We Brought an EV to HOT ROD s Gasoline Drenched Quarter Mile Gunfight

It's now or never. I'm Jared Gall with Motor Trend. We're here at Maryland International Raceway for the first round of Hot Rod Drag Week. The Drag Week is an event conceived of by Motor Trend's sister publication, Hot Rod. Over the course of five days, we will be racing at five different drag strips. We talk about how important all five of these days are. You have to finish the event to obviously win it, but you're really going to set the tone here today. These are some of the fastest street cars in the United States, so we thought we'd bring one of the fastest cars we've ever tested. The Lucid Air Sapphire, 1,234 horsepower, runs a quarter mile and about nine seconds flat at upwards of 150 miles per hour. Part of the challenge of Drag Week is the drive between racetracks, the commute, if you will. Every day starts at a drag strip, make your quarter mile passes, and then there's a 200 to 300 mile drive to the next stop. A lot of these cars, in any other circumstances, are never driving that distance. But here, they're doing it day after day, all week long. And for the Lucid, we've kind of got a different approach to that challenge. It's not, we're worried about mechanics, we're worried about, you know, the car will definitely do it. The question is with an EV, as always, is range anxiety. Can we make it? There are all these different classes, but they're all based on engine displacement and aspiration, and we don't have an engine. And so they've dropped us into Street Machine Eliminator, a class that is limited to 10 second quarter miles or slower. And we know that car can run in the low nines, but we're having to just handicap each launch. Our goal is to keep the Lucid under control, try to stay close to that 10 second run, and we'll see how it goes. So we kind of thought we were going to be battling perceptions here. You know, these are the sort of people who can tell you the type of fuel the car is burning by the smell of the exhaust. So let's see if their perspective doesn't change once they see the numbers that the Lucid Air Sapphire can put down on the strip. Day one here at Drag Week, and there's lots of cool cars, getting to see them run for the first time. The energy in this place is just electric. So now we're going to get the Lucid Air Sapphire out on track and see what it'll do. You know, Brian, I changed my mind. You're actually just like the Lucid because no one wants to see it. Man, you're having a nice chat with this guy at the breakfast nook at the hotel this morning, and I just went out there and just buzz sawed him. It's all going so well. I thought he would reach the Daytona and made peace. You know what? He was collateral damage. Sorry, sir, you got caught up. An attack on me has become an attack on you and everything that you embody as well. But look at this Lucid running down the Mustang. He taps the brakes. Oh, he still ran too quick. So he's got two time slips. He can't hand in. He can still run the rest of the week, but he's out. At this point, you might as well let it all hang out. At this point, it's game over. But yeah, he fanned the brakes, goes 98, needed to go 10 flat. So we just finished our second pass here today, and unfortunately, I got a little too excited, and I ran both of them quicker than 10 seconds. And so in our class, if you run under 10, you get penalized with a 20 second pass. Since the week is about average ET, that pretty much screws us. So we're going to switch to the unlimited class. We'll be running against the big boy. So tune in tomorrow to see what that thing can do when we really let it off the leash. Day two. We're in Namedia, Pennsylvania at Namedia Dragway. They put us in the unlimited class last night. Now we know from our previous testing, this car can do a low nine. So we're going to get out there and see if we can't match that. Jared Gall and Chris Conlon lead the starting line. Conlon goes 124 in the eighth in the pickup truck, and it will be Lucid goes 954 at 150. Wow, big number. That is a 850 kind of mile an hour. That car was running in the Street Machine Eliminator, but he went too quick for that twice yesterday. And so he has been moved to unlimited so he can run that car all out. All right, so we just did our first pass of the day. Did a 9.5 at 150. Felt really good to finally launch that thing and just let all the power out. We get back to the pits after the run and it turns out they're not putting us in unlimited. So we're still stuck in the Street Machine Eliminator with that 10 second cap. So another run that's too quick. So now we got to decide, do we play by the rules in that class and shoot for low 10s? Or do we just send it and give the people what they want? We're not here to bracket race or play by the rules of some class that we don't want to be in. We're here to find out and show off what the Lucid Air Sapphire can do. That 9.5 is a lot better than we ran yesterday, than we were allowed to run yesterday. But we know from our testing that this car can do a 9.2. The reason we're off from that is these tires. That 9.2 was street tires on a street surface. Out here you've got a traction compound that gives these drag cars better grip off the line. To make the most of that, we really need slicks. Made it to Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania. For day three of Hot Rod Drag Week. The competition is starting to thin out as other racers break their cars and go home. But the Lucid Air Sapphire is still here. So let's get out there and see how we do. A funny friction lane. Oh, way better. Craig Steinbacher and Jared Gall. Steinbacher leaves with a nice wheels up launch. Gall in the Lucid EV. A car that ran 150 miles an hour. He's tracking down the Nova past a thousand feet. Goes 961 at 148. Steinbacher goes 956 at 139. So Jared Gall in the 2025 Lucid Air. And Mr. Gomes in that 16 Ford Mustang. Lucid actually spun the tire a little bit coming off the starting line. It's all wheel drive. The front tire is actually, for a brief moment in time, lost a little grip. Gomes goes 860 at 161. And the Lucid goes 969 at 149 miles per hour leaving us. Great improvement through the day yesterday. We started out with that 9.5. Got out for a second run and we ran a 9.3. Our quickest one yet. Felt really good to put down that number. And then we come here to Maple Grove today. A different track, a different surface. And we ran a 9.6. With tons of wheels spin off the line. Just spinning like mad. Thing cannot get traction. Little disappointed in that. But the reception to this car just keeps getting better and better. The more we run it, the faster we run it. People just respond to it that much better. Tons of questions. Tons of excitement about this Lucid Air Sapphire. EVs definitely have an uphill battle for acceptance in the drag racing community. And the Lucid Air Sapphire's ETs, or elapsed times, and trap speeds are going a long way toward that acceptance. And there it is again. 927 with a 3. 150 miles an hour for the Lucid. You can hate an EV on principle. You can't deny the performance. That is absolutely the thing. You can't deny the performance of them. Yes, I've been thoroughly impressed. The electric cars are coming a long way. And it's nice to see a car that isn't everywhere. Being able to come out and perform and keep up with some pretty quick cars. A really neat car. Especially to be able to see and sit in and be around it in person. It's a little quiet being electric. Makes up for it in performance. Yeah. I've been thoroughly impressed. When it come to Lucid, I had to Google that one. And it quickly impressed me. And quickly humbled me with my drag racing. A capable 1,000 horsepower car is still 1,000 horsepower. I'm not offended. When I see time slips like that, you're like, all right, maybe he's doing something. They're figuring it out. They're definitely figuring it out. Day 4 of Hot Rod Drag Week. And we are on the strip at Cecil County Dragway in Maryland. Today we can't use this nice sticky surface to improve on our times from yesterday. Jesse Helger coming up. The supercharged small block Model A. This 30 or 31 Model A should be a 990 car. And the Lucid next to it, let's hope for like a 920. It is all-wheel drive. Cliff Olson is in the 2011 Corvette. The Lucid has been running in the mid-nines. As it will do again. 935, 153 for the EV. 935, 153. Oh, that felt like a good run. Good quick launch. Not a lot of wheel spin. And that guy's got the comfiest cruise in this whole operation. I know that car is quick. So I am hopeful for a happy time slip. These guys face some tremendous challenges. Durability and reliability of the car. Consistency of the runs. The discomfort on the street driving between tracks. None of that is an issue for us. I kind of feel like we're cheating. We're having such an easy time with this Lucid Air Sapphire. We made it. It's day five. The last day of Hot Rod Drag Week 2025. We're back at Maryland International Raceway where we started. As the week has gone on, cars break, people go home. But the energy today is bigger than it's ever been. Hot Rod Drag Week is not just about drag racing. It's more a test of endurance. Driving these hundreds of miles in between tracks five days in a row. That takes a different type of car and a different type of prep than just showing up at a regular drag strip. Honestly, the Lucid makes this too easy. You know, we're not worried about reliability. We're not worried about breaking things. Our version of that concern is range. But with 427 mile range, even that was not a concern. The ease of running Hot Rod Drag Week in the Lucid Air Sapphire in no way takes away from the enjoyment of the experience. This thing, this event is amazing. The energy, the people, the camaraderie. It's incredible. To me though, the biggest victory this week is winning over the crowd. I came in expecting these people to really kind of turn up their noses at an electric car in the drag racing tournament. But reception to that thing has just been phenomenal. Everybody's amazed. Even if they walk away going, well, personally, I don't want an EV. Everybody respects that performance. So we came here to Hot Rod Drag Week to answer the question of whether or not the drag racing community is ready to accept electric vehicles. And from the reactions that we have gotten all week long from all these racers, the answer in my mind is unequivocally yes. He is going to spank the diesel. This is probably the home run shot for Garrett as well. Garrett in the left lane. Bumping it in with the Chevette. Chevette's going to get out earlier. 109. But look, he's just absolutely going to get the diesel drained out of his tank as the EV crosses by with much greater environmental responsibility. And running 919 at 147 miles an hour. And the Chevette, 1044, 124. 919 out of the EV, closing in on an eight-second lap. And its quickest of the week, I believe. I think 920 has been its best prior to this. Coming into this week, my expectations could not have been higher. I have been reading about this event for decades, and I had it built up to a degree that it could not possibly match. Except that it did, and it surpassed even that. Thank you, Hot Rod Magazine, for an unbelievable experience.