Lucid Air Is The Latest Electric Car To Be Unveiled

FREMONT (KPIX 5) — Competition is getting fierce in the electric car market.

Just one day after Chevy debuted its Bolt, there's another electric car on the streets of the Bay Area.

The car Lucid Air was unveiled with all the theatrical flourish of an Apple or Tesla product launch.

Menlo Park's Lucid debuted the Air in the increasingly crowded all-electric car market.

Lucid Chief Design Officer Derek Jenkins said, "It's really unlike anything else in the marketplace. It's really about breaking away from the internal-combustion way of doing things."

"Our aerodynamics wizards have patented a vortex-induction system," Jenkins said.

Lucid says it plans to compete with Tesla as well as luxury car makers like Mercedes and BMW.

We got a chance Wednesday afternoon to take a test ride in one of their early prototypes. It's acceleration was surprising.

The Lucid Air boasts a powerful electric engine with a 300-mile range. It will also come equipped with all the hardware, cameras and sensors necessary to be self-driving.

Although its first cars — available in roughly two years — will not be fully autonomous.

Chief Technology Officer Peter Rawlinson said, "It's designed for people who love driving — who derive a lot of pleasure from it. But I don't love driving when I'm stuck on the 101. An autonomous car is a godsend under such circumstances."

The Lucid Air will share the road, and the market, with the best-selling Nissan Leaf, as well as Tesla's line of cars and the recently announced Chevy Bolt, as well as countless hybrids.

And how well it navigates the bumps in the road from concept car to successful company will likely determine its longevity in the electric car field.

Rawlinson said, "It's an exciting phase in our journey. And doubly so, because we kept so quiet for so long."

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