Lucid Air's 300 Miles Of Range In 20 Minutes: The World's Fastest-Charging EV

A big concern for American motorists when considering an electric vehicle is where to charge it, and exactly how long is that charge going to take.

While charging infrastructure is increasing in the U.S., the amount of time it takes to charge a vehicle can be problematic. While most owners can get a full charge overnight while sleeping, making multiple 20-minute or longer stops to charge on a long road trip can be inconvenient.

Lucid's Game-Changing Specs: Lucid Motors said Wednesday that the company's efficient, 900-volt electric vehicle will boast charging times of up to 20 miles a minute, or 300 miles in just 20 minutes.

Part of what makes this possible are the car's 350kW charging speeds on compatible charging infrastructure. This is 100kW faster than Tesla Inc's TSLA 250kW Supercharger network.

Lucid also mentioned vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-vehicle charging hardware on the car, ready for future use.

The production version of the Lucid Air is scheduled to debut in an online reveal on Sept. 9. 

Benzinga's Take: A faster charging speed for electric vehicles is positive. Although most owners leave home with a full battery of overnight charging, the spec is important for vacations or long days of driving without much time to charge.

The Lucid Air must have a large battery, due to the fact that as a user approaches a high state of charge, the car must slow its charge rate to protect the battery.

With a theoretical range of over 500 miles, this would put 300 miles at 60% battery capacity. Going from zero to 60% definitely seems possible, as Tesla claims similar charging speeds. 

Photo courtesy of Lucid Motors.