Cybertruck vs Gravity: Lucid beats Tesla at charging speed on its own Superchargers
Lucid's new Gravity is not only the electric SUV with the longest range out there, but it may also offer the fastest charging speeds when it gains access to Tesla's Supercharger network later this week.
Tesla just announced that all of its V4 Superchargers in North America have now been upgraded to offer 325 kW charging output. That particular number has seemingly been chosen as the maximum that Tesla's Cybertruck, its only vehicle with a modern 800V powertrain, can currently take.
Initial Cybertruck tests at the upgraded 325 kW Superchargers have returned middling results, as this peak speed couldn't be sustained for more than a few minutes. The charging curve quickly tapered off, and the electric pickup took only 90 fewer seconds to top up than at a 250 kW V3 Supercharger.
The culprit seems to be the 4680 battery, whose chemistry returns a notoriously bad charging curve. Not as bad as the first generation installed on some Model Y batches, but still something that Tesla only recently tried to fix with an OTA update for the Cybertruck.
Lucid, on the other hand, worked with Panasonic to adapt its latest generation of batteries for use in the Gravity SUV, and anointed it with a 926V powertrain to boot. The end result is not only an electric SUV with 450 miles of range on a charge from the same 123 kWh battery capacity that the Cybertruck covers 320 mile with, but also one offering ultrafast 400 kW charging.
In fact, the Gravity will be able to add 200 miles of range in just 12 minutes at Tesla's own V4 Superchargers, something that will be hard for the Cybertruck to replicate, as Tesla's OTA charging fix only allowed it to add 150 miles in 15 minutes.
In addition, Lucid made it the first non-Tesla vehicle that came with integrated NACS charging port to take advantage of Superchargers directly. Thus, the first Cybertruck vs Gravity charging tests after the 325 kW V4 upgrade that is set to become 500 kW later this year shouldn't be far behind.
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