, even with the $20,000 Monitor Pack, continues to be half the value of the Air Sapphire, which retails for a candy, candy $250,500. In the meantime, Tesla is asking $91,630 for a base Mannequin S Plaid with out the Monitor Pack.
So, is it price spending 1 / 4 of one million {dollars} on an admittedly very good EV? You be the choose.
