Lucid Motors, a luxury electric car startup based out of Silicon Valley, California, recently announced an independently-confirmed .21 drag coefficient (Cd) for its flagship sedan, the Air, making it the most aerodynamic electric vehicle in line for mass-market sale if true. Now, CEO Peter Rawlinson has also confirmed that future customers will, in fact, be able to directly purchase a vehicle from the company which achieves these top-tier numbers.
“To the best of our knowledge, and we could be wrong, it’s the lowest Cd of a luxury production-intent vehicle,” CEO Peter Rawlinson told Car and Driver in recently published comments. He also affirmed that a Lucid Air with a .21 Cd would be for sale at some point to customers, according to the same article relaying the discussion.
The final production version of the Air will not be revealed until September this year, though, and once available for purchase, only a variant with a higher Cd will be initially offered – the Dream Edition. When the best aerodynamics Lucid has to offer are up for grabs, it should be noted that the wheels and tires will greatly factor into this possibility. For now, that means whatever body style was used in their latest tunnel test plus specially designed 19-inch wheels and 245/45R-19 Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus tires.
In the meantime, the nascent carmaker will have to rely on a “just wait and see” approach to validating their Cd claims of late.
“We can’t afford our own tunnel, so you better believe our results, because they’re from Windshear, and it’s validated,” Rawlinson clarified to Car and Driver. “I want to emphasize this… Lucid is not making this claim, Lucid is telling the world that this is the result that Windshear recorded.” Windshear is a well-regarded, independent rolling road wind tunnel facility which tests vehicle aerodynamics at wind speeds up to 180 mph.
Considering that Lucid’s market pitch since its inception has been laser-focused on aero efficiency, it’s not surprising that so much effort has been put into achieving the types of numbers the company is now touting. Rawlinson previously worked as the chief engineer for the Tesla Model S, which has a Cd of 0.23, in a way pitting the CEO against himself in the race for best vehicle aerodynamics.
Once on the market, Lucid plans an EPA range of more than 400 miles, a 0-60 time of 2.5 seconds, and a 1,000+ horsepower setup with 235 mph as its top speed. The lower Cd will contribute to achieving that range, of course. “The most important thing here is efficiency, and we’re chasing down four miles per kilowatt-hour for our car,” Rawlinson previously told Jonathan Gitlin of Ars Technica.
Lucid revealed a fleet of prototypes earlier this year which are undergoing testing to improve the company’s edge in all areas, not just aerodynamics. Final details on pricing, product specifications, and available configurations will be available once production officially begins. Order fulfillment is planned for the second half of 2021.
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Tesla has started to deploy the 2026 Summer Update to owners across its fleet, and among the biggest changes are improvements to Navigation, a new startup animation for the Model 3 and Model Y, Caraoke scoring, and new capabilities for Grok.
As the update has started making its way to some cars, we can now see a few of the features operating in real-time. We will show you what some of the new features look like in this article, along with some additional details on what changed.
Not all of the new features in the 2026 Summer Update have quite made an appearance, but some of them have, so we’ll show those here:
New Animation Screen for 3/Y
Tesla is rolling out a new startup animation for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners. This is present in Launch Edition and Performance Model 3 and Model Y, but other trim levels do not have anything like this.
The new animation screen on Model 3/Y with the 2026 Summer Update
Apparently color will also be customizable: pic.twitter.com/wSdwggtG3S
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 27, 2026
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Owners can adjust the color associated with the startup animation to suit their preferences. It is a surprise that more automakers do not focus on this animation for their vehicles; it can be a great first impression piece and make the car immediately feel more luxurious.
Tesla has included this on more premium trims, but it is nice to see it on the Model 3 and Model Y.
Grok Improvements
Grok can now adjust more things in the car outside of the Navigation system. Now, drivers can adjust anything from climate to driving settings by simply speaking to the AI assistant in the car:
@Tesla‘s AI assistant (Grok) with its new vehicle commands in action.
Set the climate, your destination and vehicle settings all in one go! pic.twitter.com/0bBTqaAk6G
— Not a Tesla App (@NotATeslaApp) July 28, 2026
You don’t even have to push a button, either. Instead, you can just say “Hey, Grok,” if you have it enabled. That feature rolled out with the 2026 Spring Update just a few months back.
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This is a great feature, especially pertinent for the Robotaxi platform, as there will be no buttons inside the Cybercab when it eventually starts giving rides to the public. It also broadens Grok’s capabilities, which were relatively limited in terms of vehicle setting adjustments beforehand.
Tesla briefly offered one Robotaxi part in its Parts Catalog for your personal car, only to remove it just a short time after it was first noticed.
Tesla’s Robotaxi camera washer apparatus was briefly available for purchase on the company’s Online Parts Catalog. The camera washer was first noticed on Model Y Robotaxi vehicles about six months ago in Austin.
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
First noticed by Not a Tesla App, the Camera Washer entries appeared for the new “Juniper” Model Y under a category called “Halo,” which has also now disappeared. Interestingly, Halo probably is related to Tesla’s internal “Project Halo,” which was a project that aimed to retrofit customer-owned Model Ys into functional Robotaxis.
This hardware addition would likely be required for the vehicle to operate as a Robotaxi, as the Camera Washer seems to be a non-negotiable part of the vision-based system Tesla utilizes for self-driving efforts.
However, this part has since been removed and is no longer visible on the EPC.
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Now the true question lingers: Why would Tesla add this Camera Washer to the Model Y parts catalog? Is it planning to make it available for owners to utilize on their own cars for personal use, or will it become a prerequisite for Robotaxi operation in customer-owned cars?
While discussing the upgrade options for Hardware 3 vehicles during the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that the company could establish small, satellite shops that would upgrade cameras and self-driving computers. Perhaps this same strategy could be utilized for vehicles that want to be included in Robotaxi but do not have the correct hardware.
AI4 is currently represented as capable of unsupervised self-driving, and the same was said about HW3 at one point, only for Tesla to admit last quarter that it would, unfortunately, not be possible. Perhaps AI4 vehicles might need this camera washer as a prerequisite, just as HW3 cars will need that camera and computer upgrade.
This could be the first hint of that’s where we are headed.
Tesla has started rolling out a broader change to the ride experience for its Robotaxi fleet by silencing turn signals, but the change is certainly polarizing.
Tesla has generally made it clear that its purpose-built ride-hailing platform, Robotaxi, will cater to the rider in nearly every way possible. This includes having climate preferences, music, and other personal settings loaded up in the car as the rider enters.
But Tesla is taking it a step further by muting turn signal chimes altogether, a change that appears to be a way to make the ride more peaceful:
Tesla has finally turned off the blinker/turn signal noises in their Model Y Robotaxis.
This is a small update, but will definitely be noticeable for riders. It didn’t really make much sense to leave the turn signal sound on when it’s Unsupervised. pic.twitter.com/ITwx60PAMO
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 27, 2026
However, there are a handful of people who are not thrilled about this change. Turn signals are a conditioned part of the human mind for those who ride in a car regularly.
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Taking a turn without one feels strange and odd, and not hearing it click while activated could set off some alarms for riders, who might use the noise as confirmation that other drivers know of their intention to turn.
I kind of like it being on, threw me off when riding with Zoox who has had it disabled
— Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) July 27, 2026
Turn signal noises are still audible in customer cars, so if you use FSD in your personal vehicle, you will still hear the turn signal.
The move is certainly one that is unique, but not one that separates it from other ride-sharing services. In a normal car, the clicking sound confirms to the driver that the blinker is active. In a fully driverless Robotaxi, that feedback serves no purpose for passengers, other than peace of mind.
Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features
Tesla briefly offered this Robotaxi part for your personal car
