I own both an iX Xdrive50 and a Lucid Air GT. I love them both, but they are very different vehicles with different strengths. Obviously, the Air is a luxury sedan and not an SUV. And note I have the GT model, not the base model.
I have found the Lucid to be a masterpiece of design - it is the best car I have ever owned. I love the style and the capability of the car. The power of the GT is phenomenal. Even in the slowest mode, the Lucid will out accelerate nearly everything. It has about 820 hp (there are models with 1000 and 1200 hp if you like), and gobs of instant torque. My GT will EASILY outrun the ix - it's not even close. I find the sound system is excellent. I'm not one of those people that turns both the treble and the bass to 11, so to my ear the sound is perfect - not over boosted or artificially bass heavy as seems to be popular with some people. I have had zero problems with the software - I find it highly intuitive, easy to use. Everything is exactly where one would expect to find it. The iX is absurdly cumbersome in comparison, with dozens of "apps" that make it a treasure hunt to find simple settings. I've never had a single problem with the Lucid software, Bluetooth, car play, phone, or navigation. It's been flawless so far. And most important - it leaves the iX in the dust in one respect that is important to me - range. The Lucid is rated at 519 miles of range, and I find I can get 450+ miles or so in real world driving. I frequently drive 350 miles plus on highway trips, and I've never had to charge it on the road, ever. The iX is good for no more than 260 miles if you drive it at 80 MPH as I typically do. And the Lucid can recharge at 300kw or more. The Lucid also handles far better at high speed than the iX, and the one-pedal driving works perfectly 100% of the time. It's spectacular in my opinion.
Car & Driver rates the Lucid Air as their #1 choice for EV Luxury Sedan too.
Now, I have nothing against the iX. I love it too. It is more practical for driving around town, as it can hold more stuff, and I like sitting up high when driving in the city. The car has very brisk acceleration and has good enough range for anything other than 300-400 mile road trips. When I do those, several times a month, I just take the Lucid. The weakest part of the iX is the software. It is cumbersome to use and has several very odd limitations that I hope they will fix someday - like a single software option to stop charging, being able to set the default charge to 40 amps (instead of 32 or 48), and having the music pause once I get out of the car. I find the layout of the apps unintuitive but admit that's maybe just me.
Both are great cars. Maybe the Lucid is not for everyone, but for me, it is the perfect car and best I have ever owned. They are a young company and need to develop their service network. But for a brand-new company producing a very sophisticated car that sets the world standard in a number of ways, they did extremely well in my view. Compare the Lucid to any other first-year model from a brand-new company, and I think Lucid would easily come out on top.
