2025 Lucid Air Sapphire: The Quickest Car We've Ever Tested

• With a 2.2-second 0-60 mph time, the Lucid Air Sapphire is the quickest vehicle we've ever tested.
• This 1,234-horsepower EV also ran a 9-second quarter mile.
• Braking and lateral grip data shows the Air Sapphire can hang with the world's best sports cars.

In the time it takes you to read this sentence, the Lucid Air Sapphire can hit 60 mph. Lucid's 1,234-horsepower electric sedan officially clocked a 2.2-second 0-60 mph time on our track, making it the quickest vehicle Edmunds has ever tested.

On that subject, a quick reminder: Unlike some other publications, we do not report acceleration numbers that include 1 foot of rollout. We report zero to 60, not 3 or 4 mph to 60, which is what happens when you include rollout. For full transparency, testing the Lucid Air Sapphire with rollout results in a 2.1-second "0-60" time.

This 2.2-second 0-60 mph time matches what we saw when we raced the Air Sapphire in Edmunds U-Drags earlier this year. During that sprint — where we had an entire runway at our disposal — the Sapphire completed the quarter mile in 9.2 seconds at 147.4 mph. This performance was enough for the Sapphire to beat both the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT and Tesla Model S Plaid (with track pack), two seriously quick EVs.

It's not just about straight-line speed

The best thing about the Lucid Air Sapphire is that it isn't just a one-trick pony of get-up-and-go acceleration. Riding on Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, we logged handling forces of 1.08 g on our 200-foot skidpad. Had this test car been equipped with the forthcoming Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS tire option — which is what we ran during U-Drags — the number would've been even higher. Remember, when back in U-Drags, the Trofeo RS-equipped Sapphire pulled off 1.34 g of cornering grip.

Not that 1.08 g is in any way a bad showing, of course. This is the same number achieved by vehicles like the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, Chevy Corvette Stingray with the Z51 pack and even the old Camaro Z/28. Braking performance is also stellar — especially considering the Sapphire's 5,350-pound curb weight. We stopped the Sapphire from 60 mph in just 107 feet, a number that rivals smaller, lighter sports cars.

Beyond the performance metrics, the Sapphire impresses in the way it drives on a winding road. The Sapphire has electronic torque vectoring across the rear axle, which means Lucid can actually take power away from a slipping wheel and shuffle it to the other tire that has more grip. Combined with adaptive dampers, stiffer shocks than the standard Air and increased negative camber for better traction, the Air Sapphire is an absolutely dynamite sports car — one that sets a new benchmark not just for electric sedans but for gas-powered ones as well.

You get what you pay for

The Sapphire's interior trimmings are lovely, its interior tech is vastly improved from when the Air first launched, and this car comes with just about every creature comfort you could ever need. Of course, it also costs $250,500 including $1,500 for destination, which is a tough pill to swallow. Even the new Porsche Taycan Turbo GT is cheaper — though not by much.

How long will the Sapphire be king?

The Taycan Turbo GT comparison is interesting, because if any car is going to upset the Sapphire's throne as the quickest EV, it's the Porsche. We actually saw a 2.1-second 0-60 mph time when we ran the Taycan in U-Drags, but we'll wait until we get one at the Edmunds test track in Southern California before we see if it'll claim top honors. For now, the Sapphire reigns supreme.