4500 mile Road trip in 2023 Lucid Air Pure December 2023

[chris]

Hi everyone. I've shared this on a few groups on FB and was asked to share it here as well with the Lucid community.

I was one of the early reservation holders so I have 3 years free charging that lasts me until July 2026 at this point. Anyway, this 'free' EA charging is what ultimately put us over the edge to try this big trip from Chicago to Phoenix (then some day trips while there) and back home!

Here's the copy/paste from FB (sorry to those of you who might have already seen this there!)

Our trip down was NOT typical winter weather and we got to enjoy 50s and 60s temps. The way back home the 1st day was 50s and 60s but our 2nd day 40s and 3rd day was mid to high 30s but all above freezing temps which I believe is a factor here because we didn't need to use a lot of heat nor A/C (but did use both at times).

For the 'drumroll' on range. It wasn't anywhere near the advertised 410 miles. I did and redid the math a few times and the average comes out to about 275 miles range. To be fair, we mostly did around 82-84mph on the highway so I'm certain that factored into our miles per kWh.

While we initially thought we would break the trip into 3 even 600 mile range days (putting us in Miami, Oklahoma the 1st night and Santa Rosa, NM the 2nd night), we actually made it 746 miles the 1st day to Stroud, OK (with available free overnight chargers!) and the 2nd night was another 748 miles in Gallup, NM. (In Hindsight, Gallup at 7000 feet was not ideal and we did not sleep as well that night given that we were not adjusted to the O2 availability at that height). The way home was 738 miles to Amarillo, Texas the 1st day and then 633 miles to our friends house in Missouri the 2nd night leaving us the shortest distance to get home the 3rd day.

We had a small learning curve and started out our trip slightly paranoid and worried about charger availability and workability. The drive down (we left on Wednesday December 20th and arrived Friday December 22nd around 12:45pm local time FWIW) and had 2 hotel night stays. Our 1st 2 charges we stuck around for about 40 minutes each and upwards to around 85% charge. After these 1st 2 charges, we ended up with stops anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes between 70% and 80% full unless we were stopping for a meal and would leave it charge for longer but we still never reached 100% charge except for our Level 2 overnight at our 1st hotel night, the day before we left (at my parents house in AZ off their dryer vent 220 plug AND the final level 2 overnight at a friends house).

Our weather the 1st 2 days was beautiful but we unfortunately got stuck with foggy and rainy weather our last stint from about Holbrook, AZ all the way to south of Sedona, AZ on I-17 which was the least fun part of the trip as we figured out how NOT to get the windshield to constantly fog up AND suffered with our faces feeling like they were on fire as we had the heat on full blast defrost (fan speed

to keep everything as clear as possible. The trip home was precipitation free with a combination of overcast and sunny blue skys so overall we got pretty lucky!

Although I did use the car's NAV for directing us to charging stations (so it would pre-condition at the right time which Incidentally also robs range), I did NOT use it for the whole A-B trip because it was way too optimistic telling me I only had to stop half as often and would often pre-calculate me with less than 10% range left (if I actually had 410 miles range). I had a printout I prepared ahead of time of all the EA chargers along the route and mileage between them. Mileage ranged anywhere from a low of 56 miles to a high of 145 miles between stops. If I remember right, I skipped 4 potential stops on the way down and 5 potential stops on the way home.

The car said it would only take us 4.75 hours of charging time to go 1800 miles. Reality was 7.75 hours of charging time NOT counting the overnight Level 2 charging to full at the hotel 1 night. The way home was 7 hours and 5 minutes of charging NOT including the level 2 overnight at a friends house to full. (Photo attached here is at the friends house in Missouri on the way home when it was plugged in charging).

In conclusion I would do this trip again while I still have free charging BUT not once I have to pay for charging. It not only ended up being almost double the cost compared to a 21mpg vehicle BUT also added 2 extra hotel nights cost and 6 days total instead of 4 (as we traditionally do the trip in 2 days instead of 3). The ride itself was very comfy. We were both annoyed that there was no toggle off for the Adaptive cruise control (the only option is adaptive if you want cruise control). My husband hated the Highway assist but I (the wife) enjoyed it. So there you have it folks!

Attached is my 'spreadsheet' I put together (no I didn't get more detailed- we were trying to enjoy our vacation too!) I also attached the photo op stop at the Lucid AMP1 building in Casa Grande, AZ while we were down there!

 

[momo3605]

Although I did use the car's NAV for directing us to charging stations (so it would pre-condition at the right time which Incidentally also robs range), I did NOT use it for the whole A-B trip because it was way too optimistic telling me I only had to stop half as often and would often pre-calculate me with less than 10% range left

Thanks for sharing, it's not too surprising on overall range at 80mph. I also average about 3 miles/kwh or 270 miles effective range at 75-80mph

But your experience with the range estimation with NAV is my main issue as well. @borski and others will say that it's very accurate, but i think they definitely still have some work to do! At least to take into account your recent driving history and not just estimate based on average 65-70mph efficiency.

 

[hydbob]

Thanks for sharing, it's not too surprising on overall range at 80mph. I also average about 3 miles/kwh or 270 miles effective range at 75-80mph

But your experience with the range estimation with NAV is my main issue as well. @borski and others will say that it's very accurate, but i think they definitely still have some work to do! At least to take into account your recent driving history and not just estimate based on average 65-70mph efficiency.

Take the miles remaining/EPA for your car then divide by kwH for your spec and compare to remaining battery% and it should be dead on. That's what we mean by being accurate.

 

[momo3605]

Take the miles remaining/EPA for your car then divide by kwH for your spec and compare to remaining battery% and it should be dead on. That's what we mean by being accurate.

Are you talking about the general range estimate that you see in your IC? I'm talking about the one that the navigation system proposes when you set a destination. As far as I understand, this is lower than EPA efficiency, but not quite low enough to be accurate for the majority of drivers that get 3-3.5miles/kw in efficiency

 

[hydbob]

Are you talking about the general range estimate that you see in your IC? I'm talking about the one that the navigation system proposes when you set a destination. As far as I understand, this is LOWER than EPA efficiency, but not quite low enough to be accurate for the majority of drivers that get 3-3.5miles/kw in efficiency

If you input a nav destination, on the left side it'll give you a miles remaining number. For example, mine would say 100 miles remaining at destination. So then I do 100 miles/3.8mi/kwH (EPA efficiency) = 26.3kwH. 26.3/118 = 22% remaining at destination

 

[momo3605]

If you input a nav destination, on the left side it'll give you a miles remaining number. For example, mine would say 100 miles remaining at destination. So then I do 100 miles/3.8mi/kwH (EPA efficiency) = 26.3kwH. 26.3/118 = 22% remaining at destination

ohh i think i understand what you're saying. But maybe we're talking past each other.

What I mean is say on my Touring i have 190 miles left of EPA range (50%) and I input a destination 50 miles away. It won't say you will arrive at your destination with 140 miles of EPA range remaining. It'll actually say something like you will arrive with 125 miles of EPA range. So it is assuming that your real world driving is obviously worse than the EPA. But I've generally found even with that buffer it's not usually enough, and more than likely i'll arrive with 110 or 115 miles left.

OP is stating the same thing. The NAV says he will arrive at his charger with x% of SOC left, and as you get closer it drops and drops and eventually says NVM you won't make it.

 

[hydbob]

ohh i think i understand what you're saying. But maybe we're talking past each other.

What I mean is say on my Touring i have 190 miles left of EPA range (50%) and I input a destination 50 miles away. It won't say you will arrive at your destination with 140 miles of EPA range remaining. It'll actually say something like you will arrive with 125 miles of EPA range. So it is assuming that your real world driving is obviously worse than the EPA. But I've generally found even with that buffer it's not usually enough, and more than likely i'll arrive with 110 or 115 miles left.

OP is stating the same thing. The NAV says he will arrive at his charger with x% of SOC left, and as you get closer it drops and drops and eventually says NVM you won't make it.

Yea I get it now. I think many of us old timers swapped to %, then just use our lifetime average to see how things will shake out instead of relying on the car, which itself is ridiculous but it is what it is until it isn't.

 

[joec]

and more than likely i'll arrive with 110 or 115 miles left.

Yeah, but what does 110 miles left even mean? You know?

This is the issue in general with using miles instead of percentage. (To be clear, I'm talking about Lucid here, not you.) What I always want is how much battery will be left. The miles are always an estimate, and thus always inaccurate. The car has no way of knowing whether I'm suddenly going to head into a headwind, or decide I can't stand going the speed limit anymore and want to jump up 20 mph. It does the best it can assuming some ideal conditions, factoring the elevation change along the route at least. But it has to base that estimate on something, and that's likely the speed limit plus some fudge number. And that's about it. I'm sure it takes into account recent efficiency as well.

But even then, you get a "miles remaining" number that is based on zero knowledge of what you're going ot do next. If you know what I mean.

So if I finish my trip with "110 miles remaining" and then immediately start doing donuts for a half hour, I'm likely not actually going to get 110 miles.

For me, I'd much rather it just reported the percentage remaining at destination. That's still an estimate, but I have a much better idea at this point whether or not that percentage remaining is enough to get me through whatever I'm doing after I get to the destination. I can factor that percentage into my post navigation plans in a way the car simply can't.

 

[momo3605]

Yea I get it now. I think many of us old timers swapped to %, then just use our lifetime average to see how things will shake out instead of relying on the car, which itself is ridiculous but it is what it is until it isn't.

Yeah, but what does 110 miles left even mean? You know?

This is the issue in general with using miles instead of percentage. (To be clear, I'm talking about Lucid here, not you.) What I always want is how much battery will be left. The miles are always an estimate, and thus always inaccurate. The car has no way of knowing whether I'm suddenly going to head into a headwind, or decide I can't stand going the speed limit anymore and want to jump up 20 mph. It does the best it can assuming some ideal conditions, factoring the elevation change along the route at least. But it has to base that estimate on something, and that's likely the speed limit plus some fudge number. And that's about it. I'm sure it takes into account recent efficiency as well.

But even then, you get a "miles remaining" number that is based on zero knowledge of what you're going ot do next. If you know what I mean.

So if I finish my trip with "110 miles remaining" and then immediately start doing donuts for a half hour, I'm likely not actually going to get 110 miles.

For me, I'd much rather it just reported the percentage remaining at destination. That's still an estimate, but I have a much better idea at this point whether or not that percentage remaining is enough to get me through whatever I'm doing after I get to the destination. I can factor that percentage into my post navigation plans in a way the car simply can't.

Yup totally agree with you. 110 miles left obviously means nothing. I'd be better off saying oh 25% left on my 90kwh battery...at 3 miles/kw is actually like 90 miles.

But for me and I think for OP, the issue is that you just can't really rely on the nav to plot trips for you. If it's routing you to a station with < 10% left, you're definitely not going to make it. And at that point, have to plan on ABRP or ahead of time with a map of the chargers. It would just be nice if Lucid's nav routing was a bit more accurate or allowed you to specify minimum arrival percentage. Then you could let it rip with the built-in NAV

 

[joec]

Yup totally agree with you. 110 miles left obviously means nothing. I'd be better off saying oh 25% left on my 90kwh battery...at 3 miles/kw is actually like 90 miles.

But for me and I think for OP, the issue is that you just can't really rely on the nav to plot trips for you. If it's routing you to a station with < 10% left, you're definitely not going to make it. And at that point, have to plan on ABRP or ahead of time with a map of the chargers. It would just be nice if Lucid's nav routing was a bit more accurate or allowed you to specify minimum arrival percentage. Then you could let it rip with the built-in NAV

Totally agree. It's low priority for me, because I just do the math in my head. But it's stupid I need to do that, for sure.

 

[vices]

Do you have a pure? Yeah I can never get 300 real world miles on a charge on mine, but I never drive to maximize miles.

 

[hydbob]

Do you have a pure? Yeah I can never get 300 real world miles on a charge on mine, but I never drive to maximize miles.

This encapsulates 95% of the range complaints on this forum.

 

[DeaneG]

You'll likely get EPA range from your car if you drive at a steady speed of about 45mph. Anything more than that, you won't make EPA efficiency or range. I think the EPA has done a huge disservice to car owners new to the EV world by mandating just one mixed range figure instead of two: people need to know city range and highway range, and understand why they are different. Just like ICE vehicles have a city MPG figure and a highway MPG. Instead we get MPGe for EV's, which helps no one.

 

[momo3605]

You'll likely get EPA range from your car if you drive at a steady speed of about 45mph. Anything more than that, you won't make EPA efficiency or range. I think the EPA has done a huge disservice to car owners new to the EV world by mandating just one mixed range figure instead of two: people need to know city range and highway range, and understand why they are different. Just like ICE vehicles have a city MPG figure and a highway MPG. Instead we get MPGe for EV's, which helps no one.

I think MPGe has a city and highway component but both numbers are usually wrong and calculated weirdly. The real issue is they should drive the cars at real highway speed of 65 or 70mph and give that number (for highway)

 

[chris]

Do you have a pure? Yeah I can never get 300 real world miles on a charge on mine, but I never drive to maximize miles.

Yes, my car is a 2023 Pure AWD on 19" wheels... sorry I should have specified that from the start.

 

[xponents]

Totally agree. It's low priority for me, because I just do the math in my head. But it's stupid I need to do that, for sure.

You did make a Siri shortcut for that on my suggestion, if I recall correctly. That does make it much quicker!

Thread 'Siri Shortcut for estimating range'
https://lucidowners.com/threads/siri-shortcut-for-estimating-range.5974/

 

[LucidPez]

Those are some really slow charge times. Kinda disappointing from Lucid here. These are like similar to some of the slower charging cars like Mach-E for times.

 

[chris]

Those are some really slow charge times. Kinda disappointing from Lucid here. These are like similar to some of the slower charging cars like Mach-E for times.

If you are talking about my spreadsheet, there are some longer charge times that were due to us taking time to eat so it went above 80%. I believe the longest time when we ate dinner was the highest charge of 94% (highest we ever went on a fast charger actually). The only really slow charge was at Flagstaff on Dec 30th which was a painfully slow 65kW the entire time and we left at 70% to get to Winslow and top off at a much more acceptable speed. Most of our charging speeds on the 150 chargers were actually around 170 (well above their rated 150). Sadly most of the 350 chargers had messages saying the charging speed was reduced and the EA charger was waiting for an upgrade so we sought out the 150 chargers most of the time. For us they were more reliable than the 350 ones!