Lucid Motors bests Tesla with fastest EV charging and vehicle-to-grid capability

lucid AIR
Source: Lucid Motors

The Driven

Lucid Motors has revealed that its upcoming Lucid Air electric sedan will be able to recharge at a rate of 32km per minute and will also be able to discharge energy into the grid or home.

These are some seriously juicy tidbits about the Lucid Air, which will be unveiled in coming weeks and is touted as a rival to the Tesla Model S, the benchmark for all aspiring EV makers.

In a new announcement on Thursday (US time), the Saudi-backed electric vehicle startup said that the Lucid Air will be the “fastest charging electric vehicle ever offered”,  thanks to its “highly sophisticated battery and thermal management system, and the Lucid Air’s incredible powertrain efficiency.”

According to the EV startup, the Lucid Air – which last Wednesday we reported will also shatter Tesla’s industry-leading driving range and aerodynamics, and in July that it will include semi-autonomous driving tech – will be able to charge at a maximum rate of 300kW, meaning that it will be able to top up 480km driving range in just 20 minutes.

This impressive rate of charging is made possible by a 900V electrical architecture (most EVs are 400V), and is faster than the 270kW charging of the 800V Porsche Taycan (which although capable of a 350kW max charge rate, is software limited until further notice).

The fastest charge rate of any Tesla vehicle is 250kW, which is achievable at the EV maker’s V3 supercharging stations and ultra-rapid DC fast chargers such as those made by Australia’s Tritium and Swiss electrification giant ABB.

“We designed every aspect of the Lucid Air and its platform in-house to be hyper-efficient, from the powertrain to the aerodynamics, and we’ve set several new benchmarks through these efforts including the longest range EV with an estimated EPA range of 517 miles,” said Eric Bach, VP of hardware engineering for Lucid Motors in a statement.

To read the full version of this story – and view the photo gallery – on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…

Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology, and has a keen interest in the role that zero emissions transport has to play in sustainability.

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