Forget efficiency - Drive faster for just $6 per month!

[Andretex]

Ever since I got my Touring with 19 inch wheels, I have been preoccupied with efficiency. I guess in the back of my mind, driving an EV requires a certain degree of energy efficiency. I have been driving fast then slow, even tried with and without AC. I will never see the 425 EPA range stated when I bought the car. But, I have driven about 310 miles once without charging. My range should be between 290 miles to 350 miles on the Touring depending on weather, AC, and speed.

But today, I did a little more math. My efficiency when I drive slowly and carefully (with AC always on since I live in South Florida) is 3.7 m/kwh. When I drive normally which is relatively faster than most, about 80 to 85 mph on short highway miles to/from work, I get 3.3 m/kwh. So what is the actual cost of this reduced efficiency?

Well, it costs me $0.178 cents per kw at home including the approx. 10% loss on charge. (My ChargePoint home flex pretty much always shows that it delivered about 10% more kw to my car than the car says it received.). If I drive the estimated 12,000 miles per year at 3.3 m/kwh (faster) instead of 3.7 m/kwh (slower) the additional cost per month in my electric bill would be approx. $5.82. Wow that was a surprise as I expected it would cost much more.

My total cost per month of electricity at 3.3 m/kwh is about $48.06 per month. At 3.7 m/kwh it would be $53.88. In either case much less than my previous BMW 7 series cost in gas a month.

From now on, I will just drive fast, enjoy the car and not worry about m/kwh. I know most of you already do this!

BTW, I mostly charge at home and have used EA for free every time I travel. I have not paid once for a charge outside of my house.

 

[hydbob]

Ever since I got my Touring with 19 inch wheels, I have been preoccupied with efficiency. I guess in the back of my mind, driving an EV requires a certain degree of energy efficiency. I have been driving fast then slow, even tried with and without AC. I will never see the 425 EPA range stated when I bought the car. But, I have driven about 310 miles once without charging. My range should be between 290 miles to 350 miles on the Touring depending on weather, AC, and speed.

But today, I did a little more math. My efficiency when I drive slowly and carefully (with AC always on since I live in South Florida) is 3.7 m/kwh. When I drive normally which is relatively faster than most, about 80 to 85 mph on short highway miles to/from work, I get 3.3 m/kwh. So what is the actual cost of this reduced efficiency?

Well, it costs me $0.178 cents per kw at home including the approx. 10% loss on charge. (My ChargePoint home flex pretty much always shows that it delivered about 10% more kw to my car than the car says it received.). If I drive the estimated 12,000 miles per year at 3.3 m/kwh (faster) instead of 3.7 m/kwh (slower) the additional cost per month in my electric bill would be approx. $5.82. Wow that was a surprise as I expected it would cost much more.

My total cost per month of electricity at 3.3 m/kwh is about $48.06 per month. At 3.7 m/kwh it would be $53.88. In either case much less than my previous BMW 7 series cost in gas a month.

From now on, I will just drive fast, enjoy the car and not worry about m/kwh. I know most of you already do this!

BTW, I mostly charge at home and have used EA for free every time I travel. I have not paid once for a charge outside of my house.

Great way to look at it and kudos for doing the testing for all of us plebes.

 

[Andretex]

.

My total cost per month of electricity at 3.3 m/kwh is about $48.06 per month. At 3.7 m/kwh it would be $53.88. In either case much less than my previous BMW 7 series cost in gas a month.
.

Sorry but I wrote this part in reverse. Obviously the higher efficiency at 3.7 will cost less at $48.06 per month.

 

[xponents]

Ever since I got my Touring with 19 inch wheels, I have been preoccupied with efficiency. I guess in the back of my mind, driving an EV requires a certain degree of energy efficiency. I have been driving fast then slow, even tried with and without AC. I will never see the 425 EPA range stated when I bought the car. But, I have driven about 310 miles once without charging. My range should be between 290 miles to 350 miles on the Touring depending on weather, AC, and speed.

But today, I did a little more math. My efficiency when I drive slowly and carefully (with AC always on since I live in South Florida) is 3.7 m/kwh. When I drive normally which is relatively faster than most, about 80 to 85 mph on short highway miles to/from work, I get 3.3 m/kwh. So what is the actual cost of this reduced efficiency?

Well, it costs me $0.178 cents per kw at home including the approx. 10% loss on charge. (My ChargePoint home flex pretty much always shows that it delivered about 10% more kw to my car than the car says it received.). If I drive the estimated 12,000 miles per year at 3.3 m/kwh (faster) instead of 3.7 m/kwh (slower) the additional cost per month in my electric bill would be approx. $5.82. Wow that was a surprise as I expected it would cost much more.

My total cost per month of electricity at 3.3 m/kwh is about $48.06 per month. At 3.7 m/kwh it would be $53.88. In either case much less than my previous BMW 7 series cost in gas a month.

From now on, I will just drive fast, enjoy the car and not worry about m/kwh. I know most of you already do this!

BTW, I mostly charge at home and have used EA for free every time I travel. I have not paid once for a charge outside of my house.

Thank you for the in depth research and stats! That’s a great part of this forum, there are people analyzing regen distances and stuff like that!

But I agree, you should only care about efficiency on road trips where extra range might be better for your charging station sanity

 

[Neurio]

... and that's why my lifetime efficiency is 3.0 mi/kWh.

 

[Daniel2022AT]

There is no one right answer. If you want to drive for maximum efficiency, go for it. I got 4.5 mi/KWh on a trip last summer. If you want to drive prudently to try to save the planet, go for it. If you want to drive for maximum fun, go for it. The Lucid Air is anything you want it to be on any given day.

 

[Dog poop]

50 bucks a year for a more spirted driving experience… yes, please!

I love this car!

 

[borski]

Ever since I got my Touring with 19 inch wheels, I have been preoccupied with efficiency. I guess in the back of my mind, driving an EV requires a certain degree of energy efficiency. I have been driving fast then slow, even tried with and without AC. I will never see the 425 EPA range stated when I bought the car. But, I have driven about 310 miles once without charging. My range should be between 290 miles to 350 miles on the Touring depending on weather, AC, and speed.

But today, I did a little more math. My efficiency when I drive slowly and carefully (with AC always on since I live in South Florida) is 3.7 m/kwh. When I drive normally which is relatively faster than most, about 80 to 85 mph on short highway miles to/from work, I get 3.3 m/kwh. So what is the actual cost of this reduced efficiency?

Well, it costs me $0.178 cents per kw at home including the approx. 10% loss on charge. (My ChargePoint home flex pretty much always shows that it delivered about 10% more kw to my car than the car says it received.). If I drive the estimated 12,000 miles per year at 3.3 m/kwh (faster) instead of 3.7 m/kwh (slower) the additional cost per month in my electric bill would be approx. $5.82. Wow that was a surprise as I expected it would cost much more.

My total cost per month of electricity at 3.3 m/kwh is about $48.06 per month. At 3.7 m/kwh it would be $53.88. In either case much less than my previous BMW 7 series cost in gas a month.

From now on, I will just drive fast, enjoy the car and not worry about m/kwh. I know most of you already do this!

BTW, I mostly charge at home and have used EA for free every time I travel. I have not paid once for a charge outside of my house.

Welcome to the club.

Drive the car like you stole it, have a blast, and then use the efficiency when you need it. I saw @Worldwide Beagle and @joec today in person and man, this came up a lot lol - I have absolutely not the faintest idea of why someone would go buy a 1000HP car and then drive it at 57mph so that they could save a few bucks.

People should do what they want, of course, and not everyone likes driving faster. But you can take my Smooth mode and leave me with just Swift and Sprint and I'll be perfectly happy.

 

[Volund]

My rates are 4¢ a kw, so I'm happy I can probably do 3x less than that number!

Lifetime efficiency is 3.2 currently, and will probably go lower as I tossed my aero cap covers after my rim paint repair

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

Welcome to the club.

Drive the car like you stole it, have a blast, and then use the efficiency when you need it. I saw @Worldwide Beagle and @joec today in person and man, this came up a lot lol - I have absolutely not the faintest idea of why someone would go buy a 1000HP car and then drive it at 57mph so that they could save a few bucks.

People should do what they want, of course, and not everyone likes driving faster. But you can take my Smooth mode and leave me with just Swift and Sprint and I'll be perfectly happy.

With a few friends, efficiency has become an illness that prevents them from enjoying the car. One friend is so fixated, he keeps the heat off in his $100k ev when it's sub freezing. His wife no longer drives with him when it's very cold or hot. And he still does not stop analyzing. Driving alone.

Must be an EV thing. Friends with RS 6s and 7s NEVER EVER mention mpg. Just SPM, smiles per mile. Or km.....

@borski, it's not just about driving fast. It's about having fun and enjoying yourself and not looking for things to worry. Life is full of bad shit all on its own (we had a murder in front of our house the other night). My biggest complaint about this forum is the number of posts where where people look for something to be royally pissed of about, look for an excuse to windge and complain. I would tell my mother she had a worry quotient: she had to have SOMETHING to worry about and was not happy unless she had. I feel too many here are the same. They really do not seem happy. How can you own a Lucid and not be happy?

I get dozens of strangers come up and ask about the Lucid. They all ask the same question: is it fun to drive, do I love it? No one asks efficiency. I have no idea what it is. And I hope I never do. To each, their own.

 

[Ampere]

To me, efficiency, per se, is not an issue. I don't keep track of how much it costs to keep my Lucid Touring charged. In local driving, within 50 miles of home, I drive the Lucid like I would any other car, or perhaps a bit more aggressively. Full heat in winter, normal speed (about 74 mph), etc. However, because of lack of EA charging stations, their unreliability, and the time required to charge at any brand of charging station, when on long trips efficiency is everything, only because I either don't want to be stranded without a charge or I don't want to spend 45-60 minutes charging.

 

[Amster]

Ever since I got my Touring with 19 inch wheels, I have been preoccupied with efficiency. I guess in the back of my mind, driving an EV requires a certain degree of energy efficiency. I have been driving fast then slow, even tried with and without AC. I will never see the 425 EPA range stated when I bought the car. But, I have driven about 310 miles once without charging. My range should be between 290 miles to 350 miles on the Touring depending on weather, AC, and speed.

But today, I did a little more math. My efficiency when I drive slowly and carefully (with AC always on since I live in South Florida) is 3.7 m/kwh. When I drive normally which is relatively faster than most, about 80 to 85 mph on short highway miles to/from work, I get 3.3 m/kwh. So what is the actual cost of this reduced efficiency?

Well, it costs me $0.178 cents per kw at home including the approx. 10% loss on charge. (My ChargePoint home flex pretty much always shows that it delivered about 10% more kw to my car than the car says it received.). If I drive the estimated 12,000 miles per year at 3.3 m/kwh (faster) instead of 3.7 m/kwh (slower) the additional cost per month in my electric bill would be approx. $5.82. Wow that was a surprise as I expected it would cost much more.

My total cost per month of electricity at 3.3 m/kwh is about $48.06 per month. At 3.7 m/kwh it would be $53.88. In either case much less than my previous BMW 7 series cost in gas a month.

From now on, I will just drive fast, enjoy the car and not worry about m/kwh. I know most of you already do this!

BTW, I mostly charge at home and have used EA for free every time I travel. I have not paid once for a charge outside of my house.

When you look at it that way, it's just silly to do anything else but just have a blast driving the car! $5 barely gets you a coffee at Starbucks.

 

[Daniel2022AT]

Drive any way you want and I will do the same. Don’t tell me what to do and I won’t tell you what to do.

I enjoy the efficiency aspect of the Lucid Air because nothing showcases the engineering leadership of Lucid in the EV industry as the ability to drive with great comfort at 4.5 mi/KWh. Every component of the vehicle is best-in-class and a marvel of automotive engineering.

I also enjoy driving aggressively from time-to-time and I also marvel at the industry leading handling dynamics of the vehicle.

It is an amazing vehicle any way you like to use it.

 

[borski]

To me, efficiency, per se, is not an issue. I don't keep track of how much it costs to keep my Lucid Touring charged. In local driving, within 50 miles of home, I drive the Lucid like I would any other car, or perhaps a bit more aggressively. Full heat in winter, normal speed (about 74 mph), etc. However, because of lack of EA charging stations, their unreliability, and the time required to charge at any brand of charging station, when on long trips efficiency is everything, only because I either don't want to be stranded without a charge or I don't want to spend 45-60 minutes charging.

Yes - agreed. When needed, use the efficiency. For long trips, that totally makes sense, and I do the same. For getting around town or fun jaunts just to drive, you won’t catch me dead with my “trips” screen on lol.

Drive any way you want and I will do the same. Don’t tell me what to do and I won’t tell you what to do.

I enjoy the efficiency aspect of the Lucid Air because nothing showcases the engineering leadership of Lucid in the EV industry as the ability to drive with great comfort at 4.5 mi/KWh. Every component of the vehicle is best-in-class and a marvel of automotive engineering.

I also enjoy driving aggressively from time-to-time and I also marvel at the industry leading handling dynamics of the vehicle.

It is an amazing vehicle any way you like to use it.

And I quote:

People should do what they want, of course

Of course drive it however you want. There’s lots of things I don’t agree with other people about. That’s totally okay!

I just… don’t get it.

 

[Haggy]

50 bucks a year for a more spirited driving experience… yes, please!

I love this car!

It's all relative. I have solar. I got solar back before Covid-19. That was before my wife worked from home on most days. I'm now retired, and she will retire within the next few years once she figures out when she wants to. An irony is that one of the things we look at are relative expenses and how they will change over the years, and they went up when I got the car. The idea that she should work to get money for car payments to have another car that we wouldn't need if she didn't work isn't much of a justification for that.

Anyway, the result is that I have so much more solar energy than I'd need to charge the cars, and no expense for charging on road trips for the next few years. If I don't use the excess solar, it just goes to the utility, effectively for free. So spirited driving isn't going to cost me that extra $50/year. All I have to worry about is the roughly $73/day for car payments and insurance. I do tend to keep cars for a long time and still have my 2014 Model S, so the number is a bit overstated in terms of cost of ownership, but the difference related to spirited driving doesn't even register. And once she's retired, we'll have even more excess electricity, but the only way to use it from driving will be road trips that don't use my solar energy for the most part...except to the extent that the car can handle round trips without much of a charge, if any.

 

[Lucken]

Of course one could make the argument that if one of the rationales for buying an EV is conservation, then it can also be argued that we should try and drive more conservatively. After all, for most of us the electricity we use to recharge our EVs is still produced by conventional means. Less recharging=less energy used.

Just sayin.

 

[borski]

Of course one could make the argument that if one of the rationales for buying an EV is conservation, then it can also be argued that we should try and drive more conservatively. After all, for most of us the electricity we use to recharge our EVs is still produced by conventional means. Less recharging=less energy used.

Just sayin.

Fair. Mine is all generated by solar and wind, but if you’re using plant power from coal the calculus may change.

 

[t12g]

From now on, I will just drive fast, enjoy the car and not worry about m/kwh. I know most of you already do this!

Oh yeah. ~10,000 miles here; holding steady at 2.8 miles/kwh.

 

[HariK]

I agree. Drive like you would drive your Ice car. The charging cost is not the factor compared to depreciation, insurance and tires. Just don't ruin it by getting a ticket or an accident.
BTW, in CA it cost us 36 to 45 cents per kWh. Still that is not a factor, Use your knowledge to slow down if needed on a long distance trip to avoid waiting at a charger on a long weekend,