First Road Trip in AT (California)

[davo44]

My wife, daughter and I took our Air Touring with 20” wheels for its first road trip last weekend. We purchased the car in Feb 2023 and took it from Oxnard, CA to Monterrey, CA (approximately 275 miles each way). We averaged 3.2 mi/kWh going 75 mph on the 101 highway, which was a lot lower than I was hoping for. It works out to 294 miles for the AT’s 92 kWh battery. We’ve averaged 3.7 mi/kWh in the car’s first 7,800 miles, which would work out to 340 miles. We also had trouble charging at our first EA stop after about 150 miles. Just wouldn’t work. So we went down the road another 10 miles and still couldn’t get it to start charging. Logo reset didn’t help. So we called Customer Support, and they recommended I do a power cycle (let the car sleep for 5 minutes), which did the trick. If that didn’t work, Customer Support was prepared to send me to a ChargePoint. Before we got it to work, it was a little nervewracking, especially having my family in tow. Another bummer was on the way up, we heard a loud pop like a rock hitting glass but didn’t notice any visible signs of damage. Once we stopped to charge, however, we finally notice a large crack had grown. Turns out we got a pretty nasty chip on the very edge of the windshield (not visible from inside the car). It’s going to need replacement Other than the lower range, charging troubles and cracked windshield, we had a great overall experience. Met another man in Carmel who was also a Lucid owner and chatted it up for a few minutes. The ride quality is great, front seats and back seats are comfortable, and sound systems rocks! I guess Highway Assist wasn’t very useful… it’s got potential but isn’t quite there yet.

 

[Bus Driver]

Be grateful it wasn’t your rear windshield that was struck. My rear windshield cost over $8000 to replace.

 

[davo44]

$8000 is crazy! How did it break?

 

[Bus Driver]

$8000 is crazy! How did it break?

Long story, and I created a thread about it with “rear windshield” in the title. The short story is no one knows for sure how it broke. I was too quick to blurt out that a rock had been thrown up on my car while I was driving on the freeway, Lucid didn’t take responsibility, the detail shop where I had my tinting done didn’t own up to anything, and I was too wimpy to press the point at either.

All I know for sure is I turned my car in one morning to get my rear wind shield tint re-done because the first job had peeled off after only a month, went away, and wasn’t gone more than 30 minutes before the auto detailer called me to let me know that they were unwilling to start the re-installation because they’d just discovered a crack in the windshield.

I ended up taking the path of least resistance, but also the most costly - comprehensive coverage on my auto insurance.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

My wife, daughter and I took our Air Touring with 20” wheels for its first road trip last weekend. We purchased the car in Feb 2023 and took it from Oxnard, CA to Monterrey, CA (approximately 275 miles each way). We averaged 3.2 mi/kWh going 75 mph on the 101 highway, which was a lot lower than I was hoping for. It works out to 294 miles for the AT’s 92 kWh battery. We’ve averaged 3.7 mi/kWh in the car’s first 7,800 miles, which would work out to 340 miles. We also had trouble charging at our first EA stop after about 150 miles. Just wouldn’t work. So we went down the road another 10 miles and still couldn’t get it to start charging. Logo reset didn’t help. So we called Customer Support, and they recommended I do a power cycle (let the car sleep for 5 minutes), which did the trick. If that didn’t work, Customer Support was prepared to send me to a ChargePoint. Before we got it to work, it was a little nervewracking, especially having my family in tow. Another bummer was on the way up, we heard a loud pop like a rock hitting glass but didn’t notice any visible signs of damage. Once we stopped to charge, however, we finally notice a large crack had grown. Turns out we got a pretty nasty chip on the very edge of the windshield (not visible from inside the car). It’s going to need replacement Other than the lower range, charging troubles and cracked windshield, we had a great overall experience. Met another man in Carmel who was also a Lucid owner and chatted it up for a few minutes. The ride quality is great, front seats and back seats are comfortable, and sound systems rocks! I guess Highway Assist wasn’t very useful… it’s got potential but isn’t quite there yet.

Davo, I have driven from Saratoga to Ventura/Oxnard a couple of times. My observation is the mi/kwh are better driving South than they are driving North. California must be slanted downward from Northern CA to Southern CA?? One piece of advise regarding flying rocks. Try to stay away from trucks of any kind (including pickup trucks with off road or over sized tires). Stay well back or pass them very quickly. Those big tires fling rocks off to the sides all the time and the flaps on the 18 wheelers do little to stop the sideways ejections.

 

[NoseyReporter]

My observation is the mi/kwh are better driving South than they are driving North. California must be slanted downward from Northern CA to Southern CA??

I can echo this observation.

 

[OCDC]

I can echo this observation.

Agreed. My brother, who drove semi trucks all over CA, mentioned he consistently got better mileage heading south, though he attributed it to tailwinds bringing him home.

 

[Neurio]

I can confirm as well. My efficiency has always been better when driving to Santa Barbara/LA/SD than on the drives back with the same speeds. The winds could potentially be a factor too.

 

[scal_air]

Welcome Davo44!
Sorry to hear about your windshield and charging issues. As far as range is concerned, I have found that adaptive cruise control really increases the efficiency beyond what I had expected. Give it a try on your next long trip.

 

[Easyrider949]

I’m currently on a road trip from San Clemente, CA to Newport Oregon via Cambria, Monterey, Red Bluff and Eugene. So far we have driven 1,460 miles and only getting 2.9 mi/kWh and used 495 kWh. On the last 925 miles I got 3.0 mi/kWh with 312 used kWh.

Also, We have had zero issues with our EA stops (our timing has been very lucky as we arrived before others and have had no wait times) which have mostly been in a Walmart or Target parking lot. We usually stop between 2-3 hours or 150-200 miles due to needing bathroom breaks and food (or else my wife would kill me), so I had already pre planned those EA stops using that time/mileage range, therefore I could drive as fast or slow that I wanted without range anxiety, it’s been fun to drive. I have used the adaptive cruise at times and other times I wanted to be in control. We will be heading back south towards home this weekend via Eureka, Ukiah, Napa Valley and Bakersfield before we get back home. I will be interested in my mi/kWh heading south.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

I bet you see an increase going South!!

 

[davo44]

I saw 3.2 mi/kWh during each way (north and south), but your mileage may vary. I also tried highway assist but needed to change lanes too often. When I use it in regular commuting and set it at 70, I can get 3.7-3.9. As this was our first road trip, I had it in Smooth the whole way and was wary of broken EA stations, so didn’t go crazy with the driving. Now that I have a better feel and can plan a better EA route, I may have to go up to Swift

 

[EVSRCali]

This week i drove from East Bay to the Lucid Studio in Milbrae CA amidst a lot of traffic and set the regen to High. Traveling at an average speed of 40 to 45 mph. Got like 5.1 mi/kwh due to stop and go. Distance was 41 miles. This is a AT on 19 inch wheels. Quite pleased and amazed at the efficiency.

 

[Edward]

HI all! I just finished my first road trip the other day to eastern Nebraska and wanted to relate some information about the trip. I went to this museum https://www.sacmuseum.org specifically to see the SR-71. I left home with 94% SoS and recharged in Lexington, NE at the EA in Walmart's parking lot. It was 297.5 miles with 13% SoS left. I experienced limited power on all EA's chargers for the entire trip 150 and 350. Never did exceed 100 kw at any time. I experienced several quirks going and returning home that I thought were very unusual. With each location in navigation the lady's voice came on and said re-routing maybe a dozen times while I was on I-80 and on several occasions for a short time the battery re-conditioning would present itself, just out of the blue and then go off quickly. On each occasion I never requested this. Another time on the way home I lost almost all volume while playing Spotify or Amazon music and called service and couldn't even here the gentleman I was trying to speak to. When the volume finally came back it was at maximum level, which of course, was deafening. I tried turning the volume down but, both methods of adjusting were futile. I exited I-80 and stepped out of the car to hear service and he had me do a soft reset using the Lucid logo and that resolved the unbearable cabin noise. Temperatures were cool so never did have to use a/c or heat. Did have a good amount of strong crosswind coming out of the south and ran a slight bit of rain, nothing hard or for very long. I ran across route 34 out of Greeley at 65 mph for approximately 35 miles and 70 along I-76 and also 70 mph all the way across I-80 to Lincoln, NE using cruise. Both I-76 and I-80 were posted for 75 mph. . Trip A below was the total mileage of trip.

 

[Edward]

HI all! I just finished my first road trip the other day to eastern Nebraska and wanted to relate some information about the trip. I went to this museum https://www.sacmuseum.org specifically to see the SR-71. I left home with 94% SoS and recharged in Lexington, NE at the EA in Walmart's parking lot. It was 297.5 miles with 13% SoS left. I experienced limited power on all EA's chargers for the entire trip 150 and 350. Never did exceed 100 kw at any time. I experienced several quirks going and returning home that I thought were very unusual. With each location in navigation the lady's voice came on and said re-routing maybe a dozen times while I was on I-80 and on several occasions for a short time the battery re-conditioning would present itself, just out of the blue and then go off quickly. On each occasion I never requested this. Another time on the way home I lost almost all volume while playing Spotify or Amazon music and called service and couldn't even here the gentleman I was trying to speak to. When the volume finally came back it was at maximum level, which of course, was deafening. I tried turning the volume down but, both methods of adjusting were futile. I exited I-80 and stepped out of the car to hear service and he had me do a soft reset using the Lucid logo and that resolved the unbearable cabin noise. Temperatures were cool so never did have to use a/c or heat. Did have a good amount of strong crosswind coming out of the south and ran a slight bit of rain, nothing hard or for very long. I ran across route 34 out of Greeley at 65 mph for approximately 35 miles and 70 along I-76 and also 70 mph all the way across I-80 to Lincoln, NE using cruise. Both I-76 and I-80 were posted for 75 mph. . Trip A below was the total mileage of trip.

Actually Trip B was the mileage to Nebraska and back.

 

[PompousAss]

I went to this museum https://www.sacmuseum.org specifically to see the SR-71.

Ha, I posted in a thread a week or so back that the SAC museum is the only reason to go to Nebraska. Looks like you agree!

 

[Edward]

Ha, I posted in a thread a week or so back that the SAC museum is the only reason to go to Nebraska. Looks like you agree!

I would have to agree. It was a great venue, even the restrooms were impressive. I finished up the tour at the Sac Lunch Cafe, had the Blackbird sandwich and it was superb.