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Lucid details charging strategy with best-in-industry peak rates

Credit: Lucid Motors

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Lucid has released details for its electric vehicle charging infrastructure, indicating that it has agreed to multiple partnerships with both Electrify America and QMerit. The collaboration between Lucid and the two charging companies will not only provide the automaker with best-in-industry peak charging rates, but it will also provide owners of the company’s cars with bi-directional home chargers for car-to-grid capabilities.

The announcement comes on the heels of a press release that was released on August 11, which indicated that Lucid’s first electric vehicle, the Air, had received an EPA-estimated 517-mile range rating after tests from FEV North America.

In a press release from Lucid, the company detailed the Air’s charging capabilities, which include a peak charging rate of over 300kW thanks to an “ultra-high voltage 900V+ architecture.”

The Air’s charging capabilities will make it the fastest charging electric vehicle ever offered with the ability to receive up to 20 miles of range per minute. “For owners charging their Lucid Air in real-world conditions on the road, that translates into 300 miles of range in just 20 minutes of charging,” the release said.

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Lucid also has a unique “Wunderbox” onboard charging unit that combines several usually separate capabilities into one integrated housing. “This gives Lucid Air full interoperability with public charging infrastructure, including the ever-growing, 350kW fast-charging infrastructure being built-out nationwide.”

The released details about the Lucid Air’s charging abilities point toward the company’s intention to make their debut electric vehicle the best in the business.

Lucid Home Charger

Lucid Home Charger

“We designed every aspect of the Lucid Air and its platform in-house to be hyper-efficient, from the powertrain to the aerodynamics, and we’ve set several new benchmarks through these efforts including the longest range EV with an estimated EPA range of 517 miles,” Eric Bach, the Vice President of Hardware Engineering, said. “With our ultra-high voltage 900V+ electrical architecture and the proprietary Wunderbox, we have significantly increased the speed of energy getting into, around, and even out of the vehicle, delivering the world’s fastest charging EV packed with future-ready charging features.”

On-the-Road Charging

Thanks to a partnership from Electrify America, Lucid Air owners will have the ability to charge their vehicles for free thanks to three years of complimentary charging at any of the 2,000 stations EA has nationwide. Offering charging speeds between 150kW and 350kW, Lucid states its infrastructure will support “ultrafast” EV charging, along with real-time availability updates across the United States.

Home Charging Capabilities

Lucid has developed the “Lucid Connected Home Charging Station,” which is among the first AC charging stations with bi-directional charging that has ever been offered. “With bi-directional charging, owners can enjoy not just a more cost-
effective charging method, but also use their Lucid Air as a temporary energy reserve to power their homes, including off-grid vacation properties,” the company wrote in its press release.

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The production version of the Air will be revealed during an online event on September 9, 2020. Information on the vehicle’s interior and exterior designs, as well as specifications, configurations, and pricing options, will also be shared during the event.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla launches new Model 3 financing deal with awesome savings

Tesla is now offering a 0.99% APR financing option for all new Model 3 orders in the United States, and it applies to all loan terms of up to 72 months.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched a new Model 3 financing deal in the United States that brings awesome savings. The deal looks to move more of the company’s mass-market sedan as it is the second-most popular vehicle Tesla offers, behind its sibling, the Model Y.

Tesla is now offering a 0.99% APR financing option for all new Model 3 orders in the United States, and it applies to all loan terms of up to 72 months.

It includes three Model 3 configurations, including the Model 3 Performance. The rate applies to:

  • Model 3 Premium Rear-Wheel-Drive
  • Model 3 Premium All-Wheel-Drive
  • Model 3 Performance

The previous APR offer was 2.99%.

Tesla routinely utilizes low-interest offers to help move vehicles, especially as the rates can help get people to payments that are more comfortable with their monthly budgets. Along with other savings, like those on maintenance and gas, this is another way Tesla pushes savings to customers.

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The company had offered a similar program in China on the Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, but it had ended on January 31.

The Model 3 was the second-best-selling electric vehicle in the United States in 2025, trailing only the Model Y. According to automotive data provided by Cox, Tesla sold 192,440 units last year of the all-electric sedan. The Model Y sold 357,528 units.

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Tesla hasn’t adopted Apple CarPlay yet for this shocking reason

Many Apple and iPhone users have wanted the addition, especially to utilize third-party Navigation apps like Waze, which is a popular alternative. Getting apps outside of Tesla’s Navigation to work with its Full Self-Driving suite seems to be a potential issue the company will have to work through as well.

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Credit: Michał Gapiński/YouTube

Perhaps one of the most requested features for Tesla vehicles by owners is the addition of Apple CarPlay. It sounds like the company wants to bring the popular UI to its cars, but there are a few bottlenecks preventing it from doing so.

The biggest reason why CarPlay has not made its way to Teslas yet might shock you.

According to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, Tesla is still working on bringing CarPlay to its vehicles. There are two primary reasons why Tesla has not done it quite yet: App compatibility issues and, most importantly, there are incredibly low adoption rates of iOS 26.

Tesla’s Apple CarPlay ambitions are not dead, they’re still in the works

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iOS 26 is Apple’s most recent software version, which was released back in September 2025. It introduced a major redesign to the overall operating system, especially its aesthetic, with the rollout of “Liquid Glass.”

However, despite the many changes and updates, Apple users have not been too keen on the iOS 26 update, and the low adoption rates have been a major sticking point for Tesla as it looks to develop a potential alternative for its in-house UI.

It was first rumored that Tesla was planning to bring CarPlay out in its cars late last year. Many Apple and iPhone users have wanted the addition, especially to utilize third-party Navigation apps like Waze, which is a popular alternative. Getting apps outside of Tesla’s Navigation to work with its Full Self-Driving suite seems to be a potential issue the company will have to work through as well.

According to the report, Tesla asked Apple to make some changes to improve compatibility between its software and Apple Maps:

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“Tesla asked Apple to make engineering changes to Maps to improve compatibility. The iPhone maker agreed and implemented the adjustments in a bug fix update to iOS 26 and the latest version of CarPlay.”

Gurman also said that there were some issues with turn-by-turn guidance from Tesla’s maps app, and it did not properly sync up with Apple Maps during FSD operation. This is something that needs to be resolved before it is rolled out.

There is no listed launch date, nor has there been any coding revealed that would indicate Apple CarPlay is close to being launched within Tesla vehicles.

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Starlink restrictions are hitting Russian battlefield comms: report

The restrictions have reportedly disrupted Moscow’s drone coordination and frontline communications.

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A truckload of Starlink dishes has arrived in Ukraine. (Credit: Mykhailo Fedorov/Twitter)

SpaceX’s decision to disable unauthorized Starlink terminals in Ukraine is now being felt on the battlefield, with Ukrainian commanders reporting that Russian troops have struggled to maintain assault operations without access to the satellite network. 

The restrictions have reportedly disrupted Moscow’s drone coordination and frontline communications.

Lt. Denis Yaroslavsky, who commands a special reconnaissance unit, stated that Russian assault activity noticeably declined for several days after the shutdown. “For three to four days after the shutdown, they really reduced the assault operations,” Yaroslavsky said.

Russian units had allegedly obtained Starlink terminals through black market channels and mounted them on drones and weapons systems, despite service terms prohibiting offensive military use. Once those terminals were blocked, commanders on the Ukrainian side reported improved battlefield ratios, as noted in a New York Post report.

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A Ukrainian unit commander stated that casualty imbalances widened after the cutoff. “On any given day, depending on your scale of analysis, my sector was already achieving 20:1 (casuality rate) before the shutdown, and we are an elite unit. Regular units have no problem going 5:1 or 8:1. With Starlink down, 13:1 (casualty rate) for a regular unit is easy,” the unit commander said.

The restrictions come as Russia faces heavy challenges across multiple fronts. A late January report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that more than 1.2 million Russian troops have been killed, wounded, or gone missing since February 2022.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War also noted that activity from Russia’s Rubikon drone unit declined after Feb. 1, suggesting communications constraints from Starlink’s restrictions may be limiting operations. “I’m sure the Russians have (alternative options), but it takes time to maximize their implementation and this (would take) at least four to six months,” Yaroslavsky noted. 

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