Tesla Model S Plaid vs Lucid Air Dream Edition.

Tesla Model S Plaid vs Lucid Air

Tesla Model S Plaid vs Lucid Air Dream Edition: very few cars can take the crown as being a luxury four-door sedan able to carry five adults while also having the speed of a supercar and being all-electric, by now we're very well aware that the tesla captured this with their model s plaid, but today we're comparing a new competitor into this space the lucid air dream.

Range and Speed

Lucide Air Dream

Tesla Model S Plaid

now the model s plaid sports a 100-kilowatt battery and that's delivering a 348-mile range along with a 0-60 time of 1.99 seconds now the lucid is sporting a 118-kilowatt battery pack allowing you a range of 471 miles, for the performance edition which we have here and then a 520-mile range on the range edition now that promises a 0-60 in 2.5 seconds, but this allows you to go from la to San Francisco, and more without ever having to stop pretty incredible for an electric vehicle.

Wheels and Tires

now the model’s plaid comes with Michelin 265 35 21-inch tires in the front and 295 30 21-inch tires in the rear in retrospect the lucid comes with Pirelli tires 245 35 21s in the front and 265 35 21s in the rear giving the model s plaid a very wider tire than the lucid.

Lucid Headlights

now lucid has developed an in-house very unique headlight system it's designed with microarray LEDs it's quite amazing and bright to do so they had to build in a vent system here to keep the array cool it allows air to go in from here and vent on top keeping the efficiency still low and amazing while not sacrificing the headlights.

 Safety Systems

Lucide Air

Tesla model S

 

 

 

 

now electric vehicles sport a lot of cameras in their vehicles and tesla's not any different Teslas have eight cameras there are three up front two on either side of the vehicle and one around the rear along with that they support 12 ultrasonic sensors and the model s also has radar as well now while the tesla was rocking eight cameras lucid is going all out beast mode with 14 cameras on the vehicle five radar and as well a lidar system so it just feels like the lucid is gonna be a far safer vehicle with all the coverage and systems that are included with the vehicle.

Doors

now when thinking about a hundred-thousand-dollar vehicle there's a certain element of luxury that you would come to expect like soft closed doors surprisingly Tesla doesn't have that now the lucid on the other hand actually includes soft closed doors and it's just a beautiful nice touch.

Model S Storage Space

okay the benefit of electric vehicles obviously along with a trunk you also get a frunk because there's no motor so when we look at the model s plaid the frunk does need to be manually opened so it only just unlocks so you need to actually physically open it and it's not the largest in capacity I’ve got a one wheel pint here that I can put in and then I’ve got a 30 liter backpack it's getting a little tight in here so I think I can get it to work and you're pretty much maxed out at that and that's what the model s plat has to offer as far as front space is concerned now while the frunk offered a very nominal five cubic feet it's made up for in the trunk offering 28 cubic feet enough space for myself my one wheel my backpack and that's due to the hatchback like design that gives it a whole ton of space the benefit of the hatchback design is that you can actually take out the parcel shelf it's attached by magnets and fold down the seats right from back here and it unlocks them and you push them down giving you full access to the entire interior of the vehicle.

Lucid Air Storage Space:

now different from the tesla the lucid offers number one a powered front I don't even have to touch it and it auto opens which is awesome not only that this is double the cubic feet at almost just shy of 10 cubic feet than what the tesla has to offer I can actually sit very comfortably in here and have a sandwich should I feel the need to but that's not all I don't have to touch it to close it I hold the button and it closes it I’ll take the larger double size for frunk on the lucid over the plaid okay now the 10 cubic feet that the frunk offers is divided up into a sub franc which is kind of nice but you can keep the cover closed if you want to hide your valuables underneath and just leverage the top which I’ve got plenty of room for my one wheel my backpack and room to spare for my lunch let's say it's pretty nice now while the lucid trunk isn't quite as big as the tesla only at 16.2 cubic feet it does have a generous amount of space you can see I’ve got my one wheel in back there's also a sub trunk which folds away and you've got space down here as well as two side pocket cubbies that are kind of shallow but do give space to store additional stuff now a lot of that space was shaved off to give more room to the rear passengers which we'll take a look at in a minute what's unique about loci’s trunk is that it wraps around the side it's a very unique interesting look as opposed to standard trunks that actually just cut back by doing so it allows it to have more room around the sides and makes for a larger trunk in the width department it's very unique.

Model S Interior

well nothing's like the tesla interior it's extremely minimal and  completely different from any other vehicle that i have ever driven or ever seen so it's it's very unique um but to some people that can be jarring and i think the most jarring is the yolk steering wheel so believe it or not as much as i've covered the yolk steering wheel this is my first time driving with it and i don't know it's got its pros and it's got its cons and uh i don't know i'll say the one thing that i don't think it's as horrible I think what is absolutely horrible is the turn signals i find myself having to look down every single time to remember which is left and which is right because i have to see what i'm pressing but i do like that there is no obstruction here and i can clearly see my dashboard display that's behind the steering wheel very clear it's coming very handy and this screen this 17 inch screen is awesome everything is right there and while you do have to click around to get to where you need to go there is a voice command that's pretty easy to get to lack of a traditional horn in the middle which i think tesla is addressing it's a tactile button those are kind of things that you miss having a physical button for everything else is there you've got your wireless charging you've got your cup holders plenty of storage space in the center console and uh overall a very nice sleek minimum interior not a whole lot of luxury items there's no massaging seats but there is heating and cooling front seats and heating rear seats and i am feeling pretty comfortable here in the front seat and as i'm driving.

 

model S Interior

Lucid Air Interior

all right well tesla gives us one 17-inch giant display in the center of the dash and then a heads-up display lucid is doing quite the opposite it's a 34 inch 5k cockpit display right here up front and it's got everything on it really nice and easy to read and see and the way they've divided it out is really interesting you've got your quick access stuff here on the left things like your lights your charging port locking and unlocking the door your defrosters your wipers things like that they're just quick easy click on and go then right in the middle you've course got your gear selector your charging status your speed and everything like that and then off to the right you've got things like your navigation you've got things like your audio your phone things like that and what they've done is then there's a screen that actually pops down in the center console this works as an extension to the right flare of this 34 inch display and you can take things like music and bring it down there to see it on a bigger screen you could take things like maps so that you can type and access it better on the bigger center console display and then swipe it up so so you have access to the rest of the controls of your vehicle which are all on this center console display which retracts away it's like an ipad that just pops out and goes back in whenever you want it to now like tesla a lot of the controls are removed most of the stuff is on the screen lucid also has a lot of controls on the screen but some things as they are great having tactile feedback remain like your temperature or your air just to easily increase or decrease the air flow and also, the old classic the vents there are actually air vents in this car and you can adjust them and move them and twist them onto how much you want to open and close them and point them exactly where you wanted tesla's taken a different approach to a blade air vent list system that's invisible and it makes it a more cleaner you know dash but lucid kept it original and I think there is a healthy balance to be in the middle of some things where you want quick easy responsiveness and where you still want to keep a very minimal but very futuristic feel and I like the combination that lucid has done here.

lucid air interior

Model S Sound System

model s plaid does feature 22 speakers for an immersive amazing sound system um it has active road noise reduction for the people in the front not quite sure how that works but I think it's very similar to just canceling out the road noise it is a fairly quiet ride I will say that and the sound system sounds damn amazing with 22 speakers.

Lucid Air Sound System

now as far as speakers lucid comes in one short when compared to tesla at 21 speakers but it is also the world's first car to offer Dolby atoms technology not only that it's compatible with apple car play and android auto which are both lacking in the tesla.

Seat Comfort

comfort level the seats are comfortable the bolsters are bigger they're holding me and there are a slew of controls that you can do as far as positioning now on the tesla you can move the seat forward and backward and up and down and tilt and lumbar but here you've got everything from position to height to reclining to cushion tilt lumbar support backrest width thigh support and then if that wasn't enough these seats also have massaging capabilities and so you know if you just want that level of comfort and you want to unwind you can start your massage and oh yeah I can feel that that feels I could get used to this and that's what you kind of look for these are these premium features in a hundred thousand dollar car massaging seats is a nice touch.

Model S Drive

Model S Drive

what's nice about the plaid is that it's got adaptive suspension so you can actually adjust it for a softer ride a smoother ride or stiffer for a sportier ride and then of course everyone's favorite is the power that's underneath this all 0 to 60 in 1,99 seconds brace yourself it's just at the touch of your foot and you just fly uh so it's a nice thing to have in your back pocket why.

Lucid Air Drive

 

Lucid Air Drive

not okay in regards to the drive I’m very impressed with the lucid air you know to keep in mind this is not on air suspension these are on springs and yet the drive is comfortable it's smooth it's almost like we're just gliding and I believe that we're driving on sport mode and that's not even the comfort mode it's just quiet and it's clean now as far as the quiet aspect for it you know I do have my qualms as far as when I reduce down the speed, uh so much I hear the pedestrian uh alert noise which lets people know when you're driving because there's no engine it doesn't make any noise but secondary when you pick up the motor whirl that you hear is more prevalent in the lucid than it is in the tesla so while it's very quiet I still hear that whirling noise and it's not the end of the world but something to call out but yes overall a very smooth drive hugs the corners and turns very well I’m happy with the drive on the lucid.

Model S Touchscreen

now tesla has been in the game for this long their interface is beautiful it's simple it's easy it's quick to press and access things you've got rearview cameras you can see there's no lag you know there it's very responsive it's very fluid it's got everything that you need and that's because of how long they've been doing it for they've perfected the software which makes a huge difference when you're driving and you're solely dependent on this center screen.

Lucid Air Touchscreen

center console display just comes right out and you've got things, uh you've got access to things like your charge port your frunk your trunk you've also got access to all your seat controls both for the driver and passenger remember I told you all the configuration settings there's so much that you can change and adjust and make it truly comfortable for you and if that wasn't high-end enough you can activate massaging while you drive so that you don't feel fatigued both for the driver and passenger there are themes that you can activate bringing some nice ambient colors into the vehicle there's also all your charging information as well here how many miles you have left at the bottom you've got stuff like your hvac which you've got of course like I said heating and cooled seats for the front you've also got rear temperature control heated seats in the rear as well you've got all of your settings on your vehicle everything from your profiles to your applications to your audio settings to connectivities your displays your dream drive settings this is everything in lucid’s autopilot system they've got things like distracted driver warnings trouser driver warnings there's monitoring inside the vehicle to make sure that you are being safe your vehicle settings as far as your trip information and tire pressure and safety and security feature so very similar to kind of tesla's setup and then there's parking now this is cool remember when I talked about those 14 cameras well because of those 14 cameras you can do things like look around your entire vehicle as to where you are it's showing you your surroundings this is exactly where we are and you can see it from every angle that you want you can even zoom into the vehicle and look inside of course they're not showing us sitting inside but it's pretty cool that you're able to do this and that's powered by all those cameras quickly jump to a certain angle.

Conclusion

so the lucid air dream comes in at 170 000 $ whereas the plaid model s comes in at 134 000 $ now one thing to keep in mind is that the lucid still qualifies for the federal tax credit and you may get a state rebate also bringing the cost down but there's still a fairly big cost difference now while you're it's worth it on the lucid because you are getting that luxurious that high end that premium feels you are dealing with a first rev EV and that means quirks things like your key fob not working or the doors locking and unlocking or things lagging and so forth that will get fixed via software update the plaid model s is a seasoned veteran when it comes to software everything just works they've been doing it for years and it's a solid car so which one do you go with that's up to you I’m curious to know which one you would go with would you go lucid or would you go tesla plaid.