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The Lucid Air Dream Edition R’s first in-depth review reveals the car is a stunner
Lucid frontman Peter Rawlinson has spent plenty of years in the electric vehicle realm, so he definitely has an idea of what goes into creating a fast, luxurious, and effective electric car. Prior to his time at Lucid, Rawlinson was one of the key members of Tesla’s Model S development team back in the early 2010s, before leaving the company to pursue his own interests, eventually landing at Lucid Motors. As the electric vehicle sector continues to develop quite nicely in the grand scheme of things, with both exclusively electric companies and legacy automakers all contributing to the sustainable energy transition, Lucid is set to deliver its first vehicle, the Air Dream Edition sedan, later this year, and Motortrend got an in-depth and exclusive look at the car that could quite possibly be the king of the hill when it enters the market.
Design
One of the sharpest vehicles in the automotive sector, the Air Dream Edition was outfitted in Eureka Gold for this breakdown by Motortrend. Reminiscent of the Citroën DS redesigned for Blade Runner, the car is simple yet futuristic in its design. It’s a long sedan, and in photographs almost reminds me of an older Ford Taurus in its “boaty” nature. However, it is much more pleasing to the eye, in my opinion. (The Ford Taurus was my second car. I drove it to class in college, and Lord, I hated that thing.)
Credit: MotorTrend
Sleek and luxurious, the reviewers were more particular to this interior than that of the Tesla Model S, stating that “every Tesla since day one has seemingly shipped without a finished interior, Lucid not only crafted a perfectly wonderful luxury-car cabin, but it also smartly avoided the screens über alles aesthetic that plagues cars like the Mercedes EQS.” Truth is, the Air interior is still relatively simplistic, and while it does have a few more bells and whistles than the Tesla Model S, it is not all that different other than an extended instrument cluster, a repositioned center screen, and more material options.
Credit: MotorTrend
Performance
The Air Dream does not drive like a Lotus, which Rawlinson wanted when he designed the car: the look of a Mercedes with the ride of a Lotus. In fact, Jonny Lieberman, who wrote MotorTrend’s review, said it’s more like a Nissan GT-R. It has great handling, and with 933 horsepower, it’s extremely quick. Couple these performance tidbits based on Lieberman’s experience with the already stunning design and comfortable interior, and you have a car that is sure to appeal to many.
Carving turns in the Air was one of the highlights of the test drive. “I assumed the Air Dream Edition R would be decent enough to drive around big sweepers, but about 10 miles into our run up Angeles Crest Highway, I discovered the car enjoyed being manhandled through tight corners,” Lieberman wrote. The harder he drove the car, the better it performed, making it an ideal choice for a scenic joyride through winding and curvy rods, especially with the all-wheel-drive system to help navigate through those corners.
Not only is the car fun to drive, but it’s fast too, even if it’s over 5,000 pounds. Impressive with this pre-production Air model that was available for the test drive, the car will only improve as Lucid begins cranking out production models of the vehicle soon. This is where Lieberman expects Lucid to improve on an already great car. The front end seemed to be a little too free for his liking, while the back tires provided sufficient grip and maneuverability through tight corners. According to Lucid’s Director of Chassis and Vehicle Dynamics David Lickfold, the front spring rate will be reduced by 10% before production begins. The anti-roll bar will be stiffened for more support and stability, and active dampers will get an adjustment, too, providing an even smoother ride than already given.
Credit: Motortrend
Three Drive Modes
The Air will come with three available drive modes, as Lickfold was curious about the condition of the roads that the Air was being tested on by MotorTrend. He suggested Lieberman leave it in Swift Mode, the second option, between Smooth and Sprint.
- Smooth Mode: Motors limited to 670 horsepower, softens dampers and brake pedal feel, the steering wheel is “free” feeling
- Swift Mode: Motors limited to 670 horsepower, much firmer feel than smooth mode, suitable for quicker driving on winding roads, but still holding back some performance
- Sprint Mode: Motors can reach full 933 horsepower potential, dampers are very hard, extremely sporty driving feel with “Tesla Plaid-like battery conditioning” for battery performance
Swift Mode brings out about 75% of the total power output, according to Emad Dlala, Lucid’s Senior Director of Efficiency and Energy Technology.
Credit: MotorTrend
Efficiency, Range, Battery Pack
The Air Dream Edition R is supposed to have 500 miles of range at a minimum, and the EPA will either confirm or deny this when it certifies the car in the coming months. MotorTrend decided to test the range on its own terms with a drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco, close to 350 miles. Not only did this drive provide some insight on how the range of the vehicle would be, but it would also give the reviewers an opportunity to get a look at what the vehicle would be like in its most frequent way of travel: abiding by speed limits and traffic rules during highways, while having to navigate through traffic and provide the driver and passengers with safety, but also entertainment and comfortability through the lengthy quest up the California coast.
It’s a smooth ride, there was wind noise, a common complaint among EVs due to their lack of an engine to drown out road sounds, but tire noise was minimal, Lieberman said. The car sat on Pirelli P Zeros, specifically designed for Lucid. After 205 miles of driving, the range of the vehicle had gone from 503 miles to 286, so there was slightly more energy usage through the 205 miles of driving as 217 miles had been subtracted from the range since the start of the trip. The additional range usage was due to air conditioning, so Lieberman adjusted the temperature from 69 to 71 to see if there was any impact.
The team arrived in San Francisco with 69 miles of range remaining, not needing to charge up at any point during the drive.
Credit: Motortrend
While Lucid still remains very vague in terms of when the Air Dream Edition will begin deliveries, the company still expects them to occur this year. With its unique design, different drive modes, impressive range, fast performance, and sporty but luxury interior, the car is certainly one of the most-anticipated EVs in the last several years. The car, along with Tesla’s vehicles, continues to chip away at the idea that range anxiety is an issue and EVs are not fast and fun. The Air is its own vehicle, and it’s important to not count it out before it hits the road, especially as Lieberman, who has reviewed hundreds of vehicles, was quite impressed by the Air Dream Edition.
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In a pointed message on X, Elon Musk warned that firms maintaining significant short positions in SpaceX over time face “very low” survival probability.
The statement comes amid post-IPO volatility for the rocket company, now trading under the ticker $SPCX.
The survival probability of firms who maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 17, 2026
Five weeks after what was described as the largest IPO in history, the stock had fallen roughly 30% from its peak above $2.6 trillion, briefly surpassing Microsoft and Amazon in market value. Short sellers celebrated gains of about $8.7 billion, but Musk’s reply underscores his long-term conviction.
The warning directly echoes a detailed bullish analysis arguing that Starship’s cost reductions could unlock a multi-trillion-dollar space economy. Projects ranging from solar power beamed from orbit and asteroid mining to orbital data centers and Mars terraforming were projected to create over $100 trillion in new market capitalization.
In this vision, SpaceX acts as the essential infrastructure provider, akin to AWS for cloud computing, capturing monopoly-like revenues from launches, crew transport, and data traffic across a rapidly expanding frontier.
This is far from the first time Musk has targeted short sellers. With Tesla, he has repeatedly framed persistent bears as destined for major losses. In July 2024, Musk declared that once Tesla achieves full autonomy and volume production of Optimus robots, “anyone still holding a short position will be obliterated. Even Gates,” referencing Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ reported short bets.
Elon Musk reveals what Tesla stock surge could do to Bill Gates
Earlier, in 2018, he taunted shorts that they had “about three weeks before their short position explodes,” a remark followed by sharp stock gains. Musk has also called short selling “value destroying” and once suggested it “should be illegal,” viewing it as betting against innovation and progress.
Critics often dismiss Musk’s optimism as hype, especially when near-term metrics like quarterly deliveries or stock fluctuations disappoint.
Yet his pattern remains consistent: framing short positions against his companies as fundamentally misjudging exponential technological leaps. For SpaceX shorts, the message is clear: betting against multi-planetary ambitions and the infrastructure monopoly they enable carries existential risk for the firms involved.
As Musk and supporters see it, the space economy’s upside dwarfs Earth-bound valuation models, making today’s dips temporary in a decades-long ascent.
Tesla has evidently revealed which of its vehicle models will be the first to receive Starlink integration: the Cybercab.
Tesla’s Santana Row showroom now has a full-fledged display of the Cybercab, with an extensive bit of information hung around an exhibit that seems to reveal the vehicle’s newest feature: an integrated Starlink antenna that will enable secure and reliable internet access during trips.
Credit: @Starscream_SJC | X
Cybercab is geared toward autonomous ride-hailing for one or two passengers. The production units rolling off the lines at Gigafactory Texas are built without steering wheels or pedals, meaning when public rides begin, passengers will not need to interact with a human being or control the vehicle in any way outside of what appears on the center screen for their entertainment during the ride.
Tesla Santana Row will be reopening tomorrow with a full focus on self-driving. Everything in the showroom is about Robotaxi and Cybercab with stats and information about the technology. The Cybercab on display is the production model. pic.twitter.com/yIUYdOGFOp
— Shaun Cassidy (@Starscream_SJC) July 20, 2026
Along the display, Tesla wrote this message about Cybercab:
“Cybercab is built for autonomy. It has no steering wheel, no side mirrors, and no pedals. It goes where you tell it to go and how you want it to, so you can relax along the way. It is hyper aware and responsive to your surroundings, monitoring other drivers, responding to emergency vehicles, utilizing its expertise in the rarest scenarios to help keep you safe.”
Tesla has been teasing a potential Starlink integration for quite some time now. In December, the company hinted at potential Starlink internet terminal integration within its vehicles in a patent that described a vehicle roof assembly with integrated radio frequency (RF) transparency.
The company wrote in its patent application that a new roof design built with materials that differ from the standard metallic or glass elements used in today’s cars would allow it to integrate modern vehicular technologies, in particular, ones that require radio frequency transmission and reception.
Tesla suggested high-strength polymer blends, like Polycarbonate, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, or Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate.
This is the first time we’ve seen Tesla officially confirm the Starlink integration into the Cybercab. It’s not much of a surprise considering the company’s intention behind the Cybercab, which is to make travel autonomous.
Productivity will now be at a maximum during a work-related commute, while the center screen could be utilized for Netflix or potentially even live TV for those who are heading to dinner or to a fun activity.
SpaceX has updated its target for the thirteenth integrated flight test of Starship, aiming for as early as Thursday, July 23. The 90-minute launch window opens at 5:45 p.m. CT from the company’s Starbase facility in South Texas.
The target flight was initially rescheduled for today, but SpaceX pushed it back again.
This latest adjustment follows an aborted attempt earlier in the week and reflects the iterative, rapid-development approach that has defined the Starship program. With the vehicle already stacked and ground teams making final preparations, the mission represents another step toward proving the full reusability of the world’s most powerful rocket system.
Now targeting to launch Starship’s thirteenth flight test as early as Thursday, July 23 → https://t.co/Rp7VwBzpWx pic.twitter.com/Y0YNzfc5zk
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 19, 2026
The original launch attempt on July 16 was scrubbed at T-0 when several Raptor engines on the Super Heavy booster failed to ignite properly. The automatic abort system triggered just as the engines began their startup sequence, preventing liftoff.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed that some engines did not start as expected, prompting the decision to replace two Raptors on Booster 20 to ensure reliability. The issue occurred despite a successful full-duration static fire earlier, highlighting the complexities of coordinating 33 engines under flight conditions.
This cautious approach underscores SpaceX’s commitment to safety amid an aggressive test cadence.
Flight 13 builds directly on the lessons from Flight 12 in May 2026. The Super Heavy booster’s primary goals include a successful liftoff, ascent, stage separation, boostback burn, and controlled splashdown in the Gulf of America.
Hardware and software modifications address the off-nominal flip and boostback burn problems from the prior flight, where propellant slosh and engine relight issues led to an uncontrolled impact.
For the Starship upper stage, objectives include deploying 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites, the first real payload of this type, performing a single Raptor engine relight in space, and executing a controlled entry, descent, and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Propulsion upgrades aim to improve engine-out capability after one vacuum Raptor was lost on Flight 12.
Additional test elements focus on heat shield performance. Six satellites carry cameras to image the tiles during flight, while white-painted tiles and upgraded attachments on flaps and the aft skirt will gather data for future reusability.
The FAA completed its mishap investigation into Flight 12 earlier this month, clearing the regulatory path.
This suborbital mission, the second with V3 vehicles, advances Starship toward operational missions, including potential crewed flights and support for NASA’s Artemis program. Success would mark significant progress in rapid reusability and satellite deployment from the massive system.
Elon Musk sends first warning to SpaceX short sellers
Tesla reveals first vehicle model to receive Starlink integration
