Mercedes-Benz S-Class vs Lucid Air

The 2025 Mercedes-Benz S-Class is an automotive icon that fulfills its lofty expectations for comfort, performance, technology, and refinement. Last redesigned for the 2021 model year, Mercedes’ flagship sedan receives only small changes for 2025, including newly standard features like digital key functionality and a center airbag, some additional paint colors, and wider availability of the AMG Line trim package.

Verdict: Quite simply, the S-Class is the best luxury sedan that doesn't wear a Bentley or Rolls-Royce badge. With several models to choose from and a dizzying array of options, there seems to be a perfect match for a variety of tastes, provided you have a six-figure budget.

Three years into its lifecycle, the electric Lucid Air sedan sees drastic price cuts and increases for 2024. A new trim, the Sapphire, is a quarter-million dollars and outperforms every series-production EV in acceleration, handling, and range. Lucid Motors has done a decade and a half's worth of development and hired some of the best mechanical and software engineers in the business. Unlike its rivals, the Air feels like a complete luxury sedan from top to bottom, and with the proper charging station at home, it could replace all need for a gas car.

Verdict: With speed, style, and superior range, the 2024 Lucid Air is a luxury sedan that doesn't need to make excuses as an electric car.