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So I actually went and read the epa test rules, some members may wish to validate what they believe they know.

www.epa.gov

Fuel Economy and EV Range Testing | US EPA

EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) tests new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. to ensure that they comply with federal emissions and fuel economy standards.
www.epa.gov www.epa.gov

www.epa.gov

Vehicle Certification and Compliance Testing | US EPA

The National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) tests a portion of all new cars and trucks to confirm compliance with EPA’s exhaust emissions standards, and to verify the accuracy of fuel economy test results submitted by each manufacturer.
www.epa.gov www.epa.gov

www.epa.gov

Dynamometer Drive Schedules | US EPA

This page provides the chassis dynamometer driving schedules and shift schedules used by EPA for vehicle emissions and fuel economy testing.
www.epa.gov www.epa.gov

Based on the above it might be possible to work backwards to extract the individual test results. But that’s beside the point as I’m not finding this fudge factor that some talk about.
 
speaking of Range Air owners need to accept that it is actually very random and individualized. There are so many variables that everyone here is aware of( speed, rain, ambient temp, city/hwy, tire size, etc)
My experience with 2022 Air GT 19's with wheel inserts in place 33,000 miles about 60/40 city/hwy is:

3.68 mi/kWh
Total expected range from 100% to 0 is 412 miles but I never go below 10% so 370.8 miles is what I can do in a single drive which works for my monthly trips out of town
 
new owner said:
speaking of Range Air owners need to accept that it is actually very random and individualized. There are so many variables that everyone here is aware of( speed, rain, ambient temp, city/hwy, tire size, etc)
My experience with 2022 Air GT 19's with wheel inserts in place 33,000 miles about 60/40 city/hwy is:

3.68 mi/kWh
Total expected range from 100% to 0 is 412 miles but I never go below 10% so 370.8 miles is what I can do in a single drive which works for my monthly trips out of town
Click to expand...
I would also add I live in MA so its cold in the winter and I do achieve 4.0 mi/kWh on long drives in the warmer weather
 
I recently did a road trip from Steamboat Springs to Colorado Springs and back. I didn't need to do a 100% charge, but I did so that I had more flexibility on charging at the destination. That introduced an unexpected surprize - with a 100% charge, you have essentially 0 regen braking, and it only increases gradually as the SOC drops (I wonder at what % and temps the batteries have to be to be able to handle full regen?). Given that much of the drive was major elevation climbs and descents, I lost one of the major efficiency advantages of an EV by charging to 100%. Now I see another key advantage to charging to 80% that had completely escaped me before. My 2025 Air GT has 20k miles at 3.8 mi/kWh (cold climate with lots of mountains) and, until this trip, I'd only had to use the foot brake less than 2 dozen time in the 1.5 years I've had the car, and only briefly.
 
Aka-none said:
So I actually went and read the epa test rules, some members may wish to validate what they believe they know.

www.epa.gov

Fuel Economy and EV Range Testing | US EPA

EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) tests new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. to ensure that they comply with federal emissions and fuel economy standards.
www.epa.gov www.epa.gov

www.epa.gov

Vehicle Certification and Compliance Testing | US EPA

The National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) tests a portion of all new cars and trucks to confirm compliance with EPA’s exhaust emissions standards, and to verify the accuracy of fuel economy test results submitted by each manufacturer.
www.epa.gov www.epa.gov

www.epa.gov

Dynamometer Drive Schedules | US EPA

This page provides the chassis dynamometer driving schedules and shift schedules used by EPA for vehicle emissions and fuel economy testing.
www.epa.gov www.epa.gov

Based on the above it might be possible to work backwards to extract the individual test results. But that’s beside the point as I’m not finding this fudge factor that some talk about.
Click to expand...
I prefer vibes over data
 
MarkMueller said:
I recently did a road trip from Steamboat Springs to Colorado Springs and back. I didn't need to do a 100% charge, but I did so that I had more flexibility on charging at the destination. That introduced an unexpected surprize - with a 100% charge, you have essentially 0 regen braking, and it only increases gradually as the SOC drops (I wonder at what % and temps the batteries have to be to be able to handle full regen?). Given that much of the drive was major elevation climbs and descents, I lost one of the major efficiency advantages of an EV by charging to 100%. Now I see another key advantage to charging to 80% that had completely escaped me before. My 2025 Air GT has 20k miles at 3.8 mi/kWh (cold climate with lots of mountains) and, until this trip, I'd only had to use the foot brake less than 2 dozen time in the 1.5 years I've had the car, and only briefly.
Click to expand...

1. I'm pretty sure every other EV loses regen at high SoC as well. if they don't, it's because they are hiding it by automatically applying brakes to simulate it.

2. You may lose a little efficiency but if you're going downhill, it'll still coast, so you're only wasting power/inertia if you're hitting the brakes unnecessarily. It also still does a LITTLE regen, just not enough for you to feel the deceleration the way you do when it's able to do the normal amount of regen. And while the full amount of regen may not be available until you're under 90% SoC or so, it does get a little bit stronger and stronger as room becomes available in the battery.

But yes if your primary concern is efficiency, then you may lose a LITTLE bit if efficiency between 100->90% SoC.

But you'll still go a lot farther before needing to charge if you start at 100% than if you start lower. The efficiency difference isn't going to be enough to make up for not having that extra 10%+ already in the battery on the first leg of the journey.
 
doubletwist said:
1. I'm pretty sure every other EV loses regen at high SoC as well. if they don't, it's because they are hiding it by automatically applying brakes to simulate it.

2. You may lose a little efficiency but if you're going downhill, it'll still coast, so you're only wasting power/inertia if you're hitting the brakes unnecessarily. It also still does a LITTLE regen, just not enough for you to feel the deceleration the way you do when it's able to do the normal amount of regen. And while the full amount of regen may not be available until you're under 90% SoC or so, it does get a little bit stronger and stronger as room becomes available in the battery.

But yes if your primary concern is efficiency, then you may lose a LITTLE bit if efficiency between 100->90% SoC.

But you'll still go a lot farther before needing to charge if you start at 100% than if you start lower. The efficiency difference isn't going to be enough to make up for not having that extra 10%+ already in the battery on the first leg of the journey.
Click to expand...
I can't respond with actual facts, but doing a long decent at 5% - 10% grade in a 5,000 lbs car with windy turns and no detectable regen demanded a great deal of braking. Descending for ~10 minutes down a 500' drop is a loss of about 1.0 kWh in potential energy alone, which is about 1% of the SOC including other losses, and a small fraction of the total descent from 7200' to 5280'. I also mentioned temp, which is indeed a major factor, which encouraged me to do some additional AI research:

Would it make sense to precondition the battery in cold weather before a long descent?

Yes—preconditioning a cold battery before a long descent makes a major difference in restoring regenerative braking, provided your battery isn't already near 100% full.
In cold weather, lithium-ion cells have high internal resistance, which restricts how fast electricity can flow into the pack without damaging it. Preconditioning warms the battery to its optimal operating window, unlocking the high charging rates needed for strong one-pedal braking.

Why It Works (and When It Doesn't)
  • Unlocks Regen Power: A cold pack might restrict regenerative braking to just 10–20 kW (or disable it completely), forcing you to ride the friction brakes. Warming the battery opens the tap so it can safely absorb 50–100+ kW of downhill braking energy.
  • The State-of-Charge Catch: Preconditioning only solves the temperature bottleneck, not the fullness bottleneck. If you precondition a battery that is sitting at 95%–100%, regen will still be heavily restricted because the cells have nowhere to put the energy.
  • Net Energy Math: Heating a massive 117 kWh battery pack from freezing takes roughly 2 to 4 kWh of energy. On a long mountain descent (like dropping 3,000+ feet off a Colorado pass), you can easily recapture 3 to 5+ kWh via regen—meaning preconditioning can break even or come out ahead on energy while saving your brake pads from heat and wear. (If you are plugged into a Level 2 home charger while preconditioning, you pull that heating energy from the wall instead of your battery, making it a pure range win.)

Best Way to Precondition on a Lucid Air
  • Plugged In (Departure Schedule): Set your departure time in the Lucid app or vehicle settings while still plugged into your home charger. The car will warm both the cabin and the battery using grid power, leaving you with a warm pack and full regen without draining your range.
  • Unplugged (Navigation Trick): Lucid Air does not have a standalone manual "precondition now" button for cold weather unless navigating to a fast charger. If you are unplugged at the top of a pass (like after a ski day), set your in-car navigation to a DC fast charger on your route for 15–20 minutes before you head down—this triggers the battery heater so your regen is ready for the descent. (Just remember to cancel the charging stop once you're down the mountain.)
  • Ideal Target: Aim for a warm battery at 80%–85% charge at the top of the hill for maximum holding power and energy recovery.
 
Well once again we have ai on drugs. The AIR definitely has a button in the app and in the car that turns on preconditioning.
 
MarkMueller said:
I recently did a road trip from Steamboat Springs to Colorado Springs and back. I didn't need to do a 100% charge, but I did so that I had more flexibility on charging at the destination. That introduced an unexpected surprize - with a 100% charge, you have essentially 0 regen braking, and it only increases gradually as the SOC drops (I wonder at what % and temps the batteries have to be to be able to handle full regen?). Given that much of the drive was major elevation climbs and descents, I lost one of the major efficiency advantages of an EV by charging to 100%. Now I see another key advantage to charging to 80% that had completely escaped me before. My 2025 Air GT has 20k miles at 3.8 mi/kWh (cold climate with lots of mountains) and, until this trip, I'd only had to use the foot brake less than 2 dozen time in the 1.5 years I've had the car, and only briefly.
Click to expand...
At 100% SOC, the battery has no room to accommodate the charge generated by the Regen
 
Aka-none said:
Well once again we have ai on drugs. The AIR definitely has a button in the app and in the car that turns on preconditioning.
Click to expand...

As far as I'm aware, my Air also does NOT have a scheduled departure option. At least not one that I've ever encountered.
 
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