[sandvinsd]

2022 Lucid Air Grand Touring EV First Test: Rethinking the Luxury Sedan

Ignoring its huge technological strides and stripped down to its most basic purpose, how good is the Lucid Air EV as, y'know, a car?

www.motortrend.com

 

[hmp10]

"InsideEVs" most recent podcast was something of a dump on Lucid. Both Kyle Conner and Tom Moloughney said Lucid was very attentive to them ahead of all the public gala events and assured them that, after production started, they would be given cars on which to conduct thorough range and charge testing. Now that the big Delivery Event is over, they said all they're getting from Lucid is radio silence. They're not getting their messages returned and are beginning to get suspicious that Lucid doesn't have full confidence in the car's performance in real-world testing for range and charge speed. They were both so exercised about the cold shoulder they're getting that they actually got a little belligerent as the discussion wrapped up.

The Lucid segment begins at 1:13:48 . . .

 

[CraZ8]

Blame can be assigned to both parties for this. Lucid for their lack of follow up and good PR practice. But you can also point to the Internet reviewers with the “ don’t they know who we are ?” Attitude. Hey guys the cars are just starting to roll off the line. There are literally hundreds of reviewers from the legacy media, car magazines and internet sites that would love to get their hands on a Lucid

 

[hmp10]

Blame can be assigned to both parties for this. Lucid for their lack of follow up and good PR practice. But you can also point to the Internet reviewers with the “ don’t they know who we are ?” Attitude. Hey guys the cars are just starting to roll off the line. There are literally hundreds of reviewers from the legacy media, car magazines and internet sites that would love to get their hands on a Lucid

Yeah, I was a bit put off by the undertone of petulance in the remarks.

On the other hand, I think Lucid needs to keep a sharp eye out for resentment among the auto press for what seems to be favored treatment of "Motor Trend", which invariably writes the most glowing reviews. In August of 2020, it was Kim Reynolds of "Motor Trend" who was taken along for the all-day real-world range test. A couple of months ago it was Jonny Lieberman of "Motor Trend" who was given a Dream Range for two days of semi-independent testing. This was the same Jonny Lieberman who interviewed Derek Jenkins at the Global Reveal in September 2020 and, instead of really probing or even asking any directed questions about the car, just turned his mic over to Jenkins for him to freewheel. And now, it's "Motor Trend" again who gets a Grand Touring for an independent test.

Meanwhile, other reputable outlets such as "Car & Driver", "Road & Track", "Edmunds", and the top tier of the YouTube reviewers (which actually does include Conner and Moloughney) have been given only short stints behind the wheel, and always with a Lucid employee in the car.

I'm a Lucid fan and stockholder and want the car to be well-received. But Lucid's decisions about press access are starting to look awfully controlled for outcomes to me. It's dangerous for Lucid to let this perception take hold.