A few months ago Lucid tested the Lucid Air Alpha Speed Car on an oval where it got the electric car up to a software limited top speed of 217 mph. Lucid was apparently wanted to push the envelope even further and recently returned to the Transportation Research Center facility in Ohio to hit an even higher speed – 235 mph.
When Lucid originally planned to take the Air to the oval, it fitted it with software to limit its top speed and added aerodynamic aids and a parachute to slow the car abruptly in case the straights didn’t prove long enough to reach desired speeds and slow down sufficiently for the next turn. The driver exited the banked oval at over 200 mph. The car then hit the speed limiter less than a quarter of the way down the straightaway, leaving plenty of space to slow down without the use of the parachute.
After a few tweaks and the software removed, Lucid decided to try the oval test again and hit a top speed of 235.44 mph.
“The Air Alpha prototype performed beautifully. The car was perfectly stable in corners and on the straight, which is illustrated by the driver’s slow and steady inputs that can be seen in the accompanying video. The software update to the air suspension performed as expected and responded appropriately during cornering. The thermal levels of the powertrain, including the front motor, stayed within specification throughout the run.”
Source: Lucid
