Lucid Starts Building Air Sapphire Release Candidate Vehicles

Lucid says the production version of the 1,200-horsepower super sedan "will be available soon."

Lucid Air Sapphire release candidate version

Photo by: Lucid Motors

Dan Mihalascu

By: Dan Mihalascu

Jul 27, 2023 at 3:26pm ET

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The wait for the fastest production four-door electric sedan in the world is almost over as Lucid Motors has announced the production of the first Air Sapphire release candidate cars.

"The world's first luxury electric super-sports sedan will be available soon," Lucid said in a tweet accompanied by a photo of an Air Sapphire on the line at its plant in Casa Grande, Arizona.

While the EV startup does not say what "soon" means, the fact the Air Sapphire has reached the release candidate stage suggests the start of production is probably weeks away.

A release candidate version is what a traditional automaker would call a production validation (PV) vehicle. These cars normally follow the hand-built beta prototypes and are made almost entirely on the production line. The goal with PV cars is to validate if the product meets engineering standards and specifications.

Unveiled last summer at Monterey Car Week, the Lucid Air Sapphire is expected to beat the Tesla Model S Plaid's acceleration and quarter-mile times, as well as the top speed.

With over 1,200 horsepower from a tri-motor electric powertrain – including a twin-motor rear-drive unit with a complex torque-vectoring system – the Lucid Air Sapphire is capable of sensational performance.

It does 0-60 miles per hour in 1.89 seconds, 0-100 mph in 3.87 seconds, the standing quarter-mile in less than nine seconds, and it hits a top speed of 205 mph. Lucid says this makes the Air Sapphire "not only the most powerful electric sedan ever produced but also the most powerful sedan in the world."

Lucid also claims that Air Sapphire development vehicles have recorded unofficial lap times at major racetracks that are "significantly faster than many renowned hypercars."

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When it first showed the Air Sapphire last year, Lucid said it would offer it as a limited-production model priced at $249,000 in the US and 325,000 Canadian dollars in Canada.

The company said in November 2022 that the high-performance electric sedan would enter production in the first half of 2023, but it looks as though the SOP was pushed back to the second half of the year.