Before World War II, Victorian ideas that put showing off wealth over making a place comfortable to live had a big effect on American design. During the American boom after World War II, modernism replaced the complicated and arrogant style of the Weimar German Staatliches Bauhaus school. The Bauhaus didn’t believe in extraneous decoration. Instead, they wanted all designs to follow one main idea: form follows function.
Bauhaus’s design focused on straight lines and big, open areas. Victorian buildings, on the other hand, had rooms that were dimly lit and had rich woods and deep tones. In its purest form, the Bauhaus influenced high-class luxury and timeless style. Its impact can be seen in the International Style U.N. World Headquarters in New York City, the Helvetica font, and the Eames chairs from the 1960s and 1970s.
There are a lot of modernist simplicity projects in the car business. A lot of high-end electric cars, like the Lucid Air, have dashboards without physical buttons and smooth surfaces like brushed metal. But a lot of these simple homes that are focused on screens are hard to use. Very important items are hidden in options, which is where they are most useful. Important information is hidden to keep things clean. Drivers are annoyed by these cars because, despite their contemporary looks, the form still comes before function, like a Victorian-era sofa for passing out.
The Lucid Air’s cabin is truly modernist; despite its simple shape, utility is more important than style. Only four buttons—one for the driver and one for the passenger—and a knob for the volume of the music are used to handle the car’s features. Everything else is taken care of by the Pilot Panel, a center panel that can be pulled back, and a 34-inch instrument/infotainment cluster that goes around the whole thing. Except for the first time I synced a cell phone, I never had to go through more than one screen on the Air. So, I felt like I knew how to use its cabin well in less than an hour.
In the past, our reviews have said that Lucid’s software had latency and bugs, but these problems have been fixed with updates. The U.I. on my Air Pure worked fine for me. As of now, all Lucids, even the base-level Air Pure, come with Apple CarPlay wirelessly built in. This wasn’t the case with earlier models. When music was playing inside the test car, I felt pretty at ease. As with the rest of the Lucid range, the Pure has an amazing 45.4 inches of front legroom and 37.6 inches of back legroom. This is possible thanks to the innovative way the drivetrain is packaged. The only thing that makes it different from the other Air models is the faux leather padding that has been put in its place.
The only thing I don’t like about the Air Pure’s inner design is that the panoramic glass roof has been replaced with a regular aluminum roof. The only toppers that come with the Pure trim are covered in dark cloth, but since the inside stays pretty cold, this isn’t a big deal. The huge interior feels smaller because of it. The only thing that sets Air Pure apart from Bauhaus’s focus on light and airy design is its bright color.
Outside of the cabin, the Air does a great job of putting function over style. The Lucid is the most aerodynamic car ever made, with a 0.197 Cd and an efficiency-focused design. Only GM’s future two-seater EV1 is more aerodynamic. The Air Pure RWD gets an amazing 137 MPGe on 19-inch wheels, which is much better than its full-size luxury competitors (the Mercedes-Benz EQS and BMW i7 don’t even get to triple digits). The EPA says the Air Pure RWD can go 419 miles, even with Lucid’s smallest battery pack (88 kWh). With this longer range, it gets the best 4.76 miles per kWh of any non-Lucid device on the market.
If you don’t like quickness, don’t worry—it’s still pretty quick. The rear axle engine makes 430 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque, which helps the car reach 60 mph in 4.5 seconds. This model may be the best car for a driver even though it isn’t the fastest because it is the lightest. The Air Pure RWD weighs 4,506 pounds, which is about 800 pounds less than a Grand Touring with two motors and a long range. The change in weight is clear when driving.
My test drive took me down California S.R. 84 and 35, which is also known as Skyline Drive and is one of the best roads for drivers in the country. The Pure had a great time. Even though the front wheels don’t have torque vectoring like the rest of the Air series, the turn-in felt faster than in all-wheel-drive cars. The steering rack has a variable ratio, but it is easy to use and accurate when balanced, and I rarely had to change it in the middle of a turn. The Air Pure’s body never pitched or rolled too much in tight turns, and it stayed comfy for cruising.
The Pure RWD can’t turn off regenerative brakes like other Air models can, which is a shame. This means that if you want to drive wildly, you need to be very committed to the throttle. It’s unpleasant to drive really hard because you can’t keep your speed up easily, and the brake pedal doesn’t feel clear, making it hard for the six-piston front calipers to work together smoothly. The Air is still only a 5/10th car, even with the lighter rear-wheel drive choice. It is not a 10/10ths car. Still, it’s hard to see why you wouldn’t enjoy driving the Air Pure if you’re mostly interested in short trips and road trips.
The Air Pure RWD is a great deal at a starting price of just $71,400 after transportation, which is about $30,000 less than the Mercedes-Benz EQS, BMW i7, and Audi E-Tron GT. The only way to increase an E.V.’s range is to buy a higher-trim Lucid Air. There is no other car on the market that turns electrons into miles more efficiently.
This electric vehicle focuses on being useful, having a long-range, and being efficient. The Pure is the cheapest Lucid model, but it never feels like it has lost its usefulness. When used correctly, minimalism makes a design’s point very clear. By stripping the Air down to its most basic parts, Lucid has made its best car yet.
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