• The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT and Lucid Air Sapphire are two of the most powerful sedans ever built.
• In a new video, Edmunds pits them against each other in a race that incorporates drag racing, braking and cornering performance.
• The Porsche may be lighter and have a two-speed transmission, but it can’t match the Lucid Air tri-motor in acceleration.

In 2000, four-digit horsepower in a production car was unheard of. In 2006, Bugatti made this possible in the hypercar market. In 2024, you can get more than 1,000 horsepower in a pickup truck, in a hypercar or in a family sedan. Among these family sedans, two reign supreme: The sapphire of lucid air and the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT. NOW, Edmunds pitted them against each other.

And yes, I left out the Tesla Model S Throw Blanket was intentional. Because it’s one thing to deliver 1,000 hp. It’s another to build a chassis and braking system that can handle that power competently, then tune it well enough for everyday customers. This is important here, because EdmundsU-Drag racing involves braking and turning, in addition to quarter-mile drag racing. I drove a Model S Plaid hard on a canyon road and can only describe the braking experience as “scary.” A Taycan Turbo S on the same road was a lot more fun and faster in the real world. And now there’s the Taycan Turbo GT.

The ultra-Taycan offers 777 horsepower and 855 lb-ft of torque in daily use, far from four figures. But press the “boost” button and you can get 1,092 horsepower and 988 lb-ft for 10 seconds. It also has a two-speed transmission to aid its high-speed acceleration and carries a few hundred pounds less than the larger Lucid Air Sapphire.

That extra money buys you something: bragging rights. As the U-Drag shows, the Taycan can’t keep up with the Lucid in the drag racing portion, and its braking and cornering performance isn’t enough to make up for its power deficit. I think Porsche’s two-speed transmission would help as speeds increase, but the 457 horsepower gap means the Lucid continues to pull away. If straight-up speed is your drug, the Lucid Air Sapphire is the best deal in town.

But that doesn’t mean it’s the best performing product. Although the Edmunds test incorporates a high-speed U-turn, it doesn’t involve as many turns as a race track test. There, I would expect the lighter Porsche to edge out the Lucid, as the The Turbo GT set an EV lap record at the Nürbürgring. Although Xiaomi may have broken this recordLucid didn’t. Again. So if you want an extremely fast EV sedan, you can’t go wrong with either car.