My Charging Journey

ZenSolo

Member
Verified Owner
Joined
Feb 23, 2024
Messages
48
Reaction score
54
Location
Loudoun County, VA
Cars
Lucid Air Touring
I’ve had my Lucid Air Touring for two days. I wanted to time the purchase and installation of either or both a Lucid home charging station and/or a simple NEMA 14-50 outlet so that it would be ready by the time I took possession of the car, but at the same time I played it conservative in case something, anything, happened that prevented me from taking possession, or delayed it, or canceled it altogether and I went with a Chevy Tahoe or something.

I also knew that you can plug it into a 110v outlet, as the mobile charging cable comes with that adapter. So I wanted to experience that, and see if I actually needed an upgraded charger. With all the software involved, the cynic in me wonders if the Powers That Be would end up driving me to purchasing their equipment, but in order to live my life, I must pay my tithe.

My tithe in the first 48 hours turns out to be a combination of anxiety and Amex.

I drove it around a bit on Friday, not too much. I had taken delivery with precisely 90 miles on the vehicle. I was disappointed at that. I know we always sign 100 miles, but in my experience, it hasn’t been higher than 25 miles. I guess someone wanted to test the fun. No big deal. I took possession of the vehicle at 80% charge.

After taking my wife and son for a ride and blasting some Atmos, I burned it down to about 70%, brought her in and plugged into the 110.

I knew the 110 would be slow, and it wasn’t too bad the first night. It brought it from ~70% to ~78% in 14 hours. That was Day 0. The proof would be in the pudding on Day 1.

I put my golf clubs in the trunk (beautiful fit, by the way, almost as if the trunk was designed to fit a bag of clubs sideways) and after spending fifteen minutes learning that you have to unlock the doors in order to remove the charger from the port, I was off to my February kickoff meeting at Rudy’s Golf in Alexandria. (Poor Rudy’s Golf. It was bought out by developers and will soon be townhouses.) That was about a 80-mile round trip, and I think I need to also start counting the amount of time the car spent in a parking lot (far, far away from other cars) and not plugged in. This was about three hours. I spent about twenty additional minutes in the car with music playing while I was trying to figure out if my sister was home to see if they wanted to see the car, but apparently they were “napping”, which I totally did not want to disturb (ick), and so I went home, stopping in Tysons Corner for some mast-e-musir.

After being home for a few hours, unplugged (and now I have to start thinking in those terms as this is my first electric car), my wife and I dropped our son off at the babysitter and went to an amazing Greek restaurant in Tysons Corner, about a 30-mile round trip. So I drove for 110 miles on Day 1, plus roughly 30 miles on Day 0, and plugged in before going to bed.

On Day 2, it wasn’t really charging. Went to bed at 52%, woke up at 54%. Toward the end of the day, it must have known I was watching, because it got all the way up to 64% before I waved the towel and went to bed. I didn’t take it off charging all day. That’s unacceptable for actual usage. I definitely need more than a 110.

Earlier in the day, when it had crept all the way up to 56%, I recognized this new reality, and at the same time received the email from Lucid that I was waiting for: Coupon code for $1000 off their home charger. So I ordered the home charger, some saddle colored all-weather interior floor mats, and a performance mesh Lucid branded golf hat. Now, we wait.
 
ZenSolo
Plan on getting approx 50 miles per hour with lucid charger at home
Only need EA for distance roadtrips
Worth every penny
 
Getting the home charger is exactly the right solution. Wake up to a “full tank” (well, 80%) every day.

Also get into the ‘opportunistic charging’ mindset. There’s both L2 and L3 chargers at Tysons. I use free L2 whenever / wherever I can, partly because I figure the more they’re used, the more they’ll multiply.
 
Unless something crazy happens, my next update will be the installation process of both the 14-50 and the home charging station.
It’s been plugged into the 110 since Saturday night at 8pm, at about 210 miles. I woke up Monday morning to 77% (296 miles). So that’s 86 miles in 36 hours plugged into a 110, or 2.39 miles per hour on a brand new battery. Definitely not sustainable.
 
Getting the home charger is exactly the right solution. Wake up to a “full tank” (well, 80%) every day.

Also get into the ‘opportunistic charging’ mindset. There’s both L2 and L3 chargers at Tysons. I use free L2 whenever / wherever I can, partly because I figure the more they’re used, the more they’ll multiply.
Where in Tysons?
 
Look out for Volta (L2) chargers around here in particular. They’re easy to spot - big and flashy electronic ads. They’re pretty reliable. They’re in good locations like all over the Tysons Galleria parking, in front of grocery stores, outside some book stores, etc. They’re free. They’re easy - truly plug and charge, no waiting around for authorization, just walk away. Even having a charger at home I’ll plug into those whenever I find them just to top off and save a few electricity bucks at home.

There is also an EA in the Tysons Corner garage, but I hate going in there. It’s always packed and chaotic, and those chargers don’t usually run at full speed anyway.
 
Look out for Volta (L2) chargers around here in particular. They’re easy to spot - big and flashy electronic ads. They’re pretty reliable. They’re in good locations like all over the Tysons Galleria parking, in front of grocery stores, outside some book stores, etc. They’re free. They’re easy - truly plug and charge, no waiting around for authorization, just walk away. Even having a charger at home I’ll plug into those whenever I find them just to top off and save a few electricity bucks at home.

There is also an EA in the Tysons Corner garage, but I hate going in there. It’s always packed and chaotic, and those chargers don’t usually run at full speed anyway.
I truly hope Volta survives, as they are EXACTLY what we need: free and reliable L2 charging in accessible places!
 
I truly hope Volta survives, as they are EXACTLY what we need: free and reliable L2 charging in accessible places!
Guess it depends on what Shell wants to do with them.
 
Unless something crazy happens, my next update will be the installation process of both the 14-50 and the home charging station.
Congrats on the Lucid!

I am confused about your post. Are you talking about installing the 14-50 for the "travel charger" that comes with the car? Or are you talking about the 80Amp Lucid Home Charger? If the later, it needs to be hardwired. Most likely, you will need to pull a new feed from the main/sub panel.
 
Congrats on the Lucid!

I am confused about your post. Are you talking about installing the 14-50 for the "travel charger" that comes with the car? Or are you talking about the 80Amp Lucid Home Charger? If the later, it needs to be hardwired. Most likely, you will need to pull a new feed from the main/sub panel.
Both, as I want to test both.
 
I'm in trouble now. My wife tested out a new Dyson hairdryer in the upstairs bathroom. Her hairdryer stopped working at the same time the internet went out. I went into the garage, and my Lucid was no longer charging. No circuit was tripped, just a few random outlets, including the upstairs bathroom and the 110 in the garage with my mobile charger and Verizon modem plugged into it. I guess I'll be calling the electrician a bit earlier than I'd intended.
 
I'm in trouble now. My wife tested out a new Dyson hairdryer in the upstairs bathroom. Her hairdryer stopped working at the same time the internet went out. I went into the garage, and my Lucid was no longer charging. No circuit was tripped, just a few random outlets, including the upstairs bathroom and the 110 in the garage with my mobile charger and Verizon modem plugged into it. I guess I'll be calling the electrician a bit earlier than I'd intended.
Do you have a sub-panel? If so, the tripped breaker might be in the sub-panel.
 
Since you already ordered the Lucid home charger (congrats by the way), you will no longer have to worry about charging for local driving. Although I don't have one, the Lucid site states that charging speeds up to 80 miles/hour are possible.

You could have gotten a 240V outlet installed and used your existing mobile charger. I get roughly 30 miles/hour charging that way and that is sufficient for my needs.
 
I'm in trouble now. My wife tested out a new Dyson hairdryer in the upstairs bathroom. Her hairdryer stopped working at the same time the internet went out. I went into the garage, and my Lucid was no longer charging. No circuit was tripped, just a few random outlets, including the upstairs bathroom and the 110 in the garage with my mobile charger and Verizon modem plugged into it. I guess I'll be calling the electrician a bit earlier than I'd intended.
Were they all connected to the same GFI ?
 
You could have gotten a 240V outlet installed and used your existing mobile charger. I get roughly 30 miles/hour charging that way and that is sufficient for my needs.

Most folks recommend a hard wire installation rather than a plugin. I went plugin in case the EVSE failed so I could unplug it and replace it but I just leave it plugged in all the time. I think plugging and unplugging at the outlet may lead to an outlet failure.

Do you just leave the mobile charger plugged in and just unplug it from the car? Or are you unplugging it at both ends during the day?
 
Since you already ordered the Lucid home charger (congrats by the way), you will no longer have to worry about charging for local driving. Although I don't have one, the Lucid site states that charging speeds up to 80 miles/hour are possible.

You could have gotten a 240V outlet installed and used your existing mobile charger. I get roughly 30 miles/hour charging that way and that is sufficient for my needs.
I would have just gone with the 240V, but Lucid offered a $1k discount on their home charger. I'm really looking forward to getting that installed. The 110V outlet is good if you drive your car maybe once a week.
 
I do exactly like you - leave it plugged into the outlet continuously and just plug/unplug at the car. Like you said, outlet failures usually come from wear and I'm just biding my time until Lucid finishes bidirectional charging. Then I'll install a compatible home charger
 
Most folks recommend a hard wire installation rather than a plugin. I went plugin in case the EVSE failed so I could unplug it and replace it but I just leave it plugged in all the time. I think plugging and unplugging at the outlet may lead to an outlet failure.
What I've never understood about this logic is that hardwired doesn't mean permanently wired. It takes 10 minutes to unscrew the wires and screw them into a new EVSE. I understand not everyone is comfortable doing that, and that's for the best, but it'd still be a relatively tiny cost to have an electrician do it. Unless you plan on your EVSE failing regularly, getting a higher powered hard-wired EVSE is a no-brainer.
 
Back
Top