Lucid Air Sapphire Drag Races Ferrari SF90 Spider, All Bets Are Off

A regular production model instead of a limited-run hypercar like the LaFerrari, the SF90 also happens to be the most powerful series-production Fezza of the lot. 986 horsepower and 590 pound-feet (make that 800 Nm) is mighty impressive for a car with a dry weight of 3,682 pounds (1,670 kilograms) in spider form. The XX version is even pokier, for it belts out 1,016 horsepower.

Pictured in blue on a runway, the SF90 Spider in the video below is much obliged to race an electric sedan unlike any other in production today. Sapphire is what Lucid calls the most badass iteration of the Air, a four-door sedan with roughly the same footprint as the Tesla Model S Plaid. Coincidentally, both feature three-motor powertrain with more than 1,000 hp on deck.

There is, however, a big difference between these zero-emission luxobarges. Or two big difference is we're also including the starting price. Tesla currently asks $108,490 for the Model S Plaid, which needs 1.99 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) in ideal conditions. The quarter mile is dealt with in merely 9.23 seconds, including the industry-standard one foot of rollout before the clock starts.

Capable of 396 miles (637 kilometers) in one go with the standard 19-inch wheels or 348 miles (560 kilometers) with the performance-oriented 21s, the Model S Plaid is officially rated at 1,020 horsepower. Dubbed the pinnacle of electric performance, at least for the time being, the Air Sapphire has more than 1,200 horsepower under its belt. The most powerful series-production sedan in the world costs a staggering $249,000 at press time, way more than the $87,400 sticker price of the rear-wheel-drive Lucid Air Pure.

Estimated to weigh in the ballpark of 5,300 pounds (a little over 2,400 kilograms), the Sapphire is a steal compared to the $575,445 that Ferrari wants for an SF90 Spider. As expected from three motors providing near-instant torque, the Sapphire is – on paper – quicker than the SF90 Spider (1.89 seconds to 60). It's not as fast, though, with Lucid quoting over 200 mph (322 kph) compared to 211 mph (340 kph) for the SF90.

From the outside, it appears MotorTrend's Jeff Glucker wasn't paying attention to the 3-2-1-go countdown on the walkie talkie. He actually launched as best he could in the Fezza, but alas, the midship thoroughbred from Maranello couldn't assert dominance over the tri-motor sedan from Arizona in the quarter mile. As Jonny Lieberman puts it after the winning the race, "the Sapphire laughs at physics."