Road Test: 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring

High-Performance All-Electric Luxury Sedan

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the sweet spot of the company’s signature sedans. It comfortably seats four adults in real luxury with advanced technology, superb all-electric driving range, eye-popping performance and a superbly smooth ride. The Grand Touring is one of four Air trims, in ascending order, Pure, Touring, Grand Touring and Sapphire. 

Silent Propulsion

Each trim has a different battery size, horsepower and all-electric driving range (AER) with the same physical dimensions. Here are the comparisons:

The all-wheel drive Lucid Air Grand Touring, with dual motors (one front and one rear), produces 819 horsepower and 885 pound-feet of torque. The all-electric driving range (AER) is 516 miles with the 19-inch wheels and 446 miles with 21-inch wheels, which is what our test car was riding on.

In 379 miles driving mixed roads and traffic conditions in Southern California, including regenerative braking, we averaged an efficient 3.41 miles per kWh hour. The EPA rates the Air Grand Touring with 19-inch wheels delivers as much as a robust 4.6 m/kWh.

Powerful Glee

Smile-inducing torque at any speed is what makes driving an electric car so special—and boy did the Air Grand Touring deliver! Clean Feet Report does not endorse nor encourage driving over the posted speed limit, but if you do, get ready for linear acceleration producing seat-pinning glee as that sub-four seconds goes by real fast. Don’t blink.

On a closed course with the Launch Control activated, we turned 3.2 seconds in 0-60 miles per hour runs, but before lifting we hit 88 miles per hour. Doc Brown and Marty beware!

Road Time

I did get some time in the Air Grand Touring negotiating mountain roads that offered a good opportunity to test the handling, weight shift, body roll and braking. At 5,204 pounds, the Grand Touring isn’t light, but does have a balanced feel around moderate sweeping corners. On long stretches of open highway (where a grand touring car shines) the drive and ride were impressively smooth and quiet.

The weight was felt when pushing corners to their limit, so opting for either the Swift or Sprint modes firmed-up the suspension and provided better steering precision. The steering feel was on the heavy side, which I prefer, giving a better ability to control the accuracy of turns.

The adaptive electronically controlled suspension controls the damping force of the suspension to provide for a smooth or firm ride. Driver-selectable stability control changes the settings for the anti-lock brakes, traction and stability control that all affect the torque vectoring.

The 265/35 Pirelli P Zero Elect tires were mounted on 20-inch “Aero Sport Stealth” wheels. The P Zero Elect tire is engineered for low rolling resistance, enabling up to 10% gain in battery range. They also are designed with a reinforced structure to handle the high torque and weight of the Air Grand Touring, plus reduce in-cabin road noise. Pirelli isn’t the only tire brand designing and engineering EV-specific tires. It’s important when getting a new set of shoes for a car like the Air to consider such a tire.

Lucid has engineered the Air Grand Touring to be an excellent long road tourer, hence the name. The balanced ride makes cornering fun but not in true sports car fashion. While not afraid of them, most owners will not be seeking out twisties on a regular basis, but will use the car in-town and on the open road.

DreamDrive Pro and Automatic Park

Lucid calls its advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) DreamDrive Pro, which allows for limited hands-free operation of the car on open highways. It is not a system where you go into the navigation, select a destination and let the car take you there. A certain unnamed car company says they have perfected this technology, but lawyers would tell you different.

DreamDrive Pro, best explained by going here, is activated by setting the adaptive cruise control, automated lane change, blind spot monitoring, following distance for cars in front, speed and automatic braking. It was easy to activate through the steering wheel mounted controls.

My experience using DreamDrive Pro was on a sunny, bright day, driving from Orange County, CA to the Mexican border on Interstate 5, an 80-mile trip each way. Once engaged, DreamDrive Pro held lanes well, took sweeping corners with ease and kept a safe distance from the cars ahead. It slowed when a car came into the lane. If you have never used one of these sophisticated systems, getting used to quickly slowing when a car pulls in front can be a bit disconcerting. Expect, with the speed set at 65 mph, slowing to 50 mph happens far faster than you would normally do it unless you were tromping on the brake pedal.

The system also allows for hands-free lane changes on the freeway. This too worked well, but was overly cautious, which I guess is a good thing.

Overall, it performed almost as well as General Motors’ SuperCruise found on Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet and Buick models. I thought DreamDrive Pro was equal to the Ford BlueCruise system.

Charging and Regeneration

The Lucid Air utilizes 900V+ volt charging, one of the fastest charging EVs, allowing for DC Fast Charging speeds up to 300 kW. At this speed, under optimal conditions, the battery can be replenished 10-80% in under 30 minutes.

The onboard 19.5 kW charger can handle a high-output (80 amps) Level 2, 240V home charger that will give a full charge from nearly empty in about 12 hours. Most owners will charge at home, which is what we did with our ChargePoint Home Flex charger. In an emergency, a common 120V household plug delivers a full charge in about two and a half days.

It is important to note cold or hot weather can affect the charging time and driving range. The Air Grand Touring has battery pre-conditioning to warm or cool the battery to optimize charging.

Charging is also through motor regeneration that, when coasting, slowing or braking, converts kinetic energy into electric energy and returns it to the battery. One pedal driving made it possible to do some driving without relying on the brakes.

Sleek Exterior Styling

When you spot a Lucid Air Grand Touring’s sleek exterior, what stands out is the long hood and short, almost bustle-like rear, which contribute to its very low 0.197 coefficient of drag (Cd) In comparisonthe Mercedes-Benz EQS comes in at .200 Cd and the discontinued Tesla Model S at .208 Cd, both of which are all-electric sedan competitors to the Lucid Air.

Without a radiator, the nose is almost completely closed off and features wide-sitting slit LED adaptive headlights. The low 4.9 inch ground clearance is the same as the Mazda MX-5 Miata. It is easy to see how air is aerodynamically pushed over, under, sideways and around the Grand Touring. The discerning eye will notice the charge door on the left front fender and the flush door handles.

Spacious Interior: An Eye for Detail

The interior is a superb example of craftspeople integrating fine materials into a well-designed cabin. Lucid names the Air Touring interiors after California destinations like Santa Cruz, Tahoe and ours, Mojave. They all get Nappa leather seats with the option of full-grain or natural grain. Santa Cruz comes in a black and ceramic color palette with North American Walnut trim. Tahoe gets black and saddle and with Carbon Oak trim, and Mojave gets seats in black and graphite with Carbon Oak trim. Mojave PurLuxe is a leather alternative in black and saddle with Alcantara inserts and carbon oak trim.

As to be expected on a luxury car, the Air has power everything, including the sumptuous front seats with 20-way power adjustments that are heated, cooled and perforated. The near full body massage is the best we have experienced. The heated rear seats do not have massage, but are sculpted, comfortable, and offer plenty of room for two adults to spread out, a third person can easily sit in the middle. The floor is flat, so toes and knees won’t be cramped, and there is a control panel to set and adjust the climate controls and power side window shades.

The optional Glass Canopy Roof ($4,000) seamlessly connects to the windshield, creating a sunroom effect from the hood to the rear window. Sunroom is appropriate as even with the UV-treated, tinted glass, that amount of sunshine heats and brightens the cabin. Bring a hat and sunglasses as there is no physical sunshade for the roof. The sun visors are of little use. We recommend sitting in a Lucid Air Grand Touring with and without the glass roof, in the dealer parking lot on a sunny day, to see for yourself.

Storage options include the largest trunk in its class. With the 60:40 rear seat upright, it measures 22.1 cu. ft. Folded flat, it expands to an impressive 64.8 cu. ft. More space to stash items is found throughout the cabin in the center console, door pockets and under the front console. The front trunk (frunk), is wide and deep, able to pack in 10 cu. ft. of stuff. Lucid likes to note that although the exterior of the Air measures to a midsize car, the interior is that of a full-size.

The dash is dominated by a 34-inch, 6K floating, curved OLED glass display. The left side has touch controls for seats, lights, wipers and the door locks. The center section houses the infotainment screen. The Air Grand Touring we drove was equipped with the optional ($4,000) 21-speaker Surreal Sound Pro system with AM/FM/SiriusXM, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Wireless phone charging and Bluetooth are standard.

The designers were keen on form over function, so there is a dearth of buttons and other switch gear, save for those found on the steering wheel and a volume wheel on the dash. This means everything must go through the touchscreen and requires flipping through multiple pages for even the simplest things a physical button or toggle would accomplish. The other is to use Lucid Assistant for voice activation by saying “Hey Lucid” to control navigation, the 5 zone climate control and entertainment choices.

Safety and Warranties

The Air Grand Touring comes with a long standard list of ADAS, including DreamDrive. This includes blind spot warning, lane departure protection, front and rear cross traffic alerts, automatic emergency braking and eight air bags.

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring has a 5/5 Star safety rating by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The Air Grand Touring has these warranties.

Pricing

All pricing includes the $1,500 destination charge.

Observations: 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring

There is something very satisfying about driving an electric car. The lack of sound as it moves down the road is wonderful, and the linear acceleration and instant torque from a stop or already at highway speeds is something to enjoy. This was expected before driving the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring, but was amplified with what could be the benchmark for luxury electric sedans.

If you don’t need all-wheel drive and the extra motor that adds even more horsepower, the Air Pure is a strong choice to get into a very nice car. Very nice, of course, is selling the Lucid Air short.

Climbing behind the wheel of the Air Grand Touring brings an instant appreciation of a luxury automobile. The Air Grand Touring has nothing-else-on-the-road smooth and sleek styling, an impressive, spacious interior with generous passenger space that rivals many SUVs.

The standard features list is deep, including soft-close doors, heated wipers, power trunk open and close, 360-degree surround view color monitor and a robust safety suite.

The minor issues we had with the Air Grand Touring are easily overcome, but none are in the critical areas of performance, ride, comfort, handling, charging and efficiency.

The Lucid Air Grand Touring is a full-size all-electric luxury sedan that competes directly with the Mercedes-Benz EQS and the BMW I7, although we would argue it’s more than competitive with gas-powered luxury sedans as well. It makes a strong case for those looking for a luxury electric sedan with the best efficiency and driving range.

The Air Grand Touring is built in Lucid’s assembly plant in Casa Grande, Arizona where it was recently joined by the company’s first all-electric SUV, the Gravity.

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Story and photos by John Faulkner.

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