Lucid Touring Observation

[smorvay]

So, I had an emergency trip that I had to take so I hopped in my Touring and drove 730 miles from Georgia to NJ.

My observations:

1) The EPA rating is a complete farce. (not really a surprise)
2) Everything that was ever printed about the speed of charging in the Lucid is also a complete farce. I got over 200kw once and it lasted for about 2% of the charge. After that it dropped rapidly and continuously. This was at 4 different EA, 350kw chargers along the way. Most of the time, it peaked between 150-180 kw.
3) Finding chargers was a cinch. They were everywhere I needed and I didn't have to wait to use any of them. Of course, I was mostly charging between 3pm and 4:30am.
4) Not something about the charging, but the navigation in the Lucid is abhorrent. 3 different times it wanting me to exit the interstate, travel to the next on ramp and get back on the interstate.
5) I tried to use the 110V mobile charger just to add a little cushion since the car was just sitting in the driveway, but it blew the circuit breaker, so that was a no go.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

Hi there! Sorry to hear about your experience. Respectfully, do you have a long history of driving EV’s, because getting EPA rated mileage is hugely dependent on driving style. By way of example, as a long time EV driver, I can get literally 1.5 - 2.0X the range out of my Tesla Model 3 Performance than friends of ours get when we let them borrow the car.

I have been able to rather easily get close to 300 miles out of my Model 3P (EPA estimate was 310) with a combination of city and highway driving. Last time I lent my car to a friend they used 90% of the charge in 140 miles…same car…

With regard to the charging curve, there is no fighting physics…the first electrons back in a battery at recharge are the fastest and as the battery moves toward full, the charge rate drops…in every EV I have ever driven. Lucid’s tech is great, but it’s not capable of getting around physics…

 

[timpossible]

For me the EPA range is close if I keep the speed below 70mph. Outside temperature also affects range when it starts to drop below 50F. Turning on heaters will also kill your range.
Charging for me is generally about <5min from 20%-40%, then <15min from 40%-60%, then 20min from 60%-80%. I never charge above 80% because it takes forever. I've only really charged on EA lvl3 chargers. 110V charging can easily trip a 15amp breaker if it's on a shared circuit with other devices.

 

[smorvay]

I never expected the car to get the EPA mileage. I know they test in unrealistic settings. I just used it to compare vehicles.

This is my first EV and this is my first trip. That being said, I expected the charging speed to be at least 15 minutes faster than it was.

I was in a hurry to get to where I was going, so that could have altered my perception.

I was just hoping that it would stay at the faster rates for at least the 10% - 30% range. I knew that it would get slower as I approached 80%, but I was surprised that it plummeted below 200 within the first 5%.

 

[timpossible]

I've only gotten about 220kw once when using EA chargers. Has anyone ever gotten the rated 350kw on the LVL3 EA chargers in any EV? Charging generally takes me 35min from 20%-80%, though charging 10%-80% I would think that it would still take about 35min. What was your range, and average speed like?

 

[DeaneG]

Roughly speaking, an EV's charging rate is limited by the lesser of station maximum (say 350kW or 150kW) and the current temperature and state of charge of the EV's battery as it determines the position on the car's charging curve.

Similar to how a 120V outlet can supply 12 amps or 1.44kW continuously. But you plug in a lamp, and it's going to pull 20W, not 1440W.

I know of only one EV that can charge at 350kW (500kW actually) - the Rimac Nevera. There may be one or two others though.

Maybe someone who has done a DC charging test on the Touring can post a link to their observed curve.

 

[DeaneG]

I found one curve at least:

2.1.52 Charging Comparison

docs.google.com

 

[AirBear]

This is my first EV and this is my first trip. That being said, I expected the charging speed to be at least 15 minutes faster than it was.

Did you precondition the battery?

 

[Halodde]

Not EPA but pretty close. It's really not unachievable. Touring also

 

[Blue Lectroid]

I never expected the car to get the EPA mileage. I know they test in unrealistic settings. I just used it to compare vehicles.

This is my first EV and this is my first trip. That being said, I expected the charging speed to be at least 15 minutes faster than it was.

I was in a hurry to get to where I was going, so that could have altered my perception.

I was just hoping that it would stay at the faster rates for at least the 10% - 30% range. I knew that it would get slower as I approached 80%, but I was surprised that it plummeted below 200 within the first 5%.

I truly believe that over time your ability to get far closer to EPA estimate will happen as you get more used to how to maximize EV range. Also, for charging, if you want maximum speed, you can have the car precondition the battery. Not sure if u did that or not, but it greatly improves the battery’s ability to accept a charge.

This thread, however, does bring up one shortcoming of EV’s…they are much more dependent on the driver, driving conditions and settings (e.g. climate control) to achieve excellent range. Generally this is not taught. You can go to Porsche driving school to learn how to scream around a track, but learning how to maximize EV range? Pretty much on your own. I’ve been doing it since my first Chevy Volt in 2011 and it’s easy for me now, but it took some time to adapt. And, of course, there’s also times when not giving two cents about range is a lot of fun too!!!

If you are ever in NJ and want a quick “hyper-miling” tutorial, I’d be happy to help. In the meantime, enjoy your new Air. It will be worth taking the time to get to know and master, I am sure!

 

[joec]

I never expected the car to get the EPA mileage. I know they test in unrealistic settings. I just used it to compare vehicles.

This is my first EV and this is my first trip. That being said, I expected the charging speed to be at least 15 minutes faster than it was.

I was in a hurry to get to where I was going, so that could have altered my perception.

I was just hoping that it would stay at the faster rates for at least the 10% - 30% range. I knew that it would get slower as I approached 80%, but I was surprised that it plummeted below 200 within the first 5%.

There has been a lot of back and forth about the charging curve for sure. Is Lucid being a bit conservative here? Yeah, probably. They are on the hook if your battery doesn't last 8 years, so I get where they are coming from. But I do think as they see their cars over time and how well the batteries are holding up, they may adjust that curve and give us some more speed for a longer duration.

At least I hope so.

 

[JGard18]

It is a little disappointing that Lucid subscribes to the Tesla philosophy of tweaking the range to be fantastic in EPA tests, but not achievable in the real world. I had a Rivan R1T where I regularly got the EPA rated range, and my BMW iX regularly surpassed the EPA rated range. So it goes...

 

[Neurio]

It is a little disappointing that Lucid subscribes to the Tesla philosophy of tweaking the range to be fantastic in EPA tests, but not achievable in the real world. I had a Rivan R1T where I regularly got the EPA rated range, and my BMW iX regularly surpassed the EPA rated range. So it goes...

Ugh. Not the cycle difference conversation again. This has been discussed too many times already.

That being said, the EPA tweaked the testing process to give more realistic range this year. Kyle Conner from Out of Spec proved the 2025 GT could break 500 miles at 70 mph. Drive fast, lose range. Drive slow, meet EPA.

 

[tonybot]

I truly believe that over time your ability to get far closer to EPA estimate will happen as you get more used to how to maximize EV range. Also, for charging, if you want maximum speed, you can have the car precondition the battery. Not sure if u did that or not, but it greatly improves the battery’s ability to accept a charge.

This thread, however, does bring up one shortcoming of EV’s…they are much more dependent on the driver, driving conditions and settings (e.g. climate control) to achieve excellent range. Generally this is not taught. You can go to Porsche driving school to learn how to scream around a track, but learning how to maximize EV range? Pretty much on your own. I’ve been doing it since my first Chevy Volt in 2011 and it’s easy for me now, but it took some time to adapt. And, of course, there’s also times when not giving two cents about range is a lot of fun too!!!

If you are ever in NJ and want a quick “hyper-miling” tutorial, I’d be happy to help. In the meantime, enjoy your new Air. It will be worth taking the time to get to know and master, I am sure!

I would love some tips if you are able to share. So far what I have been doing is to try to keep the speed around 70, gradual acceleration and maximizing the regen when breaking is needed. I also limit or such off climate if needed. What else do you recommend?

 

[vav493]

There has been a lot of back and forth about the charging curve for sure. Is Lucid being a bit conservative here? Yeah, probably. They are on the hook if your battery doesn't last 8 years, so I get where they are coming from. But I do think as they see their cars over time and how well the batteries are holding up, they may adjust that curve and give us some more speed for a longer duration.

At least I hope so.

I feel like I recall somewhere at some point that Peter was mentioning something about the fact that “across the fleet” (assuming all the active Lucid Airs) they haven’t identified “any” (might need to be fact checked on that word) or “any significant” battery capacity loss. I just remembering thinking “Woah ” and if that’s the case, then it seems that they are actively monitoring the battery health and performance. It would make sense why they OTA’d faster speeds on Level 1 and Level 2 charging - i.e., makes me think it’s not a hardware limitation, charging speeds are being software limited. Not opposed… I think

 

[DeaneG]

...It would make sense why they OTA’d faster speeds on Level 1 and Level 2 charging - i.e., makes me think it’s not a hardware limitation, charging speeds are being software limited...

Level 1 and 2 charging speed is far too slow to affect battery life. The increase in charging speed in the OTA was due to an efficiency improvement.

 

[vav493]

Level 1 and 2 charging speed is far too slow to affect battery life. The increase in charging speed in the OTA was due to an efficiency improvement.

oh lol very true!

 

[borski]

Roughly speaking, an EV's charging rate is limited by the lesser of station maximum (say 350kW or 150kW) and the current temperature and state of charge of the EV's battery as it determines the position on the car's charging curve.

Similar to how a 120V outlet can supply 12 amps or 1.44kW continuously. But you plug in a lamp, and it's going to pull 20W, not 1440W.

I know of only one EV that can charge at 350kW (500kW actually) - the Rimac Nevera. There may be one or two others though.

Maybe someone who has done a DC charging test on the Touring can post a link to their observed curve.

The highest I’ve ever gotten was 344, but on my DE.

I regularly get 320 and above, and literally did so twice last week, but only if I have preconditioned. It doesn’t seem to matter what temp the car is or what the weather is; if I precondition for a half hour or longer, I get above 300. If I don’t, I start at 220-240 and go down from there.

On my most recent charge, I was still getting 117-120kW all the way up through 80%, and this was on a balanced 350.

Started at a 3% SOC and took 30 min to 80%.

So no, it’s not a Touring, but Lucid isn’t lying about the charging speeds; you do need to precondition though.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

I would love some tips if you are able to share. So far what I have been doing is to try to keep the speed around 70, gradual acceleration and maximizing the regen when breaking is needed. I also limit or such off climate if needed. What else do you recommend?

Those are all excellent starts. There is a "feel" to driving for maximum range as well -- it's not just gradual acceleration (and deceleration), there's a way of feathering off and on the accelerator pedal that allows for maximum regeneration (and, BTW, I Always drive with the maximum amount of Regen any EV I am driving allows) that are far easier to show than to explain. Safely tucking in behind large SUV's, trucks, vans, etc. on the highway so you are not pushing undisturbed air yourself also goes a long way. Mind you, you don't want to be dangerously tailgating anyone on the highway, but to the extent that you can catch the draft of a larger vehicle, you can save as much as 30% of the energy required to do 70 mph.

There are also things like warming (or cooling) you car while it is still plugged in at home rather than making the batteries do all the work after you are in the car, preconditioning the battery before you fast charge (less about range and more about shortening your high speed charge times), relying on the heated seats more than the overall HVAC in the car in cold weather, parking in shaded spots in the hot weather, consciously deciding to drive 65 mph on a road trip rather than 80 mph, etc. Many of these are common sense when you stop to think about them, but we just have not ever really needed to think about them with our ICE vehicles.

Of course we don't really need to do any of this with the Air either -- it's range is good enough that unless you have a 250 mile commute or are going on long road trips frequently, you can pretty much drive how you want and just plug in every night. And THAT, in the long run, saves you more time than you can imagine. No more gas stations. Ever.

 

[Chrry]

I never expected the car to get the EPA mileage. I know they test in unrealistic settings. I just used it to compare vehicles.

This is my first EV and this is my first trip. That being said, I expected the charging speed to be at least 15 minutes faster than it was.

I was in a hurry to get to where I was going, so that could have altered my perception.

I was just hoping that it would stay at the faster rates for at least the 10% - 30% range. I knew that it would get slower as I approached 80%, but I was surprised that it plummeted below 200 within the first 5%.

I think it keeps us excited when we do see that higher number . Like really excited!!!