Had an interesting chat with some dudes from Lucid test team

SWORDER

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I was charging my TTS at an Electrify America in Las Vegas (Outlet Mall, south strip) and got to talking to the driver of another Turbo S with specs almost identical to my own. Turns out he's part of a Lucid test team. Another member of his team was chilling in the parking lot waiting on him.

His team's mission was to drive some Lucids and Taycans from San Francisco to Las Vegas, switching drivers periodically, noting the pros/cons of each vehicle, testing certain features, etc. Sounds like kind of a fun job for young guys. A few interesting takeaway points from the conversation:

  • The fellow I chatted with found the Taycan more fun to drive.
  • I asked which of their upcoming offerings would most closely match the Turbo S, and what are the specs. He said their test car will do 0-60 in low to mid 2's and will run about $170k, but that price could change.
  • The team was able to easily get 500+ miles on a single charge for the Lucids. They only had to do one Lucid charge on the trip whereas the Taycans required several.
  • I told them when the time comes to ally themselves with a charging network, they should choose anyone other than Electrify America. He agreed EA is highly unreliable and hates them too but unfortunately, the powers that be at Lucid are setting up some kind of deal with EA.
I had never seen a Lucid before. My personal opinion is that it's not a very attractive car. I doubt I'd want to own one. That said, maybe they're incredible to drive so I should probably reserve judgement.

I friggin' love my TTS but realistically, the way I drive it (Sport Plus, relatively hard acceleration), I'm only getting 175-190 miles on a charge. I knew range sucked going in so whatever, but I guess I didn't really grasp the full extent of how limited the Taycan's range is compared to competitors. I'm not sure what Lucid is doing with their batteries but if they're legitimately getting 500+ miles on a charge, they're in a league of their own.
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Chris8536

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I was charging my TTS at an Electrify America in Las Vegas (Outlet Mall, south strip) and got to talking to the driver of another Turbo S with specs almost identical to my own. Turns out he's part of a Lucid test team. Another member of his team was chilling in the parking lot waiting on him.

His team's mission was to drive some Lucids and Taycans from San Francisco to Las Vegas, switching drivers periodically, noting the pros/cons of each vehicle, testing certain features, etc. Sounds like kind of a fun job for young guys. A few interesting takeaway points from the conversation:

  • The fellow I chatted with found the Taycan more fun to drive.
  • I asked which of their upcoming offerings would most closely match the Turbo S, and what are the specs. He said their test car will do 0-60 in low to mid 2's and will run about $170k, but that price could change.
  • The team was able to easily get 500+ miles on a single charge for the Lucids. They only had to do one Lucid charge on the trip whereas the Taycans required several.
  • I told them when the time comes to ally themselves with a charging network, they should choose anyone other than Electrify America. He agreed EA is highly unreliable and hates them too but unfortunately, the powers that be at Lucid are setting up some kind of deal with EA.
I had never seen a Lucid before. My personal opinion is that it's not a very attractive car. I doubt I'd want to own one. That said, maybe they're incredible to drive so I should probably reserve judgement.

I friggin' love my TTS but realistically, the way I drive it (Sport Plus, relatively hard acceleration), I'm only getting 175-190 miles on a charge. I knew range sucked going in so whatever, but I guess I didn't really grasp the full extent of how limited the Taycan's range is compared to competitors. I'm not sure what Lucid is doing with their batteries but if they're legitimately getting 500+ miles on a charge, they're in a league of their own.
Single statements on range are so difficult. My 4S evidently gets 200mi at 90mph on I5, and 300 at 70. Thats a 50% increase in range based on 20mph difference. 500+ so far has been completely undemonstrated in any vehicle at a reasonable test of speed. Not saying its not possible, but 500 easy at 35mph city only driving sounds more like what they are saying.

More brands should put up or shut up -- test an SF to LA I5 run at 85mph and come back to me with a range. If you get over 350 I'll be impressed
 
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Mr.Smith

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Most impressive EPA numbers

200 to 260 is more than enough for me, but nice to see this type of efficiency

Porsche Taycan Had an interesting chat with some dudes from Lucid test team 20210915_113357
 

smohr33

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Motor Trend link isn't working for some reason, but they went 450+ miles from LA to SF with range left on their first drive. It's clearly going to set the bar for range, EQS will certainly be lower.

Taycan is still my choice of the three as range is very far down the list of my wants/needs and is more than sufficient for my use case.
 

Chris8536

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Motor Trend link isn't working for some reason, but they went 450+ miles from LA to SF with range left on their first drive. It's clearly going to set the bar for range, EQS will certainly be lower.

Taycan is still my choice of the three as range is very far down the list of my wants/needs and is more than sufficient for my use case.
At 55mph this is possible with a few vehicles already. I actually really want this to be true, but there have been so many 'gotchas' lately. Heck at 55mph the 4S on 19in can get 360mi range.
 


smohr33

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At 55mph this is possible with a few vehicles already. I actually really want this to be true, but there have been so many 'gotchas' lately.
For context since the MT link isn’t up… Jonny says they were going slightly above the speed limit.

 

Chris8536

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For context since the MT link isn’t up… Jonny says they were going slightly above the speed limit.

Well this looks legit. Thats really exciting. Shame their design leaves a lot to be desired.
 


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The Lucid Air (like the Model S) is an EQS (or S-class) competitor. I still don't understand cross shopping a Taycan with either.

Fortunately, there will eventually be EV versions of everything, and people can go back to buying a Porsche because it's a Porsche, and not because it's an EV.

I'd take a LOT less than 500 mile range to have a lighter vehicle. The Taycan is plenty, it needs less weight, not more range.
 

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The Lucid Air (like the Model S) is an EQS (or S-class) competitor. I still don't understand cross shopping a Taycan with either.

Fortunately, there will eventually be EV versions of everything, and people can go back to buying a Porsche because it's a Porsche, and not because it's an EV.

I'd take a LOT less than 500 mile range to have a lighter vehicle. The Taycan is plenty, it needs less weight, not more range.
Can't agree more: 500 miles seems like overkill. You're lugging around 100s of pounds of battery that you need for the 2 road trips a year. Even for those, it seems like 300-400 miles should be plenty.
 

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I personally am fine with 190 miles per charge. I don’t plan on driving my Taycan on long trips. Its primary purpose to me is to get around town knowing I’ll just charge it at home as needed.
 

manitou202

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If Lucid’s powertrain is the real deal, I kind of wish Porsche/Audi would have partnered with them over Rimac. The Lucid powertrain combined with Porsche chassis, suspension, and braking would be top notch.

Their motors are significantly smaller than the Taycan, yet develop a lot more horsepower. They also managed to get another 200-250 miles of range with 10-15% more battery, yet roughly the same coefficient of drag.

Porsche Taycan Had an interesting chat with some dudes from Lucid test team ative-cut-above-rest-size_motor_drive_transmission
 

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Motor Trend link isn't working for some reason, but they went 450+ miles from LA to SF with range left on their first drive. It's clearly going to set the bar for range, EQS will certainly be lower.

Taycan is still my choice of the three as range is very far down the list of my wants/needs and is more than sufficient for my use case.
Range isn’t all that important if you can depend on regular charging. I am ok stopping every 3 hours but the EA charging has not proven to be reliable.
 

Jhenson29

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?
Range is not the problem. Charging rate and infrastructure are the problems.

Do you know how many times I thought about range when purchasing an ICE vehicle?

Zero.

And not because they just all have great range. They don’t. I specifically remember a motorcycle I had around 08 that had less than 200 miles. Even then, range never ever crossed my mind. Because I could refuel in about 1 min literally anywhere.
 
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SWORDER

SWORDER

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I personally am fine with 190 miles per charge. I don’t plan on driving my Taycan on long trips. Its primary purpose to me is to get around town knowing I’ll just charge it at home as needed.
My use case is a bit different because:
  • I take frequent road trips and spend a fair amount of time above 70 mph which isn't great for range.
  • I don't have a charger at home. Public charger accessibility is a must for me. Lower range means more charging sessions.
Again, I knew what I was getting into when I got the car. Not complaining. Just saying that if Porsche could 2x its range without sacrificing performance, I'd be a pretty happy camper. Until the Lucid dude told me otherwise, I had no idea that the 500+ range was anything more than a pipe dream.
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