Lucid Motors Secures Deal To Use Electrify America’s Fast-Chargers

Lucid Motors has secured a deal with Electrify America to use the company’s charging network throughout the United States.

Electrify America, formed by Volkswagen as part of its punishment for the dieselgate scandal, will invest $2 billion into electric car infrastructure across the country over the next decade. By the end of June 2019, the company intends on having over 2000 chargers at 500 different sites. Impressively, Electrify America’s fast chargers will support 350 kW charging rates, capable of adding 20 miles (32 km) of range per minute.

As a startup, creating a proprietary charging infrastructure like Tesla would have been extremely difficult for Lucid. It’s, therefore, no surprise it has joined forces with a third-party provider.

Securing charging locations is extremely important for a small firm like Lucid.

There aren’t any electric vehicles currently on the market that will be able to make use of Electrify America’s 350 kW charging capacities. However, Lucid has previously suggested that its first model, the Air, will be able to handle 350 kW supplies. The next e-tron model from Audi and the all-electric Porsche Taycan will also offer support for 350 kW charging.

Details about the Lucid and Electrify America deal remain unclear as almost all EV users will have access to Electrify America’s network. One possibility is that Lucid owners will be charged a discounted rate whenever they top up their vehicles. They could also be given some free charging. Electrify America will initially charge a $1 per session fee and between 30 cents and 35 cents per minute of charging.

Lucid recently secured a huge win after securing a $1 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.