Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson has not too long ago 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 complicated 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 not too long ago 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 prices at a slightly decrease most velocity than the Porsche Taycan and Chevy Silverado EV—two fashions additionally with spectacular charging speeds—but it surely’s extra environment friendly, which compensates for the slight distinction in charging velocity.
39 Pictures
The Air Grand Touring remains to be the longest vary EV with an EPA-estimated vary of 512 miles, due to a 118-kilowatt-hour battery pack. Again in 2021, Motor Pattern’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.” Due to a 924-volt structure, it could actually 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 vitality, 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 fee dropped to below 300 kW. On the 11-minute mark the charging fee dropped to 200 kW. By that time it had added 50.2 kWh of vitality, good for 200 miles of freeway driving vary.
Each the Silverado EV and the Taycan can peak at the next fee, Moloughney stated, however as a result of the Air is so aerodynamic and environment friendly, it could actually drive additional on the identical quantity of vitality.
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. Observe that the determine is not instantly corresponding to different automobiles, 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 will take rivals a few years to catch up. However that is probably not 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 might do if it was in any respect severe about enhancing its automobiles, fairly than chasing AI goals.
That stated, the truth that the Air can preserve pulling over 200 kW even after 40% state of cost is spectacular. In reality, the charging fee bottomed out at 123 kW—earlier than dropping considerably after 80% SoC as all EVs do—which remains to be a good charging fee.
“To get that quantity of energy in such a brief time frame, actually makes the Air Grand Touring such an important road-tripper,” Moloughney stated. “There’s no want typically to remain longer than 15 or 20 minutes should you plug in at a low state of cost.”
This charging efficiency, nonetheless, comes at a value. The most affordable Air you should buy begins at $70,000. The mannequin examined right here begins at $111,000. Charging anxieties will solely actually vanish when such charging speeds could be realized on inexpensive, mass market EVs. That stated, the video above is value watching in full if you wish to study extra about how charging patterns work.