Here’s how much the 2022 Lucid Air has depreciated in four years

If Tesla helped popularize EVs in the US, Lucid helped refine them. The Lucid Air has won praise for regularly setting new speed records and remarkable efficiency. We also called the Air a replacement for the canceled Tesla Model S. The issue is that the starting price of more than $70,000 isn’t in everyone’s budget. In these situations, the smart car buyer turns to buying a used car. However, the usual preferred limit for used cars – 5 years – does not apply to the Lucid at the moment, as the first Lucid doesn’t drop until the 2022 model year.

Still, these cars already have plenty of interested buyers, so sorting through the available data, which is mostly guesswork at this point, we took a better look at the depreciation for Lucid’s first vehicle. Spoiler alert: like most EVs, depreciation after four years is staggering, at around 70%. This creates a great buying opportunity, which arises from taking a look at the current market inventory. We’ll also take a look at how this significant price drop compares to what other premium EV sedans for the 2022 model year are priced at today. Hint: The Tesla Model S, Audi e-tron GT, and Mercedes-Benz EQS sedans have slightly lower depreciation rates, but may be better buys. All MSRPs mentioned here include destination charges.

Estimating depreciation rates is usually straightforward. Companies like iSeeCars and CarEdge track and report this information, providing a simple tool for consumers. However, the Lucid Air is hampered by the fact that it’s relatively new to the market, and the 2022 model year doesn’t align with the traditional 5-year benchmark (it’s too new). CarEdge has no data, and iSeeCars Only reports 3-year (51.1%) and 5-year (62.7%) estimated depreciation rates. There is no information about value loss over 4 years.

kelly blue book (KBB) provides used price estimates for Air, but they are only forecasts, not historical data. Also, the site gets it wrong by listing the depreciation rates for the Pure and Touring trims as 2022 models, both of which debuted for the 2023 model year. This leaves the Grand Touring trim, which was sold for the 2022 model year, as the most accurate reference point. According to KBB, starting with an MSRP of $154,000, the Lucid Air Grand Touring’s value dropped by a massive 73.2% to a current price of just $44,800. Arguably, some of the problems with crunching the depreciation numbers are that Lucid delivered fewer than 4,400 Airs in 2022 and built a total of 7,180 units for the 2022 model year. A recent look at AutoTrader showed only 75 current listings for the 2022 Lucid Air – that’s nationwide, at any mileage and in any condition.

This requires a real world depreciation analysis of the 2022 Lucid Air. Targeting units with average mileage and clean history yields a price around $45,000 – not too far off from KBB’s projection. Using these values ​​the 4-year depreciation rate of 70.8% is still hefty and makes the Lucid Air a great deal at under $50,000.

The Lucid Air’s most direct competitor is the Tesla Model S. In fact, Lucid’s first CEO was previously the chief engineer for Tesla’s first mass-market EV, the Model S. To keep things relatively equal, we’ll stick with KBB’s Depreciation estimates say the 2022 Model S, which cost $101,190 when new, is worth $42,500 today. This works out to a depreciation of 58.1%, which is a bit aggressive for a sale. CarGurus listings with average miles, no accidents or title issues, and non-plaid trims show availability mostly ranging between $42,000 and $45,000.

The Audi e-tron GT is another luxury EV sedan that debuts for the 2022 model year. The MSRP for the Premium Plus trim was $103,895, which has dropped today to $38,300, or 63.1% based on KBB’s estimates, and is still below Lucid Air’s price decline. Of the few 2022 e-tron GTs available for sale, most with average miles had a listing price of around $38,000. Another Audi with the e-tron name also has a high depreciation rate.

Mercedes-Benz also jumped into this arena with the EQS sedan – another six-figure four-door EV slated for 2022. The least-expensive trim, the EQS 450+ Premium, had an MSRP of $103,360, but its 2026 resale value took a depreciation hit of $35,300, or 65.8%, according to K.B.B.. Some CarGuru listings show that the KBB’s estimate is closer to market, with the price ranging from around $32,000 to $33,000. With the comparable Lucid Air costing around $45,000, these three competitors generally have lower bottom-line prices due to Lucid’s stronger base MSRP.