Bad Efficiency? Read this first before creating another of the same topic.

I live in Dallas. It is December, but it currently isn't that cold (mid 50s). I just traded in from a model 3 AWD, and I was getting just under 4.1 mi/kwh for the lifetime. I will definitely give it some more time over the different seasons before I get too concerned, but I was thinking that the Pure RWD would beat the model 3 in efficiency. Just curious though. Has anyone heard that there is a "break-in" period of about 2k miles where efficiency is relatively low?

I had 2.2 in similar conditions yesterday. Thought that was pretty good, but sounds like we had different end goals for our drives.

You have an air GT with 21" wheels, and mine is Pure RWD with 20" wheels. I would expect a big difference between yours and mine.

I thought mid 50s would promote relatively optimal efficiency since it shouldn't be strained too much to keep cabin temp (mine is set at 70F). Will I notice a significant improvement when the temps get in the 70s?

jlsesler said:

I live in Dallas. It is December, but it currently isn't that cold (mid 50s). I just traded in from a model 3, and I was getting just under 4.1 mi/kwh for the lifetime. I will definitely give it some more time over the different seasons before I get too concerned, but I was thinking that the Pure RWD would beat the model 3 in efficiency. Just curious though. Has anyone heard that there is a "break-in" period of about 2k miles where efficiency is relatively low?

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The idea of a break-in period has been around since the start of production. Some owners have reported seeing an improvement after 2500 miles. That said, there is not a good physical explanation for a break-in period with an electric drive train. Batteries do not have any break-in but the BMS may better calibrate after a few charge discharge cycles. There have been some thoughts that the internal friction of the electric motor reduces after break-in which may be possible but I doubt it is very significant.

lwong said:

I love my GT but won't take it on a long trip. The infrastructure for non-Tesla's is horrible. When I have taken the GT on a long trip i.e. 275 miles or more, I never get over 300 miles of range based on my driving habit and that's OK, kinda. However, when pulling into an Electrified America charging station, either the stations do not work or all the 350kw chargers are throttled down to 150kw. Therefore, there is no point in taking the GT on a long drive since the charging stations are so unreliable. I take my Tesla instead where the every charging station works. EA better get there shit together.

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I did a 1100 mile trip over a 3-4 day period, charging mostly at EA fast chargers, with one instance of using ChargePoint at the hotel for overnight level 2 charging. Worked like a champ. I'm really not sure what your specific beef with EA is. The car's charging curve drops off pretty quickly, such that the car doesn't request more than 150kw if you're above 50% SOC, so being at a 150kw vs 350kw charger becomes moot. I've been at ~8 or 9% SOC at a 350kw charger and saw around 280kw for 30 secs or so before it started dropping.

The point of a GT is that you can often charge to just 60-70% while on the road (which is relatively quick), providing enough range to make it to your destination, or the next charger.

I've done quite a few road trips at this point and have been very pleased with my '22 GT in that regard.

jlsesler said:

I live in Dallas. It is December, but it currently isn't that cold (mid 50s). I just traded in from a model 3 AWD, and I was getting just under 4.1 mi/kwh for the lifetime. I will definitely give it some more time over the different seasons before I get too concerned, but I was thinking that the Pure RWD would beat the model 3 in efficiency. Just curious though. Has anyone heard that there is a "break-in" period of about 2k miles where efficiency is relatively low?

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Lucid's efficiency estimates are tuned for sustained freeway driving of 65-70mph. You can get 4 miles/kw if you drive in that range. With a mix of city/highway, you probably won't see those kind of numbers in a Lucid. Model 3s are much lighter and use a lot less energy getting up to speed from a stop compared with a Lucid. My experience coming from Model 3 AWD myself was that it was more efficient in city driving, and the Lucid takes the edge slightly in freeway driving.

jlsesler said:

You have an air GT with 21" wheels, and mine is Pure RWD with 20" wheels. I would expect a big difference between yours and mine.

I thought mid 50s would promote relatively optimal efficiency since it shouldn't be strained too much to keep cabin temp (mine is set at 70F). Will I notice a significant improvement when the temps get in the 70s?

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Yes the car and batteries like 70-85 deg F best....less drag, moderate HVAC load...and happy battery temperature.

momo3605 said:

Lucid's efficiency estimates are tuned for sustained freeway driving of 65-70mph. You can get 4 miles/kw if you drive in that range. With a mix of city/highway, you probably won't see those kind of numbers in a Lucid. Model 3s are much lighter and use a lot less energy getting up to speed from a stop compared with a Lucid. My experience coming from Model 3 AWD myself was that it was more efficient in city driving, and the Lucid takes the edge slightly in freeway driving.

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FWIW: in a large part of the country driving on an interstate like highway at 65-70 makes you a slow poke, I hope that you stay to the right. I drive 70-75 on roads like this and I am still one of the slower vehicles.

I have an AT and drive in Southern California. My car is less than 2 months old and I have put on a little over 1000 miles, temps have been in low 60s to mid 80s range during this period. I mostly do short distance street driving and not much freeway driving. I use A/C about 20% of the time. On rare occasions, I get into an spirited driving mode when an ICE driver challenges me to a street race, but most of the times I drive with the consideration of efficiency in mind. Full regenerative braking is on all the time. Tires are 20" and the first thing I did was to take off wheel covers to show off the stealth aero wheels, love the looks. I have L2 home charging and keep the charge levels between 30% and 80% charging once weekly or so. There is no range anxiety issue but my efficiency numbers are dismal between 2.9 and 3.2 miles per KWH. I cannot figure out why I am getting such a low range, and don' believe it is just because of removing wheel covers. Any insight is much appreciated.

SoCal_AirTouring said:

I have an AT and drive in Southern California. My car is less than 2 months old and I have put on a little over 1000 miles, temps have been in low 60s to mid 80s range during this period. I mostly do short distance street driving and not much freeway driving. I use A/C about 20% of the time. On rare occasions, I get into an spirited driving mode when an ICE driver challenges me to a street race, but most of the times I drive with the consideration of efficiency in mind. Full regenerative braking is on all the time. Tires are 20" and the first thing I did was to take off wheel covers to show off the stealth aero wheels, love the looks. I have L2 home charging and keep the charge levels between 30% and 80% charging once weekly or so. There is no range anxiety issue but my efficiency numbers are dismal between 2.9 and 3.2 miles per KWH. I cannot figure out why I am getting such a low range, and don' believe it is just because of removing wheel covers. Any insight is much appreciated.

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I used to have a similar concern to yours. I have a Pure AWD with 20" wheels (basically the same car as yours with some software tweaks). The vast majority of my driving is stop-start in San Francisco traffic with some freeway mixed in, and I too keep the battery between 50-80% with L2 charging. My lifetime efficiency over ~16k miles is 3.0 mi/kWh.

The simple truth is that stop-start driving isn't actually super efficient on an absolute level. It's certainly more efficient than in a comparable ICE, but it's not the most efficient driving mode that our vehicles can run in. When I look at the efficiency meter (e.g., by driving on city streets), I find that city driving alone can be 2.5-2.7 mi/kWh. Then when I get on the freeway, that jumps to about 3.7-4.0 mi/kWh (I rarely drive above 70 mph). Blending those numbers and weighting by the city streets vs freeway miles does in fact yield an average of 3.0 mi/kWh. I had requested Lucid engineering to look at my telemetry but they confirmed that everything looked good.

I know it sounds like something is off with the numbers, especially because of the numbers that Lucid and even other forum members share, but it's really comes down to our heavy city driving. [I'm still pretty happy -- my previous ICE SUV used to yield 15 mpg on the exact same drive cycle, while the Lucid is about 100 mpge -- over a 6x improvement].

SoCal_AirTouring said:

I have an AT and drive in Southern California. My car is less than 2 months old and I have put on a little over 1000 miles, temps have been in low 60s to mid 80s range during this period. I mostly do short distance street driving and not much freeway driving. I use A/C about 20% of the time. On rare occasions, I get into an spirited driving mode when an ICE driver challenges me to a street race, but most of the times I drive with the consideration of efficiency in mind. Full regenerative braking is on all the time. Tires are 20" and the first thing I did was to take off wheel covers to show off the stealth aero wheels, love the looks. I have L2 home charging and keep the charge levels between 30% and 80% charging once weekly or so. There is no range anxiety issue but my efficiency numbers are dismal between 2.9 and 3.2 miles per KWH. I cannot figure out why I am getting such a low range, and don' believe it is just because of removing wheel covers. Any insight is much appreciated.

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I get between 2.9 and 3.4 on my AGT, but I am intermittently a spirited driver and have no qualms about the range I am getting.

SoCal_AirTouring said:

I have an AT and drive in Southern California. My car is less than 2 months old and I have put on a little over 1000 miles, temps have been in low 60s to mid 80s range during this period. I mostly do short distance street driving and not much freeway driving. I use A/C about 20% of the time. On rare occasions, I get into an spirited driving mode when an ICE driver challenges me to a street race, but most of the times I drive with the consideration of efficiency in mind. Full regenerative braking is on all the time. Tires are 20" and the first thing I did was to take off wheel covers to show off the stealth aero wheels, love the looks. I have L2 home charging and keep the charge levels between 30% and 80% charging once weekly or so. There is no range anxiety issue but my efficiency numbers are dismal between 2.9 and 3.2 miles per KWH. I cannot figure out why I am getting such a low range, and don' believe it is just because of removing wheel covers. Any insight is much appreciated.

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I've averaged 3.24mi/kWh over 3500 miles in my 2025 AT with 20" wheels (Aero covers on), so it doesn't sound like what you're seeing is abnormally low.

Oh and also for city driving at low speeds, the presence or absence of aero covers should not be a major driver of efficiency, since the covers are primarily for smoothing airflow at high speeds where the drag force increases with the square of the speed.