This EV can go from Sydney to Melbourne – and then some

There’s a new record holder for the longest range electric vehicle, but even though it’d be ideal for a classic Aussie road trip it’s not sold here.

The new Guinness World Record holder for the longest journey by an electric car on a single charge is now held by the Lucid Air Grand Touring, a battery-powered sedan made in the US.

Travelling from Silvaplana in Switzerland to Munich in Germany, the Lucid Air completed 1205km on a charge, far more than its official range claim of 960km.

It beat the existing record – quietly set by Japanese publication WebCG last month – by 160km, with the previous record-holder being a Mercedes-Benz EQS450+.

The Lucid was able to overcome its smaller battery deficit of 8kWh to beat the Mercedes, and though its 112kWh pack isn’t the largest in the Air lineup, its still significant size and the Grand Touring’s relatively low dual-motor outputs (‘only’ 611kW and 1200Nm) helped it to the record.

Unfortunately neither Lucid nor the Guinness World Records have announced the time the record took to complete, meaning we can’t be sure what its average speed was. In August last year, a Ford Mustang Mach-E took the record of 916.74km on a charge at an average speed of 38.2km/h.

It’s likely the Lucid Air was driven at an average speed well below its 270km/h VMAX pace.

“This range record represents a significant milestone – it’s yet another clear demonstration of the technological edge that defines Lucid,” said Eric Bach, senior vice president of product and chief engineer at Lucid.

“Our Lucid products combine world class vehicle efficiency with the most advanced drive units, ultra-high voltage architecture, and battery management technology available today, which lets a Lucid travel further with less energy than any other vehicles.”

The Air Grand Touring gives arguably the best mix between battery capacity and electric motor output in the model’s range.

A single-motor version of the Air produces 321kW/550Nm and uses an 88kWh battery, the standard Touring has a 93kWh battery and dual motors (462kW/1200Nm), while the flagship Sapphire makes 920kW and 1940Nm, fed by a 118kWh pack.

As Lucid only produces vehicles in left-hand drive, an Australian berth is still some time away.