Has the Lucid Air smashed Tesla’s record?

Is the Lucid Air about to smash Tesla’s range record for a battery electric production vehicle?

A new teaser by the California EV start-up promoting the Tesla Model S fighter could show just that.

The counter in the video rolls up to 441 miles (711km) and then ticks over to 442 miles as it fades to black, suggesting that’s at least how far the Air can go between battery recharges.

That’s 40 miles (64km) more than the Tesla Model S Long Range, which has the most range currently offered in production according to the tough EPA test.

The good news, folks, is we don’t have to be kept in suspense long as Lucid is set to make an official announcement about the Air’s range this week.

The teaser is all part of the promotional hype leading up to the launch of the Air on September 9 (US time).

In the recent past we’ve been informed about the Air’s safety and driver assist package and before that, its world-leading aerodynamics.

That coefficient of drag of just 0.21 will play a key role in the Lucid achieving its long range. On the other hand, Lucid’s also claiming a spectacular 235mph (378km/h) top speed for the Air.

First shown as a concept in late 2016, the Air is a four-door sedan that will reportedly come in a choice of rear- or all-wheel drive, topping out at a 643kW dual-motor AWD with charge provided by a 130kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

It will be built in a new plant in Arizona.

While potential North American customers can now reserve an Air, Australian prospects remain an unknown.

Last April Lucid released a video of a test by an Air prototype in February from its Silicon Valley near San Francisco down the coast to Los Angeles.

It then drove back north via California’s central valley, with Lucid founder and chief technical officer Peter Rawlinson adding a second Air to the test in the afternoon.

Rawlinson was the original chief engineer of the Model S before leaving Tesla to set up his own EV company.

During that video the ‘range car’, as it is termed, clearly tops 400 miles between recharges in both directions.