A few months ago, State Of Charge had the opportunity to test the DC fast-charging capabilities of the entry-level 2025 Lucid Air Pure. The results were very good, including the replenishing 200 miles of range in less than 17 minutes. Today, we will check the results for the original, limited 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition Range, tested by State Of Charge’s Tom Moloughney in November 2021.

The main question is whether the entry-level Lucid EV benefits from the technology once developed for the top-of-the-line version.

Specs

The 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition Range was launched with a 118-kWh, high-voltage battery (924 volts). According to specs, the car can accept up to about 300 kW of power and replenish up to 300 miles of driving range in 20 minutes.

At low-voltage chargers, charging the Air (any version) could be significantly compromised to about 50 kW.

The range replenishment rate is amazingly high. That’s mainly thanks to the high efficiency of its dual-motor, all-wheel drive powertrain. The EPA Combined range of the Lucid Air Dream Edition Range is 520 miles. Tom’s 70-mph range test of the vehicle with the base 19-inch wheels ended with 500 miles of range.

The 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition Range’s EPA energy consumption (including charging losses) was estimated at 125 MPGe, which is 270 Wh/mile or 3.7 miles/kWh. That’s an outstanding result, but not as high as the 2025 Lucid Air Pure, which is the top EV ever tested — 146 MPGe (231 Wh/mile or 4.3 miles per kWh). The Pure is lighter, with a smaller 84-kWh battery (about 650 volts) and a single-motor, rear-wheel drive powertrain.

Charging Curve

The DC fast-charging test of the 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition Range was conducted at an Electrify America charger with a maximum output of up to 350 kW. Tom charged the car from 0% to 100% state-of-charge (SOC).

As we can see in the first graph, the charging power quickly reached about 300 kW and remained at this level up to almost 8% SOC. Then, the charging power almost linearly decreased through the end of the session. The average 10-80% SOC power amounted to 166 kW, though it could be higher if the session started at 10% SOC.

For reference, the 2025 Lucid Air Pure was charging at up to 219 kW, while its average power between 10 and 80% SOC exceeded 125 kW.

C-Rate

When comparing the two models, we can’t forget about the difference in battery capacity — 118 kWh in the Dream Edition Range, and 84 kWh in Pure.

The 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition Range’s C-rate peaked at over 2.5C. The average in the 10-80% SOC window was about 1.4C.

Info: The C-rate indicates the correlation between the charging power and the battery pack capacity. A value of 1C would mean that the power value in kW is equal to the battery pack capacity in kWh and that at such power (current) rate, the battery would be fully recharged in 1 hour. The higher the C-rate, the higher the load on the battery and the faster it charges. A flat 2C would translate into a 30-minute charging session (0-100% SOC).

Interestingly, the 2025 Lucid Air Pure noted a marginally higher C-rate of up to 2.6C (almost 1.5C in 10-80% SOC window).

Technically speaking, it means that the Lucid Air Pure’s load on the battery is comparable to the Lucid Air Dream Edition Range. Customers are getting similar performance, only the battery is smaller and thus, the power is lower.

Charging Time

The full charging session from 0 to 100% SOC took about 82 minutes, including 37 minutes to get to 80% SOC. The remaining 20 percentage points took 45 minutes. This means there is no point in charging beyond 80% SOC, until absolutely necessary.

The charging time of the Lucid Air Pure is very similar. The two curves are almost identical aside from the very end, when the Lucid Air Pure charged at low power, very slowly getting to 100% SOC.

The main difference between the two cars is the battery capacity and proportional difference in power.

Range Replenishing Rate

Considering the 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition Range’s EPA range of 520 miles, its range replenishment rate during the first 10 minutes reached a spectacular 17.6 miles per minute (176 miles added).

The second 10-minute period was considerably slower at 11.9 miles/minute, but it’s still a very good result. With each additional 10-minute period, the range replenishment rate decreased slightly, indicating that there is not much gain in staying at a charger too long.

The Lucid Air Dream Edition Range replenishes range faster than the Lucid Air Pure because it charges at a much higher power due to its bigger battery. The Pure is more efficient, which compensates for part of this difference, but not enough to match the Dream Edition Range.

The Pure in its best, first 10-minute period, peaked at 14.1 miles per minute.

How Long To Add Driving Range

Alternatively, we could ask how long it would take to add a certain number of miles. The 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition Range is outstanding in this metric with the ability to add 200 miles of range in 12 minutes and 300 miles in 20.6 minutes.

The 2025 Lucid Air Pure can add 200 miles in about 16 minutes (a 4-minute difference) and 300 miles in 28.4 minutes (about an 8-minute difference).

DC Fast-Charging Matrix

Here is a summary of the entire charging session in a single image — the DC fast-charging matrix. It lists several main parameters: time, average charging power, the number of replenished SOC percentage points, kWh of battery capacity, and miles of EPA Combined range added between certain starting and final SOC points.

The color map illustrates that the most fruitful period of charging is the first part (green boxes).

Please remember that the results might differ depending on a variety of factors, including the starting point of the session (which could shift the charging curve), charger, temperatures (ambient, that of the charger and its cable, and battery), and car (exact version, age, battery state-of-health, and software version).

Summary

The 2022 Lucid Air Dream Edition Range is one of the best DC fast-charging electric cars on the market. Its results might also be applied to the regular Grand Touring versions with comparable batteries (State Of Charge tested a 2024 Lucid Air Grand Touring in mid-2024).

The car was able to replenish 200 miles of EPA range in about 12 minutes and 300 miles in 20.6 minutes. After about 20-30 minutes, charging slows considerably.

During long-distance travel, it’s better to charge only 15-30 minutes rather than waiting until 80%. Beyond 80%, charging is very slow.

The comparison between the Lucid Air Dream Edition Range and the Lucid Air Pure reveals that the latest entry-level version has basically the same tech as the top version. The battery load (C-rate) is similar — though surprisingly a bit higher in the Lucid Air Pure. The noticeable difference in the range replenishment rate is caused solely by the battery pack size. The Pure partially compensates for it through higher efficiency.

Check more of our DC fast charging analyses here.