Lucid Air Pure Efficiency

[Abdullah]

So I drove between Riyadh to Khobar (420 KM) 263 Miles with my Tesla Model Y AWD 19 inch tires (previously) and now my Lucid Air Pure AWD 19 Inch tires. I was surprised with the Lucid poor efficiency. I left with 100% battery to the same destination and here is what I got:

1. Model Y - Way 1 Going - drove 110 KM/Hr - 70MPH - Arrived with 17% battery
2. Model Y - Way 2 Back - same speed - Arrived with 5% battery
3. Lucid Air - Way 1 Going - drove 130 KM/Hr - 81MPH - Arrived with 3% battery
4. Lucid Air - Way 2 Back - drove 120 KM/Hr - 75MPH - could not make it. Had to take a detour to find a charger.

Now some may ask it is not the same speed. True, but I was driving faster because I have a bigger battery and supposedly more efficient vehicle.

Am I missing something here because I was shocked with the poor efficiency. BTW, the car shows 3.1 M/KwH efficiency all the way.

 

[borski]

So I drove between Riyadh to Khobar (420 KM) 263 Miles with my Tesla Model Y AWD 19 inch tires (previously) and now my Lucid Air Pure AWD 19 Inch tires. I was surprised with the Lucid poor efficiency. I left with 100% battery to the same destination and here is what I got:

1. Model Y - Way 1 Going - drove 110 KM/Hr - 70MPH - Arrived with 17% battery
2. Model Y - Way 2 Back - same speed - Arrived with 5% battery
3. Lucid Air - Way 1 Going - drove 130 KM/Hr - 81MPH - Arrived with 3% battery
4. Lucid Air - Way 2 Back - drove 120 KM/Hr - 75MPH - could not make it. Had to take a detour to find a charger.

Now some may ask it is not the same speed. True, but I was driving faster because I have a bigger battery and supposedly more efficient vehicle.

Am I missing something here because I was shocked with the poor efficiency. BTW, the car shows 3.1 M/KwH efficiency all the way.

Speed is, by far, the worst killer of efficiency. Drag, which is the biggest direct contributor to worse efficiency, increases with the square of your velocity, or speed. That means every 5mph you go faster actually increases the drag by the square of that.

On an Ioniq 5, for example, every 5mph increase loses you about 10-15% of your range. Sound absurd? It’s not - just physics.

Other factors exist too, of course - were both on high regen? Did you use ACC for both, to keep you from accidentally throttling differently? Was the weather the same? Etc.

 

[Abdullah]

ACC was used on both
Weather is almost the same was about 42 degrees Celsius
AC used on both set at 22 degrees Celsius

 

[bassem]

For long distance drives as Borski mentioned it is critical to stay under 65mph, also climate control can have a big impact specifically with time of day travel was initiated and how hard the fans were working to keep the batteries within an acceptable temperature range, alongside the cabin ac (front and rear )
I have done 1000 mile drives (each way) with my model S and although it is invigorating to step on it here and there, it kills your efficiency. With Lucid I can attest that the technology is superior with regards to battery modules and electric motors having worked at Tesla’s Giga1. The trick with getting the most range is to maintain your velocity so that little is needed to maintain your momentum. With one pedal driving and a defensive driving posture ( keeping a distance from other vehicles) you will leverage the regen feature whereby braking is a measure of last resort.

Hyper-miling is a whole other discussion that I believe can get you beyond stated range and efficiency, but that’s not for the faint hearted!

Hope this helps

 

[DeaneG]

Speed does make a huge difference. At high speed, range drops roughly with the square of the speed. So at 130kph, you should expect to get roughly 72% of the range you'd get at 110kph.

 

[EZEVDriver]

...and miles or kilometers per hour will also be dependent on traffic, both positively if you had to slow down to a more optimal speed sometimes and negatively if you are starting and stopping regularly. I did a trip from Orange County to Santa Clarita and back and got 4.6 miles/kw. But particularly around Los Angeles with light to moderate traffic, I may have done better than if I held steady at 70 mph.

If you get the chance, try it at the speeds you used with the Model Y to get an apples-to-apples comparison.

 

[hydbob]

No one ever factors in wind...

 

[DeaneG]

No one ever factors in wind...

Even a crosswind makes a difference, as the front wheels need to scrub a little to maintain the direction you intended.