Surely, electric vehicle (EV) makers are conquering range anxiety. Soon, gone are the days where EVs give range anxiety just by looking at them. At Tesla, there is no such thing as range anxiety, as its Model S Long Range offers to drive more than 400 miles on a single charge. But up and coming rival Lucid Motors took the game further after its Lucid Air Dream Edition Range received an official rating of 520 miles of range from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Air Dream Edition Range EPA-Rated At 520 Miles
Lucid offers different versions of its game-changer Air electric luxury car – Air, Air Touring, Air Grand Touring, and Air Dream Edition. The already sold out Dream Edition has two models: Dream Edition Range that focuses on the distance travelled, and the Dream Edition Performance with a powertrain optimized for speed and acceleration. So far, only the Grand Touring and two Dream Editions (in 19- and 21-inch wheels) have received official ratings from EPA.
Interestingly, all six rated Air models have EPA figures that are higher than the best that Tesla Motors can offer – the Model S Long Range. Tesla's longest ranged EV is EPA-rated at 405 miles, which is around 115 miles short of the rating officially bestowed to the Dream Edition Range with 19-inch wheels (520 miles). The Dream Edition Range with 21-inch wheels is EPA-rated at 481 miles.
Lucid Air Dream Edition Range Tested In Reality
The Lucid Air Dream Edition Range offers such long all-electric range while still delivering around 933 hp of output and more than 737 lb-ft of torque. It is still a performer though, but not as much as the Dream Edition Performance, as it could accelerate from nil to 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds and reach a top speed of 168 mph.
To prove the range of the Dream Edition Range in the real world, Lucid CEO (and former Tesla chief engineer) Peter Rawlinson and MotorTrend’s Jonny Lieberman drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco and to Lucid headquarters in Newark for a total of 445 miles. With air conditioning on and the cars going with the flow of traffic, they completed the drive with 72 miles to spare. That would be a total of 517 miles!
Other Air Versions Also Out-Range Model S
Meanwhile, the Dream Edition Performance – offering 1,111 hp of output and 2.5 seconds of sprint time – was officially rated by the EPA at 471 miles with the 19-inch wheels and 451 miles for the 21-inch rims. The Grand Touring received an EPA rating of 516 miles (19-inch wheels) and 469 miles (21-inch rims).
Source: Lucid