Lucid Motors announced that its Luicid Air EV has achieved 517 miles of range per single charge and I expect Tesla's response coming on the Battery Day on September 22.

Lucid has now released the results of an independent test of the electric car based on the EPA test cycle and it shows a range of 517 miles.

They wrote in a press release:

“This new benchmark range was secured with FEV North America, Inc. in Auburn Hills, Michigan, applying the EPA’s Multicycle Test Procedure (SAE J1634 Oct 2012 Standard) with the standard adjustment factor. The results confirm that Lucid Air is the longest range electric vehicle to date.”

I think it's great that people can soon buy an EV with over 500 miles of range. I'm hoping Tesla will be able to match that range, if not on battery day, then within the next 15 months or so.

It's going to be a great competition for Tesla, which is good for all of us.

Tesla needed some serious competition. Of course if (as the article suggests) Lucid is getting 500 miles using a speculated 130 kWh pack, that’s hardly groundbreaking. Tesla gets 400 miles using a 100 kWh pack so both are roughly equivalent on a miles per kWh basis. Still, having a car that boasts a significantly higher range will drive Tesla to make improvements.

But most people don’t know about the differences in battery size. People will look at the number rather than the battery size. But Tesla will respond with an announcement, even if it's not something they can actually build right now. In fact, Tesla Model S refresh is already quite developed I'm sure.

Tesla could match it today if they wanted to. Just put in a bigger battery. The better question is how many want to pay for that extra battery to extend their range from 400 to 500 miles. I mean, I know some people like to claim they need that sort of extreme battery range, but we'll see if the sales stats actually bear that out. I doubt it. I very much doubt it.

People who clamor for 500-600 or even 800-mile range EVs never mention the price. I'm sure Tesla could relatively easily make a 500 mile Model S if they thought there was a market for it. But would people actually pay for all that extra battery? I doubt it. But hey, if you offer them a 500 mile EV I'm sure they'll just point out that it also needs to charge from 0-100% in the same time it takes them to fill the tank on their gas car or something.

Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson, who led the development of the Model S while working for Elon Musk, has said the Air will outmatch Tesla's sedan in terms of interior luxury, dash from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, and start at more than $100,000.

But when it comes to battery power, the range remains a key selling point for consumers wary of moving away from internal combustion. Tesla made waves in June when it announced that the Model S had achieved an EPA-rated 402-mile range on a single charge. The company broke the 400-mile benchmark by decreasing the weight of the car, making aerodynamic changes, and maximizing regenerative braking.

Lucid plans to reveal the final version of the car on September 9, and to begin production near the end of the year.

I believe you'll see a 400 mile Tesla Model 3 or Y one day. I could see that happening. I could even see why somebody might need that. (Cold winters, rural area, etc.). Anyway, people who claim they need a 500 mile Model Y should probably consider the longest range Cybertruck anyway.

Regardless of everything, it’s good that there is an Electric car that can break the 500 miles per charge range. If Lucid Air is going to cost 100,000 dollars, that’s expensive. I don’t know how many people will buy it. I am not in favor of expensive cars. I believe people need to live modestly as too much comfort and luxury weaken ourselves. But it’s good to see a company making some advance and producing an electric car that has 517 miles of range per charge. I am assuming within the next 10 years, all EV makers will surpass this range and 500-700 miles of range per single charge will be the standard.

#LucidAir
#LuicidAirRange
#Tesla

This is Armen Hareyan from Torque News. Please, visit us at https://www.TorqueNews.com for daily car sector news and follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/torquenewsauto for daily automotive sector tweets. And if you would like to support our channel, I would really appreciate buying us animated applause once a month by clicking on the applaud button, which is next to the Like button, if you are watching this video on a desktop. You can go to https://www.TorqueNews.com/tesla for our daily Tesla news coverage.

Reference
Electrek https://electrek.co/2020/08/11/lucid-air-electric-car-epa-range-517-miles/