Day 0
Warning: Long, rambling post(s) ahead. Proceed with caution!
So it's a brisk 88°F here in the DFW area on the day after Christmas. Kind of difficult to get into the Christmas spirit in these temps.
Thankfully tomorrow morning, my Air and I will be leaving on a 3000+ mile round trip drive up to way-upstate NY, right on the shore of Lake Ontario, with some probable swings through NJ and Maryland.
I can't make any guarantees because ADHD sucks, but I'm going to try to track as much data as possible about the drive, including impacts on range as we go from these summer temperatures into the winter storm currently brewing up in the NY/NJ area, as a source of information for the future. I'll try to post regular updates on my progress.
There will definitely be a wide range of environmental experiences, as I believe my family is supposed to see 8" of snow through tomorrow. Hopefully the interstates have cleared up sufficiently by the time I reach that area Sunday evening.
As a Texas vehicle, I don't usually have to worry about cold prep, as even the summer tires are fine for 99% of the winter.
In preparation for the trip though, I'm currently sitting at Discount Tire getting a set of Michelin Pilot Sport AS tires put on. I still have life left on the stock tires so I'm keeping them and will switch back later for the summer.
I've also drained the window washer reservoir and filled it with some 0°F rated washer fluid. I know some people complain about some cars' washer fluid capacity, but when completely empty, the Air easily takes the entire gallon, so yay Lucid on that one!
So, some starting point info.
2025 Lucid Air Touring with 20" wheels. I removed the Aero caps some months ago and it didn't seem to affect the range at all, so I'm leaving them off.
The car is currently a hair over 13k miles after only 10 months. So much for my 12k mi/yr lease! I'll have more detailed starting mileage when I leave tomorrow morning.
After 10 months of mostly suburban DFW driving plus a couple shorter road trips (300-800 miles ea.) l, with a fairly heavy foot (me like the zoom), have averaged 3.24mi/kWh lifetime efficiency.
Because I'm mostly wanting this to be relevant to more typical, casual road-tripping than you typically see from YouTubers like OoS, my plan is to mostly use the native Nav, though I'll likely double check plans against ABRP/Plugshare, at least when I'm heading toward the middle of nowhere or if I think I'm heading into any "interesting" weather. I may or may not override some Lucid-scheduled stops.
Overall I'm mostly hoping to collect information about range and efficiency, how the charging stops go, how long I'm waiting to charge (or queuing for an open charger), how the charging stations work, etc.
Based on my shorter road trips, I'm not expecting to spend too much extra time waiting for charging, as on those trips, by the time I pee, and grab a drink/snacks, or eat, the car has already blown past 80% SoC, but we'll see if that holds for a longer trip through colder temperatures or larger elevation changes.
I'm pretty experienced with solo road trips overall. I used to drive from San Jose, CA to Odessa, TX and back once or twice a year in a 1997 Nissan 200SX. Basically just straight down I-5 to LA, then I-10 to I-20 eastward. It was about 1500 miles each way, and would take me 2 days (~20-22hrs of driving).
At the time, I used to stick the cruise control to 89mph (the highest it would go), and crank my tunes. I'd get to just past LA (best was 500 miles before stopping, but usually more like 400-450), stop to pee, eat and get gas, then drive to Phoenix where I'd eat and sleep. The next morning I'd fill up and drive to El Paso, stop for a pee, food, and gas, then hop right back in and finish the trip to Odessa.
Obviously, I'm not going to get anywhere near 500 miles a stop with the Air. The EPA range is 384, but at the efficiency I typically see, the realistic range is in the 240-300 mile range. But that's okay because I'm not young and dumb anymore, I'm just old and dumb.
With the charging stops, I fully expect to see about 12-13hr days, and maybe reach 800ish miles. That said, I'm well aware enough to recognize if I'm getting drowsy and NOT afraid to take extra stops if needed, or even stop early and add an extra overnight stay somewhere if I don't feel that I can continue safely.
That said, I made this trip before in a hybrid with a 400mi range, and had no issues, so I'm reasonably confident that I can make the trip in 2 days each way.
The plan is to leave here Sat morning and arrive Sunday evening, then I'll come back the following weekend.
So, if there are any specific data points you'd like me to try to track, or thoughts and opinions you'd like to hear from me about the trip, by all means let me know and I'll try to respond and collect the relevant info.
Or if you think this is stupid and nobody wants to read all this crap about my lame road trip, that's perfectly valid feedback as well.
Otherwise, I'm looking forward to the adventure, and just generally getting the hell out of town for a bit.
Warning: Long, rambling post(s) ahead. Proceed with caution!
So it's a brisk 88°F here in the DFW area on the day after Christmas. Kind of difficult to get into the Christmas spirit in these temps.
Thankfully tomorrow morning, my Air and I will be leaving on a 3000+ mile round trip drive up to way-upstate NY, right on the shore of Lake Ontario, with some probable swings through NJ and Maryland.
I can't make any guarantees because ADHD sucks, but I'm going to try to track as much data as possible about the drive, including impacts on range as we go from these summer temperatures into the winter storm currently brewing up in the NY/NJ area, as a source of information for the future. I'll try to post regular updates on my progress.
There will definitely be a wide range of environmental experiences, as I believe my family is supposed to see 8" of snow through tomorrow. Hopefully the interstates have cleared up sufficiently by the time I reach that area Sunday evening.
As a Texas vehicle, I don't usually have to worry about cold prep, as even the summer tires are fine for 99% of the winter.
In preparation for the trip though, I'm currently sitting at Discount Tire getting a set of Michelin Pilot Sport AS tires put on. I still have life left on the stock tires so I'm keeping them and will switch back later for the summer.
I've also drained the window washer reservoir and filled it with some 0°F rated washer fluid. I know some people complain about some cars' washer fluid capacity, but when completely empty, the Air easily takes the entire gallon, so yay Lucid on that one!
So, some starting point info.
2025 Lucid Air Touring with 20" wheels. I removed the Aero caps some months ago and it didn't seem to affect the range at all, so I'm leaving them off.
The car is currently a hair over 13k miles after only 10 months. So much for my 12k mi/yr lease! I'll have more detailed starting mileage when I leave tomorrow morning.
After 10 months of mostly suburban DFW driving plus a couple shorter road trips (300-800 miles ea.) l, with a fairly heavy foot (me like the zoom), have averaged 3.24mi/kWh lifetime efficiency.
Because I'm mostly wanting this to be relevant to more typical, casual road-tripping than you typically see from YouTubers like OoS, my plan is to mostly use the native Nav, though I'll likely double check plans against ABRP/Plugshare, at least when I'm heading toward the middle of nowhere or if I think I'm heading into any "interesting" weather. I may or may not override some Lucid-scheduled stops.
Overall I'm mostly hoping to collect information about range and efficiency, how the charging stops go, how long I'm waiting to charge (or queuing for an open charger), how the charging stations work, etc.
Based on my shorter road trips, I'm not expecting to spend too much extra time waiting for charging, as on those trips, by the time I pee, and grab a drink/snacks, or eat, the car has already blown past 80% SoC, but we'll see if that holds for a longer trip through colder temperatures or larger elevation changes.
I'm pretty experienced with solo road trips overall. I used to drive from San Jose, CA to Odessa, TX and back once or twice a year in a 1997 Nissan 200SX. Basically just straight down I-5 to LA, then I-10 to I-20 eastward. It was about 1500 miles each way, and would take me 2 days (~20-22hrs of driving).
At the time, I used to stick the cruise control to 89mph (the highest it would go), and crank my tunes. I'd get to just past LA (best was 500 miles before stopping, but usually more like 400-450), stop to pee, eat and get gas, then drive to Phoenix where I'd eat and sleep. The next morning I'd fill up and drive to El Paso, stop for a pee, food, and gas, then hop right back in and finish the trip to Odessa.
Obviously, I'm not going to get anywhere near 500 miles a stop with the Air. The EPA range is 384, but at the efficiency I typically see, the realistic range is in the 240-300 mile range. But that's okay because I'm not young and dumb anymore, I'm just old and dumb.
With the charging stops, I fully expect to see about 12-13hr days, and maybe reach 800ish miles. That said, I'm well aware enough to recognize if I'm getting drowsy and NOT afraid to take extra stops if needed, or even stop early and add an extra overnight stay somewhere if I don't feel that I can continue safely.
That said, I made this trip before in a hybrid with a 400mi range, and had no issues, so I'm reasonably confident that I can make the trip in 2 days each way.
The plan is to leave here Sat morning and arrive Sunday evening, then I'll come back the following weekend.
So, if there are any specific data points you'd like me to try to track, or thoughts and opinions you'd like to hear from me about the trip, by all means let me know and I'll try to respond and collect the relevant info.
Or if you think this is stupid and nobody wants to read all this crap about my lame road trip, that's perfectly valid feedback as well.
Otherwise, I'm looking forward to the adventure, and just generally getting the hell out of town for a bit.
