Always be charging for battery health (regardless of range)? Lucid says: not necessarily!

[AirPlur]

TL;DR: You apparently don't need to plug in your Lucid to keep the high-volt batteries conditioned and happy. Just charge when you want miles, need to keep it in its 20%-80% happy place, and to power the BMS to keep temperatures regulated in ambient extremes.

I've obsessively been hunting down an answer for my question of whether my (2-weeks-in-possession) Air should be plugged in whenever parked, whenever possible, even with no intention of gaining miles (i.e. using the stage 1 120v option) - even if it's fully charged to whatever preset I've selected. Sparing the full hunt and all the back'n'forths inside and outside of Lucid contacts, here's the most conclusive information I've received so far, straight from the lovely folks at Lucid customer care:

"This topic has certainly been one that we've had a lot of conversations about in office. The general consensus is you can leave it plugged in if desired, that would not cause harm or any battery loss to the car. It's not necessarily a must to keep it constantly charging, especially since the charging option with that 110-120V outlet may not provide you the most efficient use. One of the things to note too is if we are using the car on a daily basis, keeping it set on Daily or 80% would definitely preserve the vehicle's battery health.

I think in terms of what the owner's manual shares, it's kind of under the assumption that someone travels a fair amount. If we were using quite a bit of charge each day, then I would certainly recommend to plug it in every day/night to make sure you have enough charge for the morning. However, if we were driving maybe on average 30-40 miles a day, then charging every night would not be needed.

So really in short, I think for daily use, it is more than okay to not plug it in every day/night. It doesn't harm the battery if you do, it would just keep you at the top of the range given the limit it's set to. If we were travelling fair distances, it would be a good idea to make sure that we keep it plugged in and charging. That way, you won't have to worry about losing charge during your travels.

Let me know if that helps/makes sense!! I pooled a bit of wisdom from some folks in my office as well as some articles and personal experience with EVs. I hope you had a phenomenal weekend and a stellar start to your week ahead!"

Friendly people, right? So what I'm gathering here is that I shouldn't expect any great or minor harm caused to the high-voltage batteries if I don't leave it plugged in whenever possible while parked. Good news in my case since that means 100% of my charging can be done between my office and EA stations, with the stage 1 charger as truly a last-resort backup option. Hopefully that's helpful to others as well!

 

[Demosthenes]

That’s good news as I often leave my car unplugged!

 

[Bus Driver]

That’s good news as I often leave my car unplugged!

Me too. Not only that, I use one charger for two EVs at home. I can only really charge one of them every night starting at midnight. Often, it’s the Lucid with the bigger battery that misses out on nightly charging.

Keeping the charge level between 20% and 80% is certainly solid advice, and should be followed when possible and practicable. To make my roundtrip weekly commute to work (280 miles), I charge to 90% before leaving the house, the one time in the week I do so. That way, I can drive as fast as I want in both directions and still get home at above 20%.

 

[Tâm]

TL;DR: You apparently don't need to plug in your Lucid to keep the high-volt batteries conditioned and happy. Just charge when you want miles, need to keep it in its 20%-80% happy place, and to power the BMS to keep temperatures regulated in ambient extremes.

I've obsessively been hunting down an answer for my question of whether my (2-weeks-in-possession) Air should be plugged in whenever parked, whenever possible, even with no intention of gaining miles (i.e. using the stage 1 120v option) - even if it's fully charged to whatever preset I've selected. Sparing the full hunt and all the back'n'forths inside and outside of Lucid contacts, here's the most conclusive information I've received so far, straight from the lovely folks at Lucid customer care:

"This topic has certainly been one that we've had a lot of conversations about in office. The general consensus is you can leave it plugged in if desired, that would not cause harm or any battery loss to the car. It's not necessarily a must to keep it constantly charging, especially since the charging option with that 110-120V outlet may not provide you the most efficient use. One of the things to note too is if we are using the car on a daily basis, keeping it set on Daily or 80% would definitely preserve the vehicle's battery health.

I think in terms of what the owner's manual shares, it's kind of under the assumption that someone travels a fair amount. If we were using quite a bit of charge each day, then I would certainly recommend to plug it in every day/night to make sure you have enough charge for the morning. However, if we were driving maybe on average 30-40 miles a day, then charging every night would not be needed.

So really in short, I think for daily use, it is more than okay to not plug it in every day/night. It doesn't harm the battery if you do, it would just keep you at the top of the range given the limit it's set to. If we were travelling fair distances, it would be a good idea to make sure that we keep it plugged in and charging. That way, you won't have to worry about losing charge during your travels.

Let me know if that helps/makes sense!! I pooled a bit of wisdom from some folks in my office as well as some articles and personal experience with EVs. I hope you had a phenomenal weekend and a stellar start to your week ahead!"

Friendly people, right? So what I'm gathering here is that I shouldn't expect any great or minor harm caused to the high-voltage batteries if I don't leave it plugged in whenever possible while parked. Good news in my case since that means 100% of my charging can be done between my office and EA stations, with the stage 1 charger as truly a last-resort backup option. Hopefully that's helpful to others as well!

To clarify: The advice above is not from the official manual.

Yes, staff may give you an answer not quoted from the manual, but legally, what counts is whether you comply with the terms of service written in the manual by Lucid and not from an individual employee who might not be there anymore the next day. The manual stays, but an employee may not.

Even with advice from the employee, there's nowhere quoted for 20%-80%.

Again, this is what the manual says on page 147:

"Preserving high voltage battery pack health
The most effective way to prolong the battery(when not driving) is to leave it plugged into a charging source. Setting the charge level to"Daily" usage helps preserve battery health.

CAUTION: When the vehicle is not in use for long periods of time, it's necessary to plug into a charging source and set the charge target to the minimum "Daily" value."

...

"Battery pack life and performance are greatly improved by maintaining a healthy state of charge (generally between 40% and 80%)."


My take is that it's best to comply with the manual. Sometimes, I cannot because of the situation but not because I defy the advice:

If I arrived at a broken charging station, and the next one would deplete my charge down to almost 0%, I have no choice, so I have to go against the manual advice of 40-80%.

If I don't have access to a home electric outlet and I have to park on the streets, I don't plug in daily, not because I defy the advice but because I don't have a choice.

 

[Steveinarizona]

To clarify: The advice above is not from the official manual.

Yes, staff may give you an answer not quoted from the manual, but legally, what counts is whether you comply with the terms of service written in the manual by Lucid and not from an individual employee who might not be there anymore the next day. The manual stays, but an employee may not.

Even with advice from the employee, there's nowhere quoted for 20%-80%.

Again, this is what the manual says on page 147:

"Preserving high voltage battery pack health
The most effective way to prolong the battery(when not driving) is to leave it plugged into a charging source. Setting the charge level to"Daily" usage helps preserve battery health.

CAUTION: When the vehicle is not in use for long periods of time, it's necessary to plug into a charging source and set the charge target to the minimum "Daily" value."

...

"Battery pack life and performance are greatly improved by maintaining a healthy state of charge (generally between 40% and 80%)."


My take is that it's best to comply with the manual. Sometimes, I cannot because of the situation but not because I defy the advice:

If I arrived at a broken charging station, and the next one would deplete my charge down to almost 0%, I have no choice, so I have to go against the manual advice of 40-80%.

If I don't have access to a home electric outlet and I have to park on the streets, I don't plug in daily, not because I defy the advice but because I don't have a choice.

The manual advice is for "most effective way to prolong the battery life". It doesn't say that it is mandatory or necessary and it also doesn't say how much better it is. Personally, so long as I am driving locally I just charge overnight to 80% and keep it in that sweet spot. If you do this you are not meeting the suggestion from the manual but you are still comfortably within the warranty terms.