That 517-mile-range Lucid Air will use a 113kWh battery pack

Enlarge / This cutaway shows how Lucid has packaged the battery modules in the Air.

When Lucid Motors revealed the range of its forthcoming electric sedan, plenty of eyebrows were raised. Independent testing confirmed that a Lucid Air, which enters production later this year, traveled 517 miles (832km) on a single charge. At the time, however, we didn't know the battery capacity of that test vehicle, since Lucid has previously stated that the Air would be available with packs varying from 60kWh to 120kWh. On Wednesday morning, we got our answer: 113kWh.

That might come as a little disappointment to those who were hoping that the entry-level model (which is expected to start at approximately $60,000) would have such long legs. But 517 miles from 113kWh is 4.57 miles/kWh (13.6kWh/100km), which is still extremely efficient by EV standards and would equate to up to 274 miles (440km) of range for an Air with a 60kWh pack.

Previously Lucid has said it's planning 60kWh, 100kWh, and 120kWh packs for the Air. If those numbers are total kWh as opposed to useable kWh (which is always a lower number to prevent the battery from completely discharging) and the total capacity of the extended range pack is 120kWh (for a usable capacity of 113kWh) then a 60kWh Air would probably have a usable 56.5kWh, which should equate to 258 miles/415km).

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