The present Holy Grail for EVs is to exceed 500 miles of vary. It’s the one factor that the majority EV makers are striving for however haven’t fairly achieved.
In August, Lucid’s CEO posted a chart on LinkedIn suggesting the model is a number of years forward of its opponents in EV effectivity. Whereas some consider he’s overly optimistic, the very fact stays that Lucid autos are beating their rivals on vary alone.
Quickly, Lucid shall be spreading the wealth of its powertrain experience with supercar maker Aston Martin, which is slated to launch its first Lucid-powered EV in 2025. It’s a superb partnership as one legacy and one newcomer pool their experience (Marvel Twins, activate!) to create a high-horsepower dynamo. From its personal headquarters, Lucid has an all-electric SUV, the Gravity, anticipated to be obtainable for buy later this 12 months.
The key to Lucid’s fast rise and unbelievable vary, says the corporate’s senior director of engineering Dr. James Hawkins, is a mix of tweaks. A prolific use of high-strength forged aluminum is one issue, however there’s a a lot heavier emphasis on each aerodynamics and miniaturization of powertrain parts.
Reinvention of the electrical motor
Headquartered within the coronary heart of Silicon Valley, Lucid Motors began its life as an EV battery and powertrain builder, rebranding to its present identify in 2016. That’s when British businessman Peter Rawlinson joined the corporate as CEO and CTO. Rawlinson, a former government for Tesla, labored on the Mannequin S throughout its improvement course of and introduced a wealth of expertise to Lucid because it pivoted to EV manufacturing.
The model’s base mannequin, the Lucid Air Pure, begins at round $70,000. It’s geared up with rear-wheel drive, a single electrical motor good for 430 horsepower, and guarantees 410 miles of vary. Transfer up the ladder to the Touring mannequin for twin electrical motors, all-wheel drive, and 620 horses, however it loses 14 miles of vary for 406 whole. The Grand Touring harnesses the identical two-motor setup for 1,050 hp and 410 miles of vary. On the prime of the meals chain, the $249,000 Lucid Air Sapphire will get its zoom from three electrical motors, maxing out at 1,234 hp (in Observe mode) and 1,430 lb-ft of torque. It additionally has essentially the most vary with 427 miles. In some instances, these numbers could also be underselling the automobile’s true capabilities.
For example: YouTuber Kyle Conner makes a residing testing EVs, starting from a Nissan Leaf to a Porsche Taycan Turbo GT and every little thing in between. Simply this week, Conner drove an all-electric sedan that surpassed the vary of something he has ever examined: a 2025 Lucid Grand Air Touring. After totally charging the EV, Conner set off on his typical 70-mile testing loop and stored going till the automobile stopped. In the end, the Lucid Air Grand Touring simply surpassed the 500-mile mark after which some.
Buffered by deep pockets (together with the latest $1.5 billion funding from the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia) and eager curiosity, Lucid Motors produced 8,428 automobiles in 2023. Its autos are superbly designed, with a modern exterior and trendy cabin. It appears to be like nice on the skin, however the actual wizardry occurs below the floor of the pores and skin. Rawlinson believes all of it begins by turning widespread knowledge on its head.
“There’s this pervasive mindset that continues, ‘oh, this automobile hasn’t obtained a lot vary, so it could want a much bigger battery pack,’” he says. “With that, vary is simply proportional, a perform of what number of batteries you place in. And we problem that. We mentioned, ‘What if you may make a way more efficient and environment friendly electrical motor? What in the event you selected each facet of that motor and redesigned it, not simply electromagnetically however thermodynamically?’”
Lucid got down to develop the effectivity envelope of the electrical motor in a cheap method. That’s no small feat. Within the course of, Rawlinson says, the EV producer has reinvented the electrical motor.
“We’ve obtained extremely excessive voltage, we’ve obtained silicon carbide switching, we’ve obtained some very superior arithmetic within the management algorithms,” he says. “And also you mix that with a motor which is very electromagnetically environment friendly, thermodynamically environment friendly, and mechanically succesful. We’ve even re-imagined the transmission, the gears, the entire. As a consequence, we’ve obtained the quickest charging automobile on this planet.”
It’s not all about vary effectivity
To Lucid, Hawkins says, effectivity is every little thing and drives every little thing the automaker does. Not simply vary, however house, time, and value effectivity as nicely. A part of that’s the pursuit of miniaturization, which Lucid does fairly nicely.
“We reinvented the motor by considering small. Actually small,” Hawkins says.
Handing me a powertrain pulled from a Tesla Mannequin S Plaid, Hawkins asks me to notice how heavy it’s. In comparison with the Lucid setup, the gear from the Mannequin S Plaid is dense and significantly bigger. Lucid’s differential alone is tiny; it matches within the palm of my hand. The differential, which permits completely different wheels on the identical axle to spin at completely different speeds, sits inside an unused hole spot contained in the rotor.
“With opponents resembling Tesla, the dimensions of their unit and the large quantity of fabric they’re utilizing is dramatically bigger [than Lucid’s],” Hawkins says. “The explanation it may be so small is as a result of our differential sits inside the rotor, which is earlier than the discount gearset. So it spins very quick: excessive velocity, low torque.”
Every element is obsessively reviewed and adjusted, akin to an Olympic swimmer shaving hundredths of a second off their private finest by shaving or a golfer tweaking their swing by a millimeter. Pointing to the elements of the Lucid drive unit, Hawkins explains the way it compares to others and why it really works.
The entire drive unit is unintentionally stunning, like a meticulously crafted steampunk sculpture.
Lucid’s powertrains hold getting smaller and extra environment friendly. In the end, Hawkins says, Lucid’s purpose is to learn the world by being more practical and accountable in the way it makes use of supplies and vitality. Incorporating fewer supplies equates to much less vitality waste.
I ask him: Why wouldn’t opponents simply copy Lucid’s design?
“Oh, they may,” Hawkins says, explaining that the Lucid Air has been circulating for 3 years, and the automobile has possible been taken aside a number of instances all around the world by now. Nevertheless, he’s assured that Lucid continues to be a step forward, as a result of it has already moved ahead leaps and bounds towards the following technology. The Gravity SUV is only a begin.
Catch them in the event you can.
