Lucid vs Taycan

[AnloTaycan2022]

Has anyone test driven a Lucid and if so how does it compare to a Taycan 4S, GTS or Turbo. Thanks

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[arijaycomet]

At this point I've had two separate test drives in a Lucid. First a Grand Touring, then a Touring. By power and Acceleration figures, the Lucid GT is comparable to a Taycan Turbo, where the Touring version is faster than the 4S, but not quite turbo. I found the power of the Touring was more than adequate, as are the options available in that trim.

Overall, the ride felt more comfort focused than sporty. Taycan steering and chassis dynamics are in-tune with feedback and driver orientation, where the Lucid focuses more on serenity and calmness. Even in the fastest mode, the Lucid falls short of being "in touch with the road" like Porsche has mastered so well. Lucid Air is no slouch, and it does a great job of going fast, but without some of the exhilaration you get out of a Taycan.

Both cars are heavy, but luckily both of them do a good job of hiding that. Lucid's chassis floated nicely down the road. Inside, the cabin felt not too sparse, and in many ways better ergonomics than the Porsche. I found the volume roller knob, and the HVAC controls felt cheap, but were a welcome presence to exist (I hate only touch screen access). Things just seemed to be placed in a more sensible place on the Lucid, and hey, dedicated track forward/backward buttons!

In the end there were pros/cons to both cars. I had a deposit for a Lucid Touring a few weeks ago but ultimately cancelled it, to buy a used '21 Taycan 4 CT (my 3rd Taycan). See, I want to get onboard with the Lucid so badly. But the forums paint a scary picture. Sure let's face it any forums are "woe is me" and this is no better. But some of the mfg blemishes in the Lucid remind me of my early Tesla model S days-- and I'm over that. I felt safer going with a legacy auto maker right now.

But... I still yearn for a Lucid. Right now you can do an 18 month lease on a Lucid Touring for VERY little money, and that is the way i'd suggest anyone get into one. Low term, small risk, reasonable expectations.

 

[AnloTaycan2022]

Thanks. Very informative. In the end it seems difficult to beat the Taycan.

 

[summerlion]

I love the Lucid for what it is, which is an electric luxury car. Someone interested in the Lucid should be cross shopping it against the BMW I7, not the Taycan.

When everything is working, I'd rather have the Lucid than the BMW. However every time I've been in one, something has been broken. When the sales people can't even keep their demos working properly, owning one becomes a scary proposition.

I am rooting for the company to succeed. I like the design of the car and was impressed by the performance and style. The performance aspect really is there for what they're trying to achieve. The reliability is highly questionable though, and I don't want to be left with this decade's equivalent of the Fisker Karma if they go out of business.

 

[mystermykee]

My parents have the Air GT. A few months ago, they went on vacation for two weeks and left their Model X LR and Air GT at my house so I was able to rotate between those cars and my Taycan. I always found myself going back to the Taycan. No doubt the Air GT is plenty quick, but that stuff gets old. The soft close doors are nice. It's very, very roomy.

Hrm....how can I put this? The Lucid got boring. Which car would I rather drive when going speed limit? Always the Porsche. I also hate, hate, hate one pedal driving (and the drivers of one pedal vehicles). It has something different to offer than the Taycan. Some folks on this forum would have been better off in a Lucid instead of a Taycan. If you prioritize driving dynamics, feel etc. Lucid is a hard pass.

 

[SergeyIndy]

All you have to do is watch something like this, hard pass. Fob, trim wiggles everywhere, headliner is velcro to the roof, doors do not work, to save you all the time. Quality department is taking long breaks. My view is that this is a former Tesla guy, went off to raise some money overseas, and build a pretend car with a big battery to go fast in a straight line, and collect a big salary. Every time I see one, I wonder if the people who get these actually have access to the "internets" and "iphones" and such to look things up...

 

[MHC]

I have owned both cars . Lucid Air GT and 2 Taycans - 2020 turbo and 2023 ST GTS . The lucid is an awesome driver and a marvel of design but I could not take the constant issues that would pop up. Infotainment not working well for much of my 18 months ownership experience - headliner falling down, frunk latch not working. All of these were fixed multiple times. In addition body panels didn’t fit - cameras or GPS failed. I only put 5k miles on the lucid but it was a constant source of frustration. My 2020 turbo Taycan was knock wood problem free. My 2023 is at the dealer now for the battery recall but has otherwise been flawless after 6 months and 3k miles. The Taycan is a sportier drive and much better fit and finish. The lucid is roomier and more comfortable. The AGT massaging seats are world class and rear seat legroom and trunk / Frunk storage is class leading. You can’t go wrong with either choice but be prepared for more service issues with the lucid.

 

[RSouthern]

I drove both the Taycan (Turbo, Turbo S, 4S and GTS) and the Lucid Air GT back to back on the same day and suggest you do the same. I went with the Taycan GTS because I wanted a more sporty and smaller sized car, but there were some other significant considerations that came into play that you might want to evaluate yourself:

1. Lucid didn't do trade-ins (and still doesn't to my knowledge) - this was a show stopper for me since I had a Mercedes S550 and a Nissan GTR that I was trading in. Having to sell these and deal with all the tire kickers (especially for the GTR) and possible scammers and haggling was going to be a major headache that I didn't want.
2. Lucid is a new company and really seemed desperate to sell their cars. It had a much more "hanging on by a thread" feel than other companies... It seems to me like they will either go out of business or be bought by one of their competitors - which could have an impact on parts and service availability down the road.
3. the Lucid is big. It's very nice but it's big. It feels big and it is big. It really feels like a large Mercedes sedan in the way it drives and since I was trading in the S550 I wasn't looking for another one.
4. Not much in the way of options and colors on the Lucid. There is a limited selection of exterior and interior options but not much variety or room to customize. The Porsche gives you the exact opposite, so you can find what works for you in terms of materials, colors and options
5. Looks. This is super subjective, but I don't like the way the Lucid looks. The front is too slab-like and the 2 color design (silver or black roof) just wasn't what I was looking for. The Sapphire wasn't out at the time I was looking (4 months ago), and might have been interesting since the roof is body colored, but it's also way too expensive.

These are my opinions and reasons for my selection of the Taycan. I love the Taycan and don't have any regrets with my decision. Enjoy your journey as you make up your mind!

 

[CAGCTG]

I drove both, and ended up with Taycan GTS. The reasons are stated in the replies above, BUT I must say, I would really really like another 100 miles of range in my Taycan. On trips, I'm always aware of finding my next charging stop. We frequently drive from San Diego to Mammoth Lakes, about 440 miles, and the EA chargers are available and seem to work reliably. But, we absolutely rely of all of them working, otherwise, we could be stranded in the middle of the Owens Valley.
For this reason alone, I'm envious of the Lucid. For less than the cost of the GTS, we could have had a Lucid with 500 mi range.

 

[AnloTaycan2022]

Just so you know. I have no intention of trading my Taycan with a Lucid but I am envious of the autonomy. Also the price has considerably dropped for Lucid making them un Canada less expensive than a Taycan. The only Lucid store in Canada is in Toronto. So I was curious to hear from people who drove one. I don’t like the look but this is subjective and financially they are really not yet in a great position.

 

[Jonathan S.]

I went on a ~5 min AGT low-speed test drive at a sustainability festival.
(Yes, somewhat ironic theme! One of many such festivals on our town common, and just happened to have EV test drives.)

Pros: interior space (back seat is huge, and cargo capacity is big too for a sedan), general comfort, ride (I intentionally sought out a big pothole!), controls, displays (love the signal-activated rear cameras and the central console 360 display, plus the dash is high enough so as to miss my beloved HUD all that much).

The two-tone roof though looks just perhaps even worse in person as it does on the internet.
The front grill is more the typical "Hey this is really an EV!" look.

Other drawbacks include 50kW max at Magic Docks and 2025 TSCN V3, lack of published information on trim differences (e.g., driver seat ventilation, massage), limited service centers, and uncertain future prospects for the company.

Overall, the Venn diagram overlap with Taycan prospective buyers is not null.
But the Lucid circle overlaps pretty much perfectly with the circles for the i7 and EQS EV luxobarges.
Like the i7 (but not the EQS), the reviewer consensus seems to indicate a good level of driving engagement, even if it's not of course a Taycan.

BTW, Elon is now mocking Lucid on Twitter X for entering into a NACS/TSCN agreement with his very own Tesla -- what a sore winner!

 

[summerlion]

I decided I'd rather have a Taycan over a Lucid (even though the Taycan was way more expensive). However I'm pretty sure I'd rather have the Lucid over my Volvo as a family car/long distance trip car, if I had more confidence in the long term prospects for the company. If I could convince my wife, I'd have both. I see them as complementary and not in competition.

 

[Valerian]

All you have to do is watch something like this, hard pass. Fob, trim wiggles everywhere, headliner is velcro to the roof, doors do not work, to save you all the time. Quality department is taking long breaks. My view is that this is a former Tesla guy, went off to raise some money overseas, and build a pretend car with a big battery to go fast in a straight line, and collect a big salary. Every time I see one, I wonder if the people who get these actually have access to the "internets" and "iphones" and such to look things up...

Thanks very interesting and glad I cancelled my order. Today I got back my £770 deposit on the Lucid as no sign of them in the UK after 16 months. I'm happy with my Taycan.... and the money can go towards extending my warranty when it runs out in December. Lucid were very efficient in refunding me almost immediately...

 

[Nogas]

I came across your chat and therefore registered to clear th air- from an owner of a Lucid.

Agree, minor trim issues- but these are addressed by service- the after sales service is exceptional and they have mobile as well. You should expect that with any brand new manufacturer. Good thing is- ABSOLUTELY NO RATTLE- in the car after a year of ownsership. Quality is not as bad as you are led to believe.

I looked at the Taycan- but range is too low, I fel it was cramped for backseet passengers- but its a sports EV and that is expected. I wanted a proper 4 seater comfortable for backseat passemgers. Another reason I said no to the Taycan was lack of OTA updates. I like the that Lucid,Tesla, RIVN offer OTA .

Ride and handling is phenomenal for a car this heavy. Mush better than my Model S. And they achieved this without air suspension. Engineering is a marvel.

To sum it up- its the BMW M5 of EV's.

Again not dishing on the Taycan, it is a phenomenal sport EV, but Lucid is targetting another market- the luxury sedan market. Lucid is not as bad as you all believe. Go look at the " real " auto journalist reviews. They have the best EV tech- and i wanted the best tech.

 

[MHC]

I have owned a Lucid Air Gt and two Taycans. I agree 100 percent with the comments by Nogas above. The lucid is an awesome car and is much roomier and more comfortable than the Taycan. It is not as sporty (comparing Air Gt to Taycan turbo or GTS that I have owned). In may 2022, I bought the lucid and sold my 2020 Taycan turbo (which had no issues) because the lucid had awesome tech and 2022 car of the year was a deserved award based on the potential of the car. Unfortunately , what I found was a lot of frustration over little things that always went wrong - frunk, latches, key fobs, infotainment, nav systems, cameras that would go awry due to software or other issues. I had an early build (vehicle 869 ) and so later builds may be better but for me I finally got tired of things not working. I also had trim issues as well. I never had an issue with Drivability or rattles etc. I also found in practice that the great range for a Lucid was not an issue for me as I rarely drove more than 200 miles on a single leg of a trip. lucid service was very good but it would often take weeks to schedule service because I didn't have drivability issues which they addressed as a priority. I bought a 2023 Taycan Sport turismo GTS and sold the lucid and am happy with the decision. I lost a ton on the sale of the lucid which I thankfully sold privately as dealers didn't want the car on trade and their offers were terrible. Lucid has lowered retail prices and offered subsidized financing or leases which is tanking resale values. lucid will survive if the gravity (New SUV version is a success) or if the Saudi PIF which owns 62 percent of lucid keeps funding it but if either goes wrong lucid is finished. in which case the 140k AGT car with 5k miles I sold for 90k last month will sell for 50k . If you buy a lucid I would lease it to hedge against Lucid's demise and a big back end loss.

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