Watch out for the head wind and rain

aardee

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Aug 21, 2023
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Cars
Lucid,BMW X5 X-Drive 50e
3 months in, loving my black Lucid Air... We are on our first roadtrip from MA to SC right now. Overall, a great experience driving 1000+ miles - driving comfort as well as charging at EA stations.

Except a patch when we charged in Delaware to about 50% or 200 miles range on the car (it was late, rainy and the charging stations were busy). We had to drive only 120 miles to our first night stop, so I thought it would be a nice thing to do giving up my station to others waiting in line.

Soon after I started driving, the rain and wind picked up - something I had not thought about. My efficiency dropped to 2.9 kWh and it kind of got dicey pretty quickly. The car tried to divert me to a charging station but would have added another 45-60 mins to our travel time. Without thinking I kept going. Luckily, after the highway exit, last 15 miles were all downhill. I managed to reach the destination with 20 miles on available instead of 70 or so I had hoped for.

This certainly was a learning experience. Driving an EV for long trips is all about managing the expectations and not taking too many chances, especially if the weather is bad. Lesson learnt :)
600 miles from DC to SC the next day- just perfect.Started with 100% SOC, stopped twice for 25-30 mins at EA stations to get to 80% SOC and made it to Hilton Head with ease.

3.0 efficiency during cold, rainy, and windy day.
3.8 during 55F, cloudy, less windy day - driving at 70-75mph on 95.

Love our Lucid...

PS - Forgot to mention, check you tire pressure - it impacts the efficiency badly. Air pressure down to 43-45 drastically impacted my numbers/range. Now I make it a point to ensure that I am at 50PSI all the time.
 
3 months in, loving my black Lucid Air... We are on our first roadtrip from MA to SC right now. Overall, a great experience driving 1000+ miles - driving comfort as well as charging at EA stations.

Except a patch when we charged in Delaware to about 50% or 200 miles range on the car (it was late, rainy and the charging stations were busy). We had to drive only 120 miles to our first night stop, so I thought it would be a nice thing to do giving up my station to others waiting in line.

Soon after I started driving, the rain and wind picked up - something I had not thought about. My efficiency dropped to 2.9 kWh and it kind of got dicey pretty quickly. The car tried to divert me to a charging station but would have added another 45-60 mins to our travel time. Without thinking I kept going. Luckily, after the highway exit, last 15 miles were all downhill. I managed to reach the destination with 20 miles on available instead of 70 or so I had hoped for.

This certainly was a learning experience. Driving an EV for long trips is all about managing the expectations and not taking too many chances, especially if the weather is bad. Lesson learnt :)
600 miles from DC to SC the next - just perfect.Started with 100% SOC, stopped twice for 25-30 mins at EA station to get to 80% SOC and made it to Hilton Head with ease.

3.0 efficiency during cold, rainy, and windy day.
3.8 during 55F, cloudy, less windy day - driving at 70-75mph on 95.

Love our Lucid...

PS - Forgot to mention, check you tire pressure - it impacts the efficiency badly. Air pressure down to 43-45 drastically impacted my numbers/range. Now I make it a point to ensure that I am at 50PSI all the time.
The car HATES rain and wind is essentially adding/subtracting your MPH!
 
I had a similar experience driving home from Phoenix to Tucson - 30mph head winds with gusts 40+. Luckily there's an EA station a few miles from home. I limped in with 17 miles showing.
 
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