Charging Speeds on Lucid Air Touring

[StevenBassett]

I have had the car for 4 months and have 5,000 miles. Most of the time I charge at home, but have charged 22 times at Electrify America stations with at least 150kw charging capability. So far, the fastest that my car has charged was once at just over 100kwh. I try to pre-condition at least 15 minutes before charging. Most of the time the charging rate starts at 80ish and then goes down to about 50kwh and I am charging to 80% most of the time. I understand the charging curve. Today I charged to 90% and it started at 70 and dropped to 50 (got 35.3kwh in 30minutes). It was 80 degrees outside when charging. There were no other cars at the charging station until I had 5 minutes to go and an Audi arrived. When I unplugged, I saw that his car was charging at 148kwh. All chargers at this station were 150kwh chargers.

I have asked Lucid about it several times and they say the same things...it depends on the charger, temp, pre-conditioning, time of day and all the other things. What can be the issue with the car? Where/Who do I talk to about the fast speed charging?

 

[DeaneG]

Can you mention what battery state of charge percentage your car began its recent charge at, and what kW charging power the station delivered at that time?

 

[Honest Abe]

I have had the car for 4 months and have 5,000 miles. Most of the time I charge at home, but have charged 22 times at Electrify America stations with at least 150kw charging capability. So far, the fastest that my car has charged was once at just over 100kwh. I try to pre-condition at least 15 minutes before charging. Most of the time the charging rate starts at 80ish and then goes down to about 50kwh and I am charging to 80% most of the time. I understand the charging curve. Today I charged to 90% and it started at 70 and dropped to 50 (got 35.3kwh in 30minutes). It was 80 degrees outside when charging. There were no other cars at the charging station until I had 5 minutes to go and an Audi arrived. When I unplugged, I saw that his car was charging at 148kwh. All chargers at this station were 150kwh chargers.

I have asked Lucid about it several times and they say the same things...it depends on the charger, temp, pre-conditioning, time of day and all the other things. What can be the issue with the car? Where/Who do I talk to about the fast speed charging?

There is a problem...I'm sure you have seen the battery charging graph. If you are charging to 70-80% (I assume from below 50%), it should stay above (around) 100kwh There will be a dramatic and usually sudden drop in kwh after around 80-90%.
I agree there are a lot of variables in battery charging, but they will not explain your slow start at 70kwh.

 

[StevenBassett]

Can you mention what battery state of charge percentage your car began its recent charge at, and what kW charging power the station delivered at that time?

I was at 50% charge when starting and it was a 150kwh station.

 

[DeaneG]

I was at 50% charge when starting and it was a 150kwh station.

If everything was working right, your car should have been able to pull just over 100kW at 50% SOC. I've found that my car's charging rate benefits from 30-45 minutes of preconditioning before a charge. 15 minutes hasn't been that helpful - the car is trying to change the temperature of over 1000lb of metal. No idea if this was a factor for you though.

Post in thread 'Charging curve logs post 2.1.52'

Feb 23, 2024

Link to the comparison data:

2.1.52 Charging Comparison

2.1.52 GT vs. Touring Comparison EVgo 2/15,EA 2/18 Volund's Grand Touring,Shane_SLC's Touring Location: West Valley City, UT EVgo,Location: Salt Lake City, UT EA Time: 7:31 PM MST,Time: 2:29 AM MST Temperature: 42 F,Temperature: 40 F Peak Amps:,308,Preconditioning:,45 minutes+ Starting Voltage:,827

docs.google.com

Old data for those interested:

Charging Curve Analysis 11/17/23 - 11/19/23

2.1.52 GT vs. Touring Comparison EVgo 2/15,EA 2/18 Volund's Grand Touring,Shane_SLC's Touring Location: West Valley City, UT EVgo,Location: Salt Lake City, UT EA Time: 7:31 PM MST,Time: 2:29 AM MST Temperature: 42 F,Temperature: 40 F Peak Amps:,308,Preconditioning:,45 minutes+ Starting Voltage:,827

docs.google.com

The original plan was to test a Touring and Grand Touring under the same conditions to see how the charging curves of the two compare and to see how noticeable the changes made in 2.1.52 are. @Volund in their Grand Touring and I in my Touring coordinated to charge back-to-back at our nearest local EVgo station on...

• Shane_SLC

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[bassem]

the only way for me to get an accurate reading on the charging rate is to attempt two different vendors that can charge at 350Kw typically super early in the morning or in the evening. One item that may not have been discussed is whether the charger is being throttled intentionally.
After attempting to charge with different vendors ( I have tried this with Electrify America and EVGo 350Kw chargers. My conclusion is to get similar results from them before scheduling a maintenance appointment.

Having said that, please bear in mind that batteries are not infallible and if there is a problem with one or more cells, a lower charge may kick in, to prevent a larger problem from happening (thermal runaway events).

My personal preference is to charge at the least amount of DC current available for my particular drive requirements. Therefore if this is not a long range drive I hover around 50kw stations, to prolong my batteries lifespan.

 

[Andretex]

I have a touring and have charged at EA many times. We have also posted charging curves here in the forum. A normal charging curve at a 150kw charger is like the last time I charged. I took screenshots and…
And 9% it charged at 148-170kw
At 42% it was charging at 126kw
At 66% it was charging at 78kw
At 88% it was at 41kw.

Yes it drops fast after 50% or so and it will be at 50kw or below from about 80%. This is normal.