Supercharger Access Timeline Discussion

[thyname]

Why do you expect this large of a delay from what Lucid has said for the past several weeks: Q3 2025? Three months away, per Lucid, vs twelve or eighteen?

OK. Two weeks . Tops

 

[scal_air]

Don’t worry about the charging speed. Tesla may convert all their charging stations to 1000v ones before Lucid Air gets access

If Tesla converts to 1000V, sign me up.
Until then, 1 hour and 20 minutes for a 20-80 charge will have me looking for EVGo if there's no EA.

 

[sri]

Why do you expect this large of a delay from what Lucid has said for the past several weeks: Q3 2025? Three months away, per Lucid, vs twelve or eighteen?

Lucid has a history of delays and now we have Tesla involved in this, so my guess is double the delay. If it comes early then its a double win.

 

[DeaneG]

If Tesla converts to 1000V, sign me up.
Until then, 1 hour and 20 minutes for a 20-80 charge will have me looking for EVGo if there's no EA.

In remote areas, like around Lone Pine, I'll be very glad to have access to any DC fast charging - there are zero CCS sites.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

Lucid has a history of delays and now we have Tesla involved in this, so my guess is double the delay. If it comes early then its a double win.

I disagree. It's in Lucid's best interest to get this done. It will certainly help marketing in real terms.

But Tesla dwarfs Lucid physically and financially. Tesla holds all the cards. Lucid has no cards. And now Tesla has a shit load of much bigger and costlier problems other than getting a few Lucid cars using a few SCs.... The profit Tesla would make on Lucid using Tesla SCs is peanuts. Would not cover Elon's drug tab.

Tesla owns every bolt in the SCs. It wrote and owns the OS system, the financial billing network, the handshake protocol. Even the NACS plug. It is the 1000 pound gorilla.

Dumb analogy, but think of pulling your Audi ICE into a Shell gas station to fill up. The ONLY part of the equation on Audi is correct neck size of the filler. Shell is responsible for all else: obtaining fuel, delivery, fuel contracts, permits, construction, pump, billing, financing all this, dispensing, maintenance, safety, bathrooms, and the dirty bucket of water from which we try to squeegee our windows. Audi has no say. No real skin in the came. But yes, Audi certainly wants it's owners to easily get Shell fuel. As Lucid wants it's owners to use SCs.

 

[dbsb3233]

Even though Gravity has NACS and Plug&Charge, I assume (like all other non-Teslas) we can't get the SC membership discount using P&C? On all other non-Teslas, the only way to get the SC membership discount is to activate the session with the Tesla app.

 

[BS8899]

In remote areas, like around Lone Pine, I'll be very glad to have access to any DC fast charging - there are zero CCS sites.

You might also want to conisder Rivian's Advnture charging network. Mosta re located in remte areas. The Rivian chargers (300kW) work great!

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: Rivian Network Map

Find Rivian EV charging stations near you. Explore the Rivian Adventure Network map for convenient electric vehicle charging stations. Charge up and go!

rivian.com

 

[CLTGT]

Always thinking about getting back into a Lucid after getting rid of mine. Southeast still not great for charging though. Access to Tesla SC network at reasonable speeds might change the decision dynamic for me. Until then, getting back into a Lucid Air is only a thought for me that will not come to fruition or considered seriously until there are more choices across the southeast.

 

[dbsb3233]

In remote areas, like around Lone Pine, I'll be very glad to have access to any DC fast charging - there are zero CCS sites.

We've used that SC in Lone Pine a handful of times when we drive our Mach-E between Vegas and Reno. The more direct route (US-95) is a charging desert for CCS, so we used to have to go all the way down to Barstow then back up 395, adding 2 hours. When we gained SC access, we could cut half of that detour out by cutting through Death Valley by using SCs in Pahrump and Lone Pine.

Had a bizarre experience one time doing that. All cell service was down in the Lone Pine area, and we really needed to charge there. But I needed the Tesla app to activate the charge. Thought we were screwed until I noticed the McDonalds a block away. So I had my partner stand at the car and told him to plug in in exactly 5 minutes while I ran to the McDonalds, connected to their wifi, and started the charge in the Tesla app. It worked!

 

[TDurick]

Access to Tesla Supercharger has become the new Android Auto Thursday.


From Lucid press release on Jan 28th "Furthermore, in addition to the Lucid Gravity, access to the Tesla Supercharger network for Lucid Air is planned for Q2 2025, with more information to follow."

From the email release today ...

"Start charging: Initiate your charging session via the Lucid mobile app (the Plug & Charge feature is not currently available for Lucid Air at Tesla charging stations). Your Lucid Air will be able to charge at up to 50 kW, adding up to 200 mi/hour at compatible Tesla Superchargers."

50KW? That's IT? That is very disappointing but not surprising. I had read that Tesla was going to "cap" the charging rate so there IS access, but it isn't attractive to Lucid owners. I just completed a round trip from Ohio to Virginia and the Electrify America chargers were VERY fast. This was my first time using public charging since I got my Grand Touring last October. They were busy at weekday lunchtime but mornings and later afternoons ... no problem. Also, being able to get 4 mi/kWh was amazing ... at the speed limit as well!

 

[HC_79]

50KW? That's IT? That is very disappointing but not surprising. I had read that Tesla was going to "cap" the charging rate so there IS access

I don't know how many times this needs to be explained across multiple threads but what you read is utter garbage. It's a limitation of the hardware in the Air not anything nefarious that Tesla is doing.

 

[borski]

I don't know how many times this needs to be explained across multiple threads but what you read is utter garbage. It's a limitation of the hardware in the Air not anything nefarious that Tesla is doing.

Unless you count “living in the past” as nefarious

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

Unless you count “living in the past” as nefarious

Or as Ian "Tull" Anderson said: "Skating away on the thin ice of a new day." Sorry, different album from Living in the Past.

 

[Tâm]

...I had read that Tesla was going to "cap" the charging rate so there IS access, but it isn't attractive to Lucid owners.

Tesla does not dial down Supercharger rate for Lucid because Lucid Gravity works well at 225 kW at a Supercharger.

The 50 kW limitation comes from Lucid's design for the Air before Lucid ever thought that some day the Air would join Tesla.

That's why the Air has the Wunderbox with that 50 kW rate particularly. Wunderbox is designed by Lucid, not Tesla.

There's no conspiracy theory here, just a choice for the AIR from Lucid.



On the other hand, I just love to get access from as many chargers as possible even if it's only 50 kW. That's much better than zero.

 

[dbsb3233]

On the other hand, I just love to get access from as many chargers as possible even if it's only 50 kW. That's much better than zero.

Yep. Although with 450 miles of range (even if it ends up closer to 350-400 practical), the need for DCFC "anywhere we can get them" isn't as dire as it used to be. And we can be more discriminating on choosing the best stations. The beauty of long range! Definitely looking forward to that vs my current 270 mile EV. An extra 180 miles of range is HUGE, because it's incremental. I'll still look to leave the same 30-50 mile safety buffer at the bottom, so an extra 180 miles is really extra (adjusted for high speed, weather, etc, of course). 180 miles is about as far as I could comfortably drive my Mach-E on a road trip leg without starting to get nervous. The Gravity doubles that comfortable distance.

 

[DS9]

Always thinking about getting back into a Lucid after getting rid of mine. Southeast still not great for charging though. Access to Tesla SC network at reasonable speeds might change the decision dynamic for me. Until then, getting back into a Lucid Air is only a thought for me that will not come to fruition or considered seriously until there are more choices across the southeast.

I've been driving evs in this region since 2022 and the charging infrastructure has improved significantly since then. On my road trips between NC and FL, apart from EA I've used BP Pulse, Shell Recharge (or whatever they are calling themselves now) and EVGO DCFCs. Ionna is deploying new stalls as well as the MBHPC network (another reason to take a trip to Buc-ee's in Florence) and RAN recently opened up to other EV makes. With the range of the Air and better charging availability I'm less hesitant about doing road trips in my touring (unless I'm heading west of VA)