Lucid Air Named Best Car To Buy In 2022 By Green Car Reports

Lucid's debut sedan beat competition from the Mercedes EQS, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Rivian R1T, and Volkswagen ID.4 to win GCR's annual Best Car to Buy award.

Green Car Reports has been testing and reviewing environmentally-friendly cars for over a decade, so their annual Best Car to Buy award carries a good amount of weight within the EV industry. For 2022, the website has chosen the Lucid Air as the best new EV you can currently buy.

What It Takes To Win
Ultimately, Green Car Reports respects and values the contributions made by EVs, hybrids, and PHEVs towards reducing the impact human mobility has on the Earth. In line with that, each competitor's potential to spark positive change in its industry is a big part of what ultimately wins it the award:

"Whether that’s by selling a lot of efficient vehicles, by disrupting a segment, or by providing game-changing technology moments, all of our previous winners express one or more of those core values extraordinarily well."

Rivian R1T
Honorable mention here goes to the Rivian R1T, which finished a close second place behind the Air, and was described by the judges as a true segment disruptor which proves the mass-market appeal of off-road focused EV pickup trucks. The Rivian was also praised for its cohesive, forward-thinking design.

Why The Lucid Won
GCR's judges praised the Lucid Air for its well-built luxury feeling and "bright, welcoming interior" describing it as "charming to drive." Aside from the physical characteristics of the vehicle, GCR praised Lucid's game-changing technology and the vision behind the company:

"At face value, the Air is not a volume entry—although more affordable versions with more than 400 miles of range are coming in the next year, starting as low as $77,400. For Lucid, the Air is the company’s statement of purpose, the shiny, must-have object that got the company funded, got revenue flowing, and gave the company the best chance of being viable. It doesn’t exactly disrupt its segment like the original Tesla Model S, but it’s the technology within that’s a potentially game-changing moment for the industry. The compact, power-dense motors, proprietary inverter technology, and space-efficient battery packs are all ready to scale into much higher-volume models—perhaps for other automakers, and for its own future energy storage business... Lucid is essentially betting on a future in which the vehicles that can smartly do the most with the least energy are the winners. And if you can afford a vehicle like the Air, we’d encourage you to do the same. Given our focus at Green Car Reports, that’s what makes Lucid a winner."

In an industry desperate to eke out every tiny amount of efficiency and range, that strategy looks like a very safe bet.

Images by Lucid Motors licensed by CC BY 2.0.

James Walker is an automotive journalist at Torque News focusing on Lucid Motors. If it's got wheels he's interested in it, and he's very excited to see what kind of cars the EV revolution brings us. Whether it's fast, slow, new, or old, James wants to have a look around it and share it in print and on video, ideally with some twisty roads involved. You can connect with James on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.