Author: EVAI

Lucid may be out to break the electric vehicle lap record for the Nurburgring Nordschleife, which was set by the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT in March of this year. An Air Sapphire prototype was recently spotted doing laps of the ‘Ring, covered by a light camouflage wrap and sporting racing seats.

CarSpyMedia posted a video of the Air Sapphire, which starts by showing the driver swerving at the start of the lap to put heat into the tires to get them to provide maximum grip. This is a strong indication that they may have been preparing the car for a hot lap, as is the aggressive cornering shown throughout the video.

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Lucid will have a tough time taking the record from the Taycan Turbo GT, whose two motors deliver a 1,019 horsepower burst of power for 10 seconds that allows the car to sprint to sixty in 2.2 seconds with launch control. It’s not quite as quick in a straight line as the Air Sapphire, whose claimed sprint time dips under the 2-second mark thanks to 1,234 hp from its three electric motors.

However, you can get the Taycan Turbo GT with the Weissach package, which adds additional aero components that improve downforce, Attack Mode, which unleashes the full potential of the motors and makes the power delivery more aggressive, as well as removing the rear seat and replacing some of the steel panels in the back with lightweight carbon fiber. The Weissach package makes the Turbo GT 165 pounds lighter, bringing the car to 4,894 lbs.

The Air Sapphire is over 440 pounds heavier and it has narrower rear tires. It’s not going to be as quick through the corners as the Turbo GT Weissach, but its superior power and torque should make up some of the difference on the straights. The current Nurburgring Nordschleife EV lap record stands at 7:07.55, which is on par with a track-honed 911 GT3 RS, and with its extra weight, the Air Sapphire stands little chance of challenging it.

It should have no problem posting a quicker lap time than the Tesla Model S Plaid, whose quickest-ever lap time was 7:25.231. It will be interesting to see if Lucid explains why it took an Air Sapphire to the Nurburgring, whether it was looking to break records or just test its hottest model on one of the world’s most challenging drives.

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GM and Rivian’s CEO have something in common, based on comments made in recent days: Neither thought EVs would become a political lightning rod.

On Thursday while speaking at the New York Times’ Climate Forward event Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said “I think it’s really important that we don’t make EVs a political thing, and I’m saddened that they are.”

“It doesn’t make any sense that they are,” Scaringe said.

But EVs have become political. Election 2024 has two candidates with very different stands on EVs, climate science, and democracy itself. Trump plans to gut EV policy. Harris backed the proposed Green New Deal and was a key figure behind VW’s emissions-cheating scandal.

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Pushing back on EVs has, in this last term of Congress, become a Republican position point beyond the top office in the nation—even though polling has pointed out Republicans’ aversion to EVs may be a generational one.

To that point, and veering away from the pull of partisanship, Scaringe offered that “the beauty of that is that whether you’re on the right or the left you care about creating a better future outcome for your kids.”

Asked specifically about the reasons behind why EVs have become such a partisan issue, Scaringe pointed to how a “massive amount of misinformation exists on electrification,” related to a lack of understanding of the battery supply chain and the scale of the challenge.

Scaringe isn’t alone in expressing a level of surprise over the pushback related to EVs and clean energy. On Sunday GM CEO Mary Barra told Kris Van Cleave during an interview “I never thought the propulsion system on a vehicle would be (a political) issue.”