- The Lucid Air Grand Touring is the longest-range EV within the U.S., with 512 miles of EPA vary.
- It is also among the many quickest charging EVs, charging at almost 320 kW in the true world.
- It is a bonafide road-tripper, able to including 200 miles of vary in 11 minutes.
Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson has lately been touting his firm as the brand new know-how chief within the EV world, claiming it has surpassed Tesla. As Tesla’s former VP of engineering, Rawlinson introduced the Mannequin S to life and engineered the advanced falcon-wing doorways of the Mannequin X—so he is aware of a factor or two about EVs. Whereas his declare of overtaking Tesla is debatable, one space the place Lucid clearly excels is in charging velocity.
We lately dove deep into the Lucid Air’s charging efficiency. InsideEVs‘ Senior Editor and host of the YouTube channel State of Cost Tom Moloughney examined the 819-horsepower 2024 Lucid Air Grand Touring at a 350-kilowatt Electrify America station. He discovered that the Air costs at a touch decrease most velocity than the Porsche Taycan and Chevy Silverado EV—two fashions additionally with spectacular charging speeds—however it’s extra environment friendly, which compensates for the slight distinction in charging velocity.
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The Air Grand Touring continues to be the longest vary EV with an EPA-estimated vary of 512 miles, because of a 118-kilowatt-hour battery pack. Again in 2021, Motor Development’s Johnny Libermann accomplished a 409-mile L.A. to San Francisco drive in one of many launch version fashions on a single cost. He nonetheless had 69 miles of vary left within the “tank.” Because of a 924-volt structure, it will probably cost at over 300 kW at DC quick charging stations that may dispense that type of energy.
The charging session began with the battery degree at 0%. A few minutes after plugging into the 350 kW Electrify America charger, the Air peaked at 319 kW. In simply three minutes it added 18.1 kWh of power, reaching 14% state of cost. That’s the identical because the battery dimension of a contemporary plug-in hybrid such because the Toyota RAV4 Prime. 5 minutes into the session, the charging charge dropped to below 300 kW. On the 11-minute mark the charging charge dropped to 200 kW. By that time it had added 50.2 kWh of power, good for 200 miles of freeway driving vary.
Each the Silverado EV and the Taycan can peak at a better charge, Moloughney mentioned, however as a result of the Air is so aerodynamic and environment friendly, it will probably drive additional on the identical quantity of power.
Lucid claims that it’s years forward of competitors when it comes to effectivity. The Air Pure can apparently ship an effectivity of 5 miles per kilowatt-hour, or 146 MPGe. Word that the determine is not straight corresponding to different vehicles, as a result of Lucid makes use of battery-to-road effectivity, whereas the EPA take a look at contains charging losses that drive effectivity down. Rawlinson claimed that it could take rivals a few years to catch up. However that might not be true as a result of EVs just like the Tesla Mannequin S don’t even use an 800+ volt structure just like the Air does. Nonetheless, it is fairly darn good at each charging speeds and general driving effectivity. Think about what Tesla may do if it was in any respect critical about bettering its vehicles, moderately than chasing AI goals.
That mentioned, the truth that the Air can maintain pulling over 200 kW even after 40% state of cost is spectacular. In reality, the charging charge bottomed out at 123 kW—earlier than dropping considerably after 80% SoC as all EVs do—which continues to be an honest charging charge.
“To get that quantity of energy in such a brief time period, actually makes the Air Grand Touring such an ideal road-tripper,” Moloughney mentioned. “There’s no want normally to remain longer than 15 or 20 minutes in case you plug in at a low state of cost.”
This charging efficiency, nevertheless, comes at a price. The most cost effective Air you should purchase begins at $70,000. The mannequin examined right here begins at $111,000. Charging anxieties will solely actually vanish when such charging speeds may be realized on inexpensive, mass market EVs. That mentioned, the video above is price watching in full if you wish to study extra about how charging patterns work.
