Choice for a 600-mile drive to Jeffrey Lake near Brady, Neb., and back in late July was the 2024 Lucid Air Pure electric sedan. Lucid Air is an American automotive company headquartered in Newark, Calif., and produces electric cars at its factory in Casa Grande, Ariz.
This was my first opportunity to drive a Lucid. “End range anxiety with this one,” said Lucid, “for it can go 420 miles on a single charge.” It is 300 miles to Jeffrey Lake, where Jan, Kim and I joined Kurt and Tammy Wells, Ryan and Erik at their lakehouse.
The Lucid Air Pure is a roomy, rear-wheel-drive midsize electric sedan with a rear-mounted motor delivering 430 horsepower and 406 lb.-ft. of torque, with an 88.0-kWh battery pack. A smooth, strong performer, it will run 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds. The lengthy sedan, 195.9 inches, rode on 20-inch wheels shod with Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires.
The Pure fell short in its range expectations, as we stopped three times for recharging. For, you know, there was the heat (96 degrees at North Platte) and, of course, we used the air-conditioning, and the wind blew, and I maintained higher speeds of the interstate highways, and a bit of added weight came from the three of us with our luggage.
Exacerbating the range drain are problems with the chargers and charging systems aside from the electric automobiles. I got an earful of that over the weekend, particularly at our long stop at North Platte.
“Outstanding,” Wayne Williams of Central City, Neb., said of his 2024 GMC Hummer Electric ($100,000-plus sticker price), but after more than 2 hours was upset at the slow rate of charge at an Electrify America charger system. Trevor Sands of Denver said he was bothered by charging errors and minimal range due to weather with his Ioniq5 electric, but, otherwise, was very satisfied with the car. A traveler from Illinois was “ticked off” that the 350 kW charger plugged into his Ioniq5 was delivering the energy buildup slowly, no faster than the 150 kW next to him.
So, a charging station in place of a gas station? A paradigm it’s not – at least not yet.
Heading home, we first stopped at a SWTCH charging station in North Platte, I plugged in the charger at its port in the driver-side front fender; information indicated recharging would be complete in approximately 9 ½ hours. I immediately pulled the plug, we headed on down the street for a better source – a group of Electrify America chargers, 150 kW and 350 kW. ChargePoint at Sterling, added 90 miles in 10 minutes.
Sticker price for the high-tech ’24 Lucid Air Pure sedan is $74,350. Among interior highlights are a 34-inch glass cockpit display screen, 3-zone automatic climate control, Wunderbox onboard boost charger, automatic emergency braking.
Starting prices for the three higher trim levels are $79,400 for Touring, $111,400 for Grand Touring and
$250,500 for Sapphire.
Fully charged in my garage before the Lucid was returned to drivers for Automotive Media Solutions this week, the Pure electric showed range of 383 miles.