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The all-electric Lucid Air Pure 2025 is dreamy, exciting and no less luxurious as it is the cheapest model in the Lucid Air lineup. I felt cool and special while driving, but in a simple way – as if I were wearing designer sweatpants.
But does passion equal value? I spent about 10 days driving the Air Pure on two different coasts to find out. The tl;dr is: yes, but only if these updates continue over the air.
The Air Pure is a technological dreamboat in many ways that aren’t visible “under the hood” — like its ultra-efficient electric motor. Its spacious and compact interior design with advanced sound system puts you in a good mood.
It’s the kind of car you’ll want to spend time in, especially if Lucid continues to work on iterating on its technical capabilities. Many of the car’s high-tech features justify this unreasonable $69,900 price. However, I found there was still room for improvement, especially in Lucid’s voice assistant and the DreamDrive advanced driver assistance system. The good news is that even these features have seen significant advancements over previous iterations.
Nuts and bolts
With an estimated range of 420 miles and a single rear-mounted 430-hp engine, the car Lucid Air Pure It is a compelling alternative to Tesla Model Swhich has a range of 402 miles in the all-wheel drive version and starts at $79,990. During one of my test drives, I traveled comfortably from San Francisco to Salinas and back, with additional city driving, all without needing to recharge. Lucid provided TechCrunch with the Air Pure on both occasions.
And to top off fast charging, Air Pure supports fast charging, adding up to 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes at stations owned by ChargePoint, EVgo, and Electrify America. Starting in 2025, Lucid owners will also be able to access Tesla’s network, although that will require a switch. While Lucid’s upcoming Gravity SUV will feature Tesla’s NACS port from day one, the automaker has yet to say whether future Air models will follow suit.
Sitting low on 19-inch wheels, the Air Pure is as aerodynamic as it looks with an impressive drag coefficient of 0.197.
As you approach the car, the electric motor and infotainment system automatically engage and the flush door handles come out. The front and rear strip lights also light up in a smooth movement that extends outward like rippling water, setting the tone for a high-tech but minimalist ambiance.
Lucid’s signature lighting is instantly recognizable, and the entire design comes together in a sleek, sophisticated “California New Money” way.
Expansive and technology focused
Sitting in Lucid Air Pure is a sensory experience. You feel like you can breathe in the driver’s seat with 40 inches of headroom and 45.4 inches of legroom, and I found myself running my hands over the array of fabrics and textiles used inside. Even the oval-shaped steering wheel with its ergonomic grip feels nice in the palm.
The Air Pure has a level of ambient noise such as a soft electric hum meant to mimic the sound of an engine, adding a futuristic spaceship vibe.
A 34-inch curved glass cockpit floats directly behind the steering wheel with three distinct control zones. On the left, a touchscreen manages quick-access functions like the charging port and windshield defroster. The central display displays important driving information – speed, gear, range and DreamDrive visuals. On the right, you’ll find connectivity and entertainment options, including Apple CarPlay integration and native navigation, media, and communications.
Below this, a 12.5-inch Pilot Panel sits atop the center console. This vertical screen, which can be tucked away to provide additional storage space, handles climate controls, parking and driver settings. It also automatically displays a 360-degree camera view when navigating tight spaces.
Adjustments such as the rear and side mirrors can only be accessed through the so-called pilot panel, which some may dislike. I didn’t mind, because it’s a one-time setup. Another plus is the ability to adjust lumbar support, and for an extra $7,500, you can upgrade to get a massager and ventilated seats — a luxury I’d totally splurge on.
I appreciate Lucid’s decision to retain some physical controls. Above the pilot panel are tactile knobs for adjusting temperature and volume. The steering wheel also features physical buttons to operate the advanced driver assistance system, change the song and activate the voice assistant.
The center console features two sockets for USB-C and Lightning cables and a sliding cover to keep items secure.
The back seat was also generous with 39 inches of headroom and 37.6 inches of legroom, which friends and family sitting in the back commented on. Rear seat passengers also have their own small touchscreen where they can control things like seat heating, air temperature and recalling or removing the sunshade.
While we’re on the subject of space, the trunk offers 22.1 cubic feet of storage space, while the trunk has 10 cubic feet. Overall, Lucid passed the Costco test run.
The obvious helper – swing and miss
Lucid originally launched its Pure series with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, and it didn’t do very well. Over the past couple of months, Lucid has begun rolling out a replacement — a white-label version that appears to be from SoundHound AI. Lucid would not confirm.
Lucid Assistant isn’t very good either. But really, is there a car voice assistant that doesn’t do that? Sometimes it makes you want to scream? Lucid Assistant can handle commands and answer questions about very specific things in the car. You can ask it about the weather, get directions to the nearest charging station, and ask it to turn on the seat heater.
When it came to music commands, those were limited. The Assistant can, for example, play Spotify and even play certain songs, but it often doesn’t recognize what you’ve asked for. I also couldn’t play any type of music. For example, in a moment of panicked hesitation, I asked him to play Top 40. Suddenly Sublime’s song “40 oz. To Freedom” was playing through the speakers. I’m not complaining, but this wasn’t what I asked for.
And while we’re on the subject of music, while the Dolby Atmos sound system somehow achieved the perfect balance between bass, treble and midrange, connectivity to music streaming services like Spotify was often spotty. The connection dropped several times, causing me to fumble through the pre-programmed Sirius XM options.
Native GPS and Lucid app
A few words about the original Lucid navigation system with personalized guidance. When compared to Waze or Apple Maps, they don’t always seem to take traffic into account, with ETA differences sometimes reaching 20 minutes.
It took a while for my eyes to get used to how the original Lucid system looked, too. Lucid displays live directions on the curved cockpit, with a larger map below on the pilot’s panel, and I found my eyes jumping between the two displays.
The Lucid app was perfectly fine. It worked as it should to open the trunk, open the car, open the charging ports, flash the lights and see nearby chargers. It’s not as advanced as Tesla’s app, but I expect it will continue to improve.
Mature dealing
The Lucid Air Pure is low to the ground (and you’ll really feel it when getting in and out), giving it a centered feel while turning. Acceleration is solid, though you don’t get the same aggressive boost you might get in a Tesla or Ford Mustang Mach-E. However, the car is no slouch with 0-60mph acceleration in 4.5 seconds. The suspension is great too, I barely felt any bumps in the road.
The Air Pure has three driving modes accessible via the Pilot Panel: Smooth, Swift, and Sprint. Smooth and comfortable for everyday driving. The Swift gives it more oomph when you’re keen to have a little fun or when you’re in a hurry on the highway, and the Sprint is designed for “advanced drivers” with “maximum power and torque for short periods of intense performance.” I didn’t notice much of a difference between the modes.
For those who also want more control over regenerative braking, you can adjust those in your driver settings, including turning on Crawl mode, which allows you to coast without using the throttle.
Lots of cameras and sensors
The 2025 Lucid Air Pure comes standard with 24 sensors, including six cameras, infrared, ultrasonic, and radar that are used to power Lucid’s brand of ADAS system called DreamDrive Premium. This includes features such as 3D surround view monitoring, blind spot viewing, lane departure warnings, automatic parking, adaptive cruise control, and a driver monitoring system for distracted and drowsy driving.
For an additional one-time fee of $2,500, Lucid buyers can upgrade to the DreamDrive Pro, which increases the number of sensors to 32 — including solid-state sensors, radar, ultrasonic sensors, and 13 cameras — and has a highway assist system A feature that combines lane centering and adaptive cruise control.
The benefit of purchasing this feature and its accompanying hardware is not what it can do now, but the promise of what it can do in the future. This all means that while Lucid’s DreamDrive still has a long way to go, if you purchase the Pro ADAS, you’ll have all the hardware needed for Lucid to add more automated driving capabilities via over-the-air updates in the future.
I found visuals like 3D Surround View Monitoring, front and rear view visuals, and blind spot detection useful, if not a bit overwhelming, when maneuvering into tight spaces or switching lanes.
I found the highway assist system to be the most useful, especially in stop-and-go traffic on California highways. This feature basically guides you, as long as you stay within the same lane and at a preset speed and following distance. You can initiate lane change assistance on the highway by long pressing the turn signal.
Deactivating the highway assist system was also simple and seamless. Just press the brake pedal, and you’ll be fine — no weird vibrations or annoying shifts, which were a problem in older software versions.
Lucid cars equipped with the standard or Pro DreamDrive system provide warnings for a drowsy and distracted driver, which only worked for me occasionally. The Air Pure monitors the driver via an infrared sensor mounted at the top of the steering column that determines the shape of your face and can tell if you’re not facing forward. But it doesn’t monitor your eyes, like other driver monitoring systems. Which I think is good for privacy and surveillance reasons, but bad for actual monitoring if someone falls asleep at the wheel.
I tested fate several times with the car in highway assist mode, even closing my eyes for a full 30 seconds. I also pretended to nod my head as if I was asleep, looked at my phone, and stared straight out the window. Eventually, the car hit me with an aggressive, repeated alert, saying it had detected unsafe driving, asking me to take a break, and offering suggestions for nearby cafes. But those warnings came a few minutes into my experience.
Finally, the Auto Park feature, which will scan the area for nearby places to park. Sometimes it worked, other times it completely failed to see available parking spaces. I was never able to get him to park parallel to me, but he was able to park often by backing into the space. The feature also promises Auto Unpark, but after checking left and right, my Lucid couldn’t quite handle it.
An almost perfect electric car
I really liked the Lucid, and if TechCrunch paid me just double my salary, I could see me and this car very happy together. Especially if Lucid continues to iterate the technology and make improvements, as it has already done over the past three years.
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