Lucid Air vs. Tesla Plaid Is the Drag Race We Deserve, the Gap Is Out There

More than half a decade ago, the world was astounded by the hybrid hypercars released by Ferrari, Porsche and McLaren and I distinctly remember the thrill surrounding their drag racing activities back in 2015. So, what makes up the Holy Trinity today? Yes, there are all-electric hypercars out there, but if we’re talking about the most popular beasts, perhaps the answer comes from the Tesla Model S Plaid, the Lucid Air Dream Edition Performance, and the Porsche Taycan Turbo S. So, let there be racing!

For the time being, we can enjoy a quarter-mile battle between the Tesla and the Lucid, with the American duo having recently duked it out over in Texas.

The 1,000+ horsepower electric sedans were brought together by Brooks Weisblat of the DragTimes YouTube channel, who didn’t forget the Taycanโ€”you can notice the German stalking the two in the background of the video below, while the vlogger even promises that future clips will bring the trio together.

Tesla Model S Plaid vs. Lucid Air Dream Edition Performance

The two battled on four occasions, with one of these involving a rolling start at 25 mph (40 km/h). As for the standing start brawls, the Tesla skipped its launch mode for one of the battles to give the heavier, less performance-focused Lucid a better chance.

The lack of a prepped surface and the unkind temperatures meant none of the vehicles managed to offer their best quarter-mile numbers, with the best recorded times sitting at 9.6s for the Plaid and 10s (clean) for the Lucid.

For the sake of comparison, the Tesla Model S Plaid can cover the quarter-mile in 9.23s at 155 mph (250 km/h), while the best Lucid Air Dream Performance time recorded to date is the said 10.0s stunt.

However, it’s worth noting that, soon after publishing the video showcasing the said 10-second feat, Brooks was contacted by Lucid, receiving a set of instructions on how to condition the battery pack of the vehicle for optimum performance (you’ll find it in one the screenshots below).

With a price of $169,000 before incentives, the range-topping Lucid is some $40,000 pricier than the current Model S king and it’s no secret that while they’re both capable of giving supercars a hard time in a straight line, the first makes for the more lavish offering.

However, as Brooks points out in the final part of the clip, the 60-130 mph (96-209 km/h) and 100 to 150 mph (161-241 km/h) numbers reveal that these spacious family sedans doubling as drag strip animals are about eight-tenths of a second apart as they deliver their silent velocity kicks.

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