You can, however, put down a $1,000 refundable deposit on the $139,000 Lucid Air Grand Touring with 19-inch wheels, which the EPA says has a 516-mile range. We think that’s astounding, and it’s more miles than most gas-powered cars can get out of a full tank. In addition to the other configurations of Air that are listed below, Lucid says the $77,000 Air Pure, which hasn’t yet been EPA-rated, should get around 406 miles per charge. Buchko tells CR that Lucid already has taken 11,000 deposits, and that those who make reservations today should expect to get their car some time next year.
Lucid might be at the top of the range heap, but plenty of other EVs have debuted with impressive ranges. Until Tesla broke the 200-mile barrier with its Roadster in tktk, electric cars tended to have double-digit ranges that were only good for short trips. But as battery technology advances, the distances EVs can travel between plugging in grows longer each year. Now, the vast majority of EVs have ranges above 200 miles—more than five times longer than the vast majority of Americans drive each day, according to the federal government’s National Household Travel Survey. And CR has found that the owner of an EV with 250 miles of range can do 92 percent of their charging on a home charger.
Although long ranges aren’t necessary for most commutes, range anxiety is a real concern. The results of a nationally representative survey conducted by CR show that half of drivers want an EV that could travel more than 300 miles between charges, and that many drivers who are wary of EVs say inadequate charging infrastructure is holding them back. Public EV chargers aren’t nearly as common as gas stations, and it can take hours to fully recharge a battery—so a long range is key for buyers who want to ditch their gas-powered car and go all-in on an EV.