Tesla may be the undisputed king of the electric vehicle world right now, but rivals big and small would love to alter the equation. One of them is Lucid Motors. The Lucid Air luxury EV sedan debuted in September with 1,080 horsepower on tap and a 517-mile EPA-rated range. Tesla soon responded with the 1,100 hp, 520-range Model S Plaid. Lucid then revealed a base version of the Air with a 406-mile range and cheaper price tag of $69,900 to lure away Model S Long Range buyers. Elon Musk didn't like that one bit so he cut the sedan's base price to $69,420.

And now he's at it again.

Electrek reports the Model S Long Range has a newly updated EPA rating of 409 miles on a single charge. This information came directly from a Tesla Monroney sticker with the latest data. Neither Tesla nor Musk has made a formal announcement.

The Model S Long Range in question had a build date in November 2020 but it remains unknown whether the improved range was made possible by a hardware or software upgrade, or even both. The EPA hasn't updated its website to reflect the changes. What's also interesting about Tesla's range update is that the Model S Long Range's efficiency actually went down.

Previously, its 402 miles of range had a combined 117 MPGe rating and 121/112 MPGe city/highway. Now the Monroney sticker indicates that figure dropped to 116 MPGe combined and 119/113 MPGe city/highway. Highway improved but city decreased.

Electrek believes a possible reason for this could because battery capacity energy increased. The Model 3 Long Range's battery, to compare, just received an upgraded energy capacity. However, the Model 3 and Model S don't use the same battery cells. Chances are Musk's ego and competitive spirit will provide some answers on Twitter soon enough.

It is now up to Lucid, who has yet to deliver a single vehicle (reservations are being accepted), to hit back somehow.