Lucid Motors says its all-electric Air sedan will have a range of 517 miles

[Shawn Knight]

What just happened? Lucid Motors could make electric vehicle range anxiety a thing of the past. The automaker on Tuesday said a third party has independently verified that its upcoming Lucid Air all-electric sedan can run for more than 500 miles on a single charge.

The testing, conducted by FEV North America, Inc., followed the EPA’s Multi-Cycle Test Procedure en route to achieving an estimated EPA range of 517 miles. According to Lucid Motors, the range estimate closely matched their computer-modeled range prediction and makes the Lucid Air the longest range electric vehicle to date.

Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson credited their 900-volt architecture, miniaturized motors and power electronics, race proven battery packs, aerodynamics, integrated transmission, chassis and thermal systems, software and overall system efficiency for collectively setting “a new standard” that “delivers a host of ‘world’s first.’”

Lucid Motors is planning to unveil the final production version of the Lucid Air during an online reveal on September 9 where we will learn more about production specs, available configurations and of course, pricing.

Lucid’s claim of longest range electric vehicle could be short-lived as rival Tesla is planning to host a Battery Day presentation on September 22. The in-person event, which will also be streamed online, will originate from Tesla’s Fremont Factory in California and kicks off at 2:30 p.m. Pacific.

The first wave of Lucid Air sedans are expected to be delivered to customers in early 2021.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/86328-lucid-motors-all-electric-air-sedan-have-range.html

 

[kimo1]

But how easy is it to fix such cars when one happens to break down?

 

[ColdSoup]

But how easy is it to fix such cars when one happens to break down?

Probably very simple in all honesty. Electric cars have way fewer serviceable parts than combustion engine cars.

500 miles is finally an acceptable range, but these Lucid cars are definitely going to be over $100k.

 

[CBTex]

Anyone else tired of all these electric vehicle companies and their announcements? Have any of them, besides Tesla, actually had a product to sell? Nikola, Rivian, Fisker, Lucid.... All big on words, short on products.

 

[Uncle Al]

They have made the minimum acceptable mileage, now we'll see how they do on price. Electric cars are quite a bit simpler than fossil fuel burning machines but they are made overly complex by all the "junk" that is included on them so if they have a "basic" version onto which people can select their options, it could be quite a bit cheaper ....

 

[p51d007]

It's the "computer" part of these things that I don't trust from a reliability standpoint.

 

[mgilbert]

It's the "computer" part of these things that I don't trust from a reliability standpoint.

It can't be any worse than most modern ICE powered cars. My 2020 Corolla is a nightmare under the hood - ridiculously complex. Sure, it's reliable, but when something does go wrong, you're lucky if even the dealer can accurately diagnose the problem, and even if they can, get out your pocketbook and bend over, because four digit repair bills are now the norm. I leased this car as a result.

 

[Axiarus]

Why are people saying 500 miles is finally an acceptable range? I drive to and from work in a 2015 Corolla and get about 280 miles on a tank (all city driving). I am pretty sure it would cost me more to go 280 miles with gas than it would with electric.

 

[Ludak021]

Probably very simple in all honesty. Electric cars have way fewer serviceable parts than combustion engine cars.

500 miles is finally an acceptable range, but these Lucid cars are definitely going to be over $100k.

this only means, no service repair, just replacement at specialized service, which means toooons of money to fix anything vs $200 to fix almost anything except for major breakdowns.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Why are people saying 500 miles is finally an acceptable range? I drive to and from work in a 2015 Corolla and get about 280 miles on a tank (all city driving). I am pretty sure it would cost me more to go 280 miles with gas than it would with electric.

You can fill up in 5 minutes at 160,000 easily findable locations in the US with a ICE car.

You can mostly fill up a 300mi Tesla in about an hour at one of 1200 Tesla SuperChargers around the US. If you use a more common Public Charger (~20,000), you get about 20-25 Mi range in an hour.

It's mostly the time vs. range of charging that some people see as a no-go. They talk of the 300 mi trips they take and how inconvenient an EV will be for that. Of course for most people 300 mi is way more than enough for almost all drives they take but the 300 mi/charging time "limitation" is just the justification for their no-EV opinion, not the actual reason.

The actual reason can be anything:

more expensive (including house electric upgrade)
just bought a different car
like the sound/feel of a V8/ICE in general
EV not part of their "image"
not comfortable with change

I'm sure there are lots more.

 

[JKnight]

Price is the main question. How are electric cars and their range going to hold up in cold climates?
Will dealerships be the only place where they can fix them?

 

[ColdSoup]

Why are people saying 500 miles is finally an acceptable range?

Because people don't simply commute to and from work. Some people drive far regularly. Around 500-700 miles is what can be driven in a day before the human becomes a more limiting factor.

 

[drufense]

Though we probably already know this or can easily get the information elsewhere, I think it would've been a nice touch to include the best EV range that has been achieved so far by others within the same write up for comparison.

 

[koblongata]

Um imagine if Model 3's 50kwh battery upgraded to a 130kwh one that Lucid Air has....

 

[VitalyT]

Anyone else tired of all these electric vehicle companies and their announcements? Have any of them, besides Tesla, actually had a product to sell? Nikola, Rivian, Fisker, Lucid.... All big on words, short on products.

Not true. We definitely would have seen more of them by now, if not for the pandemic. It's slowed everyone down.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Because people don't simply commute to and from work. Some people drive far regularly. Around 500-700 miles is what can be driven in a day before the human becomes a more limiting factor.

Those people need to stick with an ICE car but the vast majority can use a ~300 mi EV as long as they can charge both at work and at home. It's definitely less convenient and brainless compared to an ICE but most people could make the switch if needed.

 

[Axiarus]

Because people don't simply commute to and from work. Some people drive far regularly. Around 500-700 miles is what can be driven in a day before the human becomes a more limiting factor.

Yeah, but how many people are driving 500-700 miles a day? Id think that number is very low. To call 500 MINIMALLY acceptable is kind of ridiculous.

 

[ColdSoup]

Yeah, but how many people are driving 500-700 miles a day? Id think that number is very low. To call 500 MINIMALLY acceptable is kind of ridiculous.

I would agree it's low, but it's definitely not an insignificant number. I know I drive at least one long trip a month that's more than current EV range. A Tesla store rep recommended I wait for the roadster since that should meet my range needs (lol, I could still just buy a Model S and a luxury ICE car for less than that thing costs).

 

[toooooot]

Yeah, but how many people are driving 500-700 miles a day? Id think that number is very low. To call 500 MINIMALLY acceptable is kind of ridiculous.

I d argue it depends on the availability of charging stations in between the cities.

 

[Lew Zealand]

I d argue it depends on the availability of charging stations in between the cities.

Even then, it's the time taken to recharge. I *really* like the idea of having an EV instead of an ICE car for as many trips as possible but I also hate the time it takes to get anywhere in any vehicle. So doing an interstate trip with an EV where I need to stop for an hour to charge every ~250-300 miles would really bug me.

Maybe own an EV and rent an ICE for the long trips.

 

[Hardware Geek]

Because people don't simply commute to and from work. Some people drive far regularly. Around 500-700 miles is what can be driven in a day before the human becomes a more limiting factor.

Exactly. I easily put 200 miles on my car on a normal day, and when I havr to go on long distance trips, which are common for me, I take our Ioniq which gets 60+ mpg and has a range of about 650 miles. 300 miles just isn't enough for me because of my job,. 300 would probably be plenty for my wife though. I expect this to be stupid expensive but hopefully as more competition enters the electic market, prices will come down.

 

[Hardware Geek]

I easily put 200 miles on my car on a normal day, and when I have to go on long distance trips, which are common for me, I take our Ioniq which gets 60+ mpg and has a range of about 650 miles. 300 miles just isn't enough for me because of my job,. 300 would probably be plenty for my wife though. I expect this to be stupid expensive but hopefully as more competition enters the electic market, prices will come down and range will increase.

 

[psycros]

The real issue with electric cars is that the mileage they claim is with literally NOTHING running but the motor. No lights, no radio, definitely no A/C, etc. Whatever number they give you just cut it in half and you've got a much more realistic range.

 

[mbrowne5061]

The real issue with electric cars is that the mileage they claim is with literally NOTHING running but the motor. No lights, no radio, definitely no A/C, etc. Whatever number they give you just cut it in half and you've got a much more realistic range.

Hate to break it to you, but the same is true for ICE. Your radio and AC are still ultimately powered by your engine - they turn everything else off when testing range.

 

[drjekelmrhyde]

The range thing was never really a problem for me unless the range is only 200. If I wanted to drive more than let's say over 300 miles, I would rent a car. I wouldn't risk putting up with the wear and tear on my daily car. Hertz and Avis could benefit by getting some electric cars and let you swap them out over the course of your destination