Supercharging. Explain it to me like I'm five years old

[L-Dude]

As a future AGT owner, I'm trying to get smarter about charging. My understanding is that Airs can now charge at Superchargers, but the max rate is <50kW. I have read that this is because of the "Wonderbox," but I don't fully understand what the Wonderbox is, or how it works. I gather much of this is dependent on the version Supercharger used. I would love to hear the background on this, and also wonder if anyone thinks Lucid can change this limitation, or is able to improve the Air's charging curve in general. Thanks!

 

[borski]

1) Airs cannot charge at superchargers yet, but will be able to in Q2.

2) The max rate will be 50kW on any of the existing superchargers.

3) Eventually, Tesla claims it will build 1000V cabinets to power 1000V chargers, at which point the Air will be able to achieve the full 350kW (or 250kW for the lower trims). These cabinets do not exist in the US yet as far as we know.

4) The “Wunderbox” (spelled this way, I bet, because Eric Bach is German, and I can pretty much guarantee he named it haha) is the Air’s built-in battery charging system. It is what automatically recognizes the Air and station, adjust incoming voltage, and boost voltage if needed. There’s a great video about the Wunderbox, explained by Eric himself, here:

5) When the Air was designed, it was made for the “future”; nobody expected us to go *back* to the old lower-voltage chargers. EA, EVGo, and everyone else had already moved on to 800-1000V chargers. Only one company hadn’t: Tesla. Then, there was this whole switch from CCS to NACS, which meant Tesla was now the widest charging network in town, and they used older and lower-voltage stations/cabinets. This unfortunately meant that Lucid’s assumptions about the future were incorrect, and thus it is limited to 50kW on the lower-voltage stations at Tesla.

6) The hope is that Tesla does actually build out the 1000V stations/cabinets, and this is no longer a problem. In that sense, the ball is in Tesla’s court to join the rest of us in the “future.”

7) The Cybertruck runs on an 800V architecture, just like the Air, so Tesla has at least *some* incentive to actually build out the 1000V cabinets.

Side note: this isn’t an issue for Gravity, as that was designed and build after the NACS switchover, so it handles the backwards compatibility more gracefully and will charge at maximum speeds wherever and however you get it plugged in.

 

[borski]

I don’t know if that qualifies as ELI5 but I tried <3

 

[L-Dude]

Outstanding @borski. Thanks so much!

 

[fadooly]

I would think the Air is future proof but the future has not come yet hhh and we are stuck in the past because of lazy Tesla and their big old network of chargers

 

[L-Dude]

I am a major DIY guy, and about the only thing I don't jump into is high voltage electric work (220a). I think I need to dive in and get smarter about all this stuff!

 

[TonyLieske]

I appreciate the detailed explanation, charging is new for me too.

FWIW I’ve only charged outside my house once on an “EVGo” station (stopped on my way home from taking delivery). It was surprisingly easy. Because of all the reviews I’ve read I was expecting I’d have to download an app and sign up online or something. It ended up just working with a swipe of my credit card. IIRC it added something like ~150 miles of range in ~20 minutes. Not amazing but seemed comfortable.

 

[msaunders9430]

I am a major DIY guy, and about the only thing I don't jump into is high voltage electric work (220a). I think I need to dive in and get smarter about all this stuff!

Consider viewing all of the Lucid Tech Talks. Very informative.
They include the Wunderbox video referenced early.
This Lucid web page is where the earlier referenced video and others originate.

 

[zenith-25]

Hi all! Is there a source for the Q2 availability of Lucid Supercharger compatibility? (Point #1 in the answer above). I.e., has it been announced? Thx!

 

[Adnillien]

Hi all! Is there a source for the Q2 availability of Lucid Supercharger compatibility? (Point #1 in the answer above). I.e., has it been announced? Thx!

Yes, Lucid announced it when they announced that the Gravity had Supercharger access.

 

[zenith-25]

Ok, I see it now in the press release https://ir.lucidmotors.com/news-rel...ning-450-miles-epa-range-400-kw-fast-charging

Previously I’d only seen it in news articles that didn’t link to the press release.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

Did not realized the Gravity is backwards-compatible with the inferior Tesla system. That seems like a pretty important marketing feature.

 

[Halodde]

1) Airs cannot charge at superchargers yet, but will be able to in Q2.

2) The max rate will be 50kW on any of the existing superchargers.

3) Eventually, Tesla claims it will build 1000V cabinets to power 1000V chargers, at which point the Air will be able to achieve the full 350kW (or 250kW for the lower trims). These cabinets do not exist in the US yet as far as we know.

4) The “Wunderbox” (spelled this way, I bet, because Eric Bach is German, and I can pretty much guarantee he named it haha) is the Air’s built-in battery charging system. It is what automatically recognizes the Air and station, adjust incoming voltage, and boost voltage if needed. There’s a great video about the Wunderbox, explained by Eric himself, here:

5) When the Air was designed, it was made for the “future”; nobody expected us to go *back* to the old lower-voltage chargers. EA, EVGo, and everyone else had already moved on to 800-1000V chargers. Only one company hadn’t: Tesla. Then, there was this whole switch from CCS to NACS, which meant Tesla was now the widest charging network in town, and they used older and lower-voltage stations/cabinets. This unfortunately meant that Lucid’s assumptions about the future were incorrect, and thus it is limited to 50kW on the lower-voltage stations at Tesla.

6) The hope is that Tesla does actually build out the 1000V stations/cabinets, and this is no longer a problem. In that sense, the ball is in Tesla’s court to join the rest of us in the “future.”

7) The Cybertruck runs on an 800V architecture, just like the Air, so Tesla has at least *some* incentive to actually build out the 1000V cabinets.

Side note: this isn’t an issue for Gravity, as that was designed and build after the NACS switchover, so it handles the backwards compatibility more gracefully and will charge at maximum speeds wherever and however you get it plugged in.

Small correction to this. The Air can charge at superchargers that have magic docks now, right? I've never done it but there's several near me that I thought I could use prn.

 

[DeaneG]

Small correction to this. The Air can charge at superchargers that have magic docks now, right? I've never done it but there's several near me that I thought I could use prn.

Right, Install the Tesla app on your phone, add your vehicle and credit card into, and the charging map will show you compatible locations (Magic Dock).

 

[WJB]

Have been reading that Lucid Air vehicles will be able to charge at Tesla chargers 2nd Quarter 2025. Called Lucid Customer Srrvice today to check on its availability and was advised that “they are working on it” and “don’t recommend using an adapter at this time because some owners have had issues that disabled the vehicle”. Appears that the Gravity will have the Tesla charger as the primary charging system. Gravity is coming out this week. Must be a plan there. Does anyone know the real status for the availability of the Tesla chargers for Lucid Air vehicles? Is anyone using the Tesla adapter to charge at Tesla charging stations?

 

[borski]

Small correction to this. The Air can charge at superchargers that have magic docks now, right? I've never done it but there's several near me that I thought I could use prn.

Yes, all four of them around the country.

(I’m being sarcastic, but you’re correct; any CCS vehicle can charge at a Magic Dock supercharger)

 

[Halodde]

Yes, all four of them around the country.

(I’m being sarcastic, but you’re correct; any CCS vehicle can charge at a Magic Dock supercharger)

Are they scarce? There's 2 of them within a couple hundred miles of me

 

[borski]

Are they scarce? There's 2 of them within a couple hundred miles of me

There are exactly 5 in all of CA: Scotts Valley and Carson are the ones by the Bay Area and LA respectively.

The other three are in Roseville, Placerville, and Jackson, in a cluster. You’ve never heard of any of them, because it’s way up north in the middle of nowhere, aka Sacramento

CA’s a big state

 

[tmwong]

Are they scarce? There's 2 of them within a couple hundred miles of me

Can confirm. There are none along either the I-5 or US-101 corridors between the SF Bay Area and LA.

- T

 

[tmwong]

While I’m here… can someone explain to be like I’m five why the max charge rate is 250 kW even from EA 350 kW. I have never seen rates beyond 250 kW regardless of current battery charge, time of preconditioning, outside temperature, or number of occupied adjacent stalls.

- T