Lucid Motors Selects Electrify America As Its Charging Network Partner

Just a few days ago, we addressed “the chicken or the egg” conundrum regarding electric cars. Does the world need more EV chargers to get the electric car revolution revved up or does it need more electric cars to boost investments in charging infrastructure? Lucid Motors seems to believe the former. It has yet to construct a factory or build a single production car, but it announced this week it is partnering with Electrify America to provide charging services for its future customers.

Electrify America, as you may recall, is a division of Volkswagen set up as part of that company’s consent agreement with US authorities at the state and federal level that settled claims against the company resulting from its diesel cheating scheme. That agreement requires Volkswagen to invest $2 billion in a high-power/super-fast charging network that will span America.

When complete, the network will have 2,000 fast chargers with up to 350 kW of power at 500 locations in 40 states and 17 cities. In a press release, Lucid CTO Peter Rawlinson, who was intimately involved with bringing the Tesla Model S to production readiness, says, “We are excited to be working with Electrify America given its extensive charging network and aggressive growth plans.

“The ground breaking battery technology we developed for the Lucid Air allows class leading EPA range and ultra-fast charging with minimal cell degradation. Combining our technology with Electrify America’s network provides our customers with a comprehensive charging solution for their everyday lives.”

The press release goes on to say, “Lucid’s mission is to inspire the adoption of sustainable energy by creating the most captivating luxury electric vehicles, centered around the human experience. All of Lucid’s vehicles are built upon Lucid’s industry-leading proprietary electric powertrain technology, and are uniquely developed to deliver an unprecedented experience for both driver and passenger.

“Lucid’s first vehicle, the Lucid Air, is widely acclaimed by automotive journalists and will begin production at Lucid’s manufacturing facility in Arizona, USA in 2020.”

Last week, Audi announced its own collaboration with Electrify America for US customers who purchase an Audi e-tron electric SUV. They will be eligible for up to 1,000 kWh of free electricity at Electrify America charging locations during their first 4 years of ownership.

According to the terms of the settlement agreement, Volkswagen is prohibited from identifying the Electrify America network as being part of the VW brand. But it is more than happy to let Audi, Lucid, and any other company that wants to talk up the network in hopes that some favorable impressions about the parent company will rub off on it.

For EV advocates, all we care about is that the Volkswagen is helping to push the electric car revolution forward by constructing a network of high-power fast chargers that are available to all EV drivers (whose cars were not built by Tesla).

Giovanni Palazzo, the head of Electrify America, says, “Electrify America is proud to provide Lucid and its customers with our ultra-fast charging. Our high-powered, nationwide network of chargers is a great match with the EV technology offered by Lucid and a further opportunity to expand electric vehicle adoption in the U.S.”

Frankly, there are no cars on American roads right now that can handle 350 kW of power, but in the future, there certainly will be. And when that happens, it’s good to know there will be charging stations available to keep them charged up when they journey far from home.