Samsung SDI’s battery technology enabled a Lucid Air Grand Touring to set a new world record for electric vehicle range, though the achievement comes with notable caveats that highlight the marketing choreography behind such stunts.
The Korean battery maker announced that the luxury sedan traveled 1,205 kilometers between St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Munich without charging, surpassing the previous record by 160 kilometers. The vehicle used 6,600 units of Samsung SDI’s 21700 cylindrical batteries with silicon-based anodes.
The record attempt took advantage of significant elevation changes that aided performance. St. Moritz sits 5,910 feet above sea level while Munich is just above 1,700 feet, providing substantial gravity assistance through regenerative braking. The route also involved “scenic” driving at relatively low speeds rather than typical highway conditions.
Both companies have coordinated their announcements to maximize publicity from the July achievement. Samsung SDI framed the record as proof of the company’s “top-tier technological capabilities” while positioning itself to compete for market share against Chinese battery manufacturers.
The partnership, established in 2016, represents Samsung SDI’s strategy to diversify beyond smartphone batteries into the growing electric vehicle sector. However, Lucid’s struggled production volumes and high vehicle prices limit the practical implications of the technical demonstration.
The Air Grand Touring typically achieves 410-516 miles in real-world testing, making the record drive an outlier rather than representative performance.
