The Lucid Air should get 517 miles per electric charge under the Environmental Protection Agency’s rating system, its maker announced in August. The vehicles are scheduled to begin production at the end of this year at the company’s new Casa Grande facility.
Lucid Motors officials brought a Lucid Air to the Michigan facilities of FEV North America, a top-rated testing center and incubator serving the automotive industry. Its testing process mirrored the EPA’s for determining how far the pure electric drivetrain will be able to take the luxury car when fully charged and confirmed it is the world’s longest-range electric vehicle, according to a Lucid press release.
“I believe that our 900-volt architecture, our race-proven battery packs, miniaturized motors and power electronics, integrated transmission systems, aerodynamics, chassis and thermal systems, software, and overall system efficiency have now reached a stage where they collectively set a new standard and deliver a host of ‘world’s firsts,’” said Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson.
The current longest-range electric vehicle on the market is the Tesla Model S Long Range Plus with an EPA rating of 402 miles per charge, according to a June 2020 article on Cars.com.
Norwalk, California-based Lucid also said in August the Air will be the world’s fastest-charging electric vehicle at 20 miles per minute, which adds up to 300 miles of range in 20 minutes. The Air includes an on-board “Wunderbox” that combines several functions and makes the car fully compatible with public EV charging stations.
Lucid’s online global reveal for its brand and the production Lucid Air was scheduled for Sept. 9, along with the launch of a new website with the industry’s “most advanced” configurator where those who have reserved a vehicle will be able to customize it.
Lucid is also debuting an app allowing buyers to follow their car through the production process and communicate with the automaker after delivery on service and other needs.
The Air will be sold directly to the consumer, either through the website, one of 20 brick-and-mortar “studios” Lucid plans to open through 2021 or some combination of the two.
Robotic machinery that will be used to build the cars has been installed over the course of the summer at the Casa Grande factory at Peters and Thornton roads, and numerous jobs related to manufacturing, engineering, supply chain and operations are posted at Lucid.com.
Pre-production is scheduled to start late this year, with the first customer deliveries expected at the beginning of 2021.
