The American Tesla hunters at Lucid Motors continue to sprinkle with impressive numbers. After, among other things, the air resistance and the range, it is now time for the charging speed of the upcoming Lucid Air. Records are also being broken here.
Lucid promises that the Air can fast charge with ‘over’ 300 kW. For those who have difficulty grasping this, there are also more concrete figures: at this speed it should be possible to pump more than 480 kilometers of electricity into the battery within 20 minutes.
Now charging often comes with some snags and the intended fast charging speed is seldom sustained over the entire charging session. However, thanks to a contract with Electrify America, Air buyers must have unlimited and free access to a network of 350kW chargers for three years, so that the charging speed can theoretically be reached often.
900V
The fastest charging car to date is the Porsche Taycan, which can be pushed with 270 kW under the right conditions. Tesla’s Model 3 approaches that value with 250 kW. According to Lucid, the secret of the Air lies in an ‘ultra-high voltage architecture’ of 900V, advanced temperature management for the battery pack and the overall high efficiency of the Air powertrain.
AC charging, so with alternating current, can be done with a maximum of 19.2 kW, although the conditions required for this are difficult to achieve. The charging port of the Air works both ways, so that it is also possible to use power from the battery pack for other purposes. This can be very useful in a future full of ‘smart homes’ and shuttles with green electricity.
800 km
The Lucid Air is a large sedan with a relatively large passenger cabin. The American Lucid is of course aiming at Tesla. With the Air, however, the brand also wants to offer an alternative to top limousines such as the Mercedes-Benz S-class, BMW 7-series and especially the future electric brothers of those cars, the EQS and i7. That EQS should be able to reach about 700 km on a battery charge, but the Air promises to exceed that. Equipped with – probably – a 130 kWh battery pack, the newcomer should be able to drive no less than 728 kilometers on a full battery, according to its makers. However, that is according to the usually stricter US EPA standard and suggests a WLTP range of around 800 km.
The Lucid Air was shown as a concept car as early as 2016. However, as is common with EVs, the actual development of the car only started after that. Production is due to start in early 2021 at Lucid’s factory in Casa Grande, Arizona.