Let me throw two terms at you: inadequate public charging infrastructure and range anxiety. Any guesses what I'm talking about? Yup, the Achilles heel of electric vehicles. Solve these, and you're probably looking at widespread EV adoption.
Lucid Motors might have put both problems in the rear-view mirror by setting a Guinness World Record for the longest journey by an electric car on a single charge.
The milestone was achieved using its Air Grand Touring car, where the crew from Lucid covered a distance of 1,205 km (~749 miles). In doing so, Lucid broke the 1,045-km (649-mile) record previously achieved by the Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ in June 2025 by the Japanese car website webCG.
The electric vehicle (EV) covered this journey between St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Munich, Germany, traveling through highways, secondary roads, and alpine roads – all without a single halt for charging. Given that the vehicle has a 960-km (596-mile) WLTP range, my guess is that the test team must have made good use of favorable road and weather conditions to make the feat possible.
With a net elevation decrease of just over 1,310 m (about 4,300 ft) throughout the drive, the EV most certainly benefited from regenerative braking, a rather useful feature that turns downhill momentum back into battery power. Lucid has yet to release official data like average speed or total drive time, but what is apparent is that this was not a high-speed dash but rather a well-planned route to achieve one impressive result.
Umit Sabanci, a London-based entrepreneur with the odd hobby of shattering world records, was behind the wheel of the Lucid. He last partnered with the company in June 2024 when he broke the record driving to the most countries without recharging, traveling 912 km (567 miles) south through the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Italy.
“When I completed the nine-country journey in 2024, it was just the beginning,” said Sabanci. “This new achievement takes that journey even further. I’m proud to be part of a movement that proves electric mobility isn’t just the future; it’s already redefining what’s possible today.”
The Air Grand Touring has two all-wheel drive electric motors with a combined system output of 611 kW (819 horsepower) and 1,200 Nm (885 lb.ft) of torque. Power is provided by an NMC battery, which has a gross energy capacity of 117 kWh (112 kWh usable). Best of all, it can go from 0-60 mph in just three seconds flat.
The EV's 900-volt electrical architecture allows for up to 300 kW of DC rapid charging and 19.2 kW of slower AC charging. According to Lucid, if the car is linked to a sufficiently strong DC fast-charger, its battery can be topped up with 350 km (217 miles) of range in roughly 15 minutes. In real-world usage, it would likely take more than an hour to fully charge an Air GT via a Level 3 charger.
For reference, the almost half-priced BMW i4 and jazzy Porsche Taycan offer less than half the WLTP range of the Lucid Air GT. So, it’s not like there’s a head-to-head competition out there. Lucid is miles ahead in its class (pun intended!)
Starting at US$112,650, the Air Grand Touring is among the most luxurious sedans on the market right now. But as you can see, it comes at a price. Still, knowing that there is technology to conquer range anxiety is comforting.
It might take a while, but there's no reason why we can't expect such range figures from reasonably priced EVs in the near future. If anything, it's a signal of the things to come in the EV space.
Source: Lucid
