I wanted to provide update on our recent trip to the snow. while it turns out there was too much snow, and wind, we still had a fantastic holiday break.
One of the deciding factors for us in buying the Lucid was its range, and in particular we wanted to be able to go from the bay area, to tahoe without charging, even for those horrible trips where you get stuck in a storm, and with the cold having an impact on range.
so this winter was our first test (our third road trip - first was Bay Area to Scottsdale, second to Bend, Or).
Normally the car runs 21" wheels - but as hopefully you all know - the SUMMER tyres are brittle below 40 deg f - so I borrowed a set of 19s from Millbrae (thank you) - which was rather timely since we had just had the stone incident which tore a whole in the side of the 21".
Like all owners, I had signed the "WILL NOT USE Snow Chains" waiver, and so I bought some Snow Socks from amazon that fit both the 19 and 20" tyres. https://a.co/d/0pKTRPg I did not use them, so guarantees, do your own research etc etc etc.
The journey is 225 miles, flattestroute.com shows 2/3rda is flat as a pancake + a big Hill.
We left the Bay Area @94% charge, Nav suggested we’d arrive @24%. Historically I have been cynical with the estimated SOC, as there is little transparency on how it is calculated, or if it recognises the elevation change.
Event free journey - I used ACC (not Highway assist) for the FLAT part of the journey, but went manual for the hill - taking every advantage of the passing lanes - only hit 100 once. Average speed while on ACC was 78mph. Going up ”the hill” was between 50-70, with bursts for the passing lanes.
We stopped at Placerville, for the family to get refueled. Took advantage of EA @ Bank of America / added 10% while we sorted out snacks. There are FOUR EA chargers here, 2 were in use, the 350w was black screen / non-responsive, and the 4th one was ours. Easy recharge about 60 seconds off route 50.
We rolled into South Lake Tahoe @30% SOC, Average Miles/kWh of 3.0, which means that initial estimate of 24% (24+10%) was a bit keen, perhaps 3-4% over reality. This could have been my overtaking maneuvers or the cold (it was around 30 deg f when we arrived)
regardless, pleased with 3.0m/kWh when you consider a net gain of >6000’ (peaking over 7000’)
I recharged to 80% that evening in again at Bank of America. The first 350w didnt work, it authenticated just fine, but the car “stopped charging” almost immediately after.
I moved to a second station and all was good. Nobody else was there.
To be continued…
One of the deciding factors for us in buying the Lucid was its range, and in particular we wanted to be able to go from the bay area, to tahoe without charging, even for those horrible trips where you get stuck in a storm, and with the cold having an impact on range.
so this winter was our first test (our third road trip - first was Bay Area to Scottsdale, second to Bend, Or).
Normally the car runs 21" wheels - but as hopefully you all know - the SUMMER tyres are brittle below 40 deg f - so I borrowed a set of 19s from Millbrae (thank you) - which was rather timely since we had just had the stone incident which tore a whole in the side of the 21".
Like all owners, I had signed the "WILL NOT USE Snow Chains" waiver, and so I bought some Snow Socks from amazon that fit both the 19 and 20" tyres. https://a.co/d/0pKTRPg I did not use them, so guarantees, do your own research etc etc etc.
The journey is 225 miles, flattestroute.com shows 2/3rda is flat as a pancake + a big Hill.
We left the Bay Area @94% charge, Nav suggested we’d arrive @24%. Historically I have been cynical with the estimated SOC, as there is little transparency on how it is calculated, or if it recognises the elevation change.
Event free journey - I used ACC (not Highway assist) for the FLAT part of the journey, but went manual for the hill - taking every advantage of the passing lanes - only hit 100 once. Average speed while on ACC was 78mph. Going up ”the hill” was between 50-70, with bursts for the passing lanes.
We stopped at Placerville, for the family to get refueled. Took advantage of EA @ Bank of America / added 10% while we sorted out snacks. There are FOUR EA chargers here, 2 were in use, the 350w was black screen / non-responsive, and the 4th one was ours. Easy recharge about 60 seconds off route 50.
We rolled into South Lake Tahoe @30% SOC, Average Miles/kWh of 3.0, which means that initial estimate of 24% (24+10%) was a bit keen, perhaps 3-4% over reality. This could have been my overtaking maneuvers or the cold (it was around 30 deg f when we arrived)
regardless, pleased with 3.0m/kWh when you consider a net gain of >6000’ (peaking over 7000’)
I recharged to 80% that evening in again at Bank of America. The first 350w didnt work, it authenticated just fine, but the car “stopped charging” almost immediately after.
I moved to a second station and all was good. Nobody else was there.
To be continued…
