Pure owner review

noobzilla

Active Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2022
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1,118
Location
CA
19" Fathom Blue, Alcantara, Purluxe, DreamDrive Pro, Surround Sound Pro

Pictures here

Brief background:
I've owned the Pure for two weeks today. It's a pleasure and privilege to be one of the first Pure owners. As such I want to at least provide some reviews for the others whether they are just curious, waiting for one, on the fence deciding which car or trim to get, or just randomly reading around.

The Lucid Air is my second car and do not have much experience with luxury cars. I've test driven a GT, have seen all the exterior colors in person, and been inside Tahoe, Santa Cruz, and Mojave leather interiors. I initially finalized a white Touring with glass roof and Santa Cruz interior but downgraded to Pure due to financial reasons. I'm not sponsored or paid for by anyone or any company.

Initial quality check:
I went through the new owner checklist provided here in the forums. I have not encountered any issues except a slightly misaligned trunk. There's a larger gap on the driver side vs passenger side.

Current issues:
1) Trunk. I left it open for a long time when I was applying ceramic spray coating. I had to manually close it and since then I've have issues occur once in a while including the fob not closing the trunk, trunk closing halfway through, trunk button not working, trunk not fully closing so I have to apply some pressure to close it. One time since it was showing as open in the system I tried to lift it, only for the trunk to fully close instead! My finger almost got caught and that would've been painful!
2) Frunk. After my most recent fast charging, the frunk showed open and after repeated opening and closing it still kept showing open. I called Lucid support and they said to press the area above the L and D of the LUCID logo. Finally worked after a few tries. Have not happened since then.
3) This happened twice already when I did a 3-point U turn. I had to be quick to avoid incoming traffic and not hold off other people. I likely forgot to press brakes when switching from Drive to Reverse and it caused the system to ask me for PIN to continue driving but the menu is not immediately available so I end up panicking trying to reverse or drive and also finding how to go the the PIN screen.

Main concerns:
1) Significantly lower than expected mi/kwh. Had a trip to Napa with about 60-65miles on the freeway driving ~81-83mph average. Got 2.9mi/kwh on that. Went up to about 3.3mi/kwh after spending 20mi+ on a highway driving around 50-65mph. Weather was not that cold at ~50F , slightly damp road, and very minor hills on the highway. Slightly higher on the return trip at 3.4mi/kwh due to slower traffic. Climate controls are turned off. Note that the 410 mile range is based off ~4.5mi/kwh. I'm at approximately 75% of that just for that trip.
2) Poor visibility under rain (discussed more below).
 
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Interior:
1) Materials, colors, and seats. I posted my thoughts here. TLDR: different textures gives the interior luxury feel despite being all black and grey; the seats are soft and not prone to leather creases; rear cabin somewhat lacks luxury feel. Overall interior build quality is great and much better than my previous tenant's Model Y and loaner Model S (2019?) and original X. Partner also likes it over her fully loaded leather interior BWM X1. Compared to the other GT interiors, I consider the Alcantara PurLuxe to be just a very slight downgrade only because of the rear cabin.

I mentioned this elsewhere that I'm disappointed that the ambient lighting's color can't be changed. Touring and GT have the nice ceiling light strips. I understand that customers should get more for the increased prices, but no need to significantly downgrade and cheap out on inexpensive colored LED lighting. They have to be careful what they downgrade because it becomes questionable if the Pure are missing out on features that are available on much cheaper cars.

2) Buttons and interface. The volume adjuster in the middle is my favorite! Makes volume adjusting very easy especially since different tracks I enjoy more or less at various volume levels. I have not used the manual buttons for temperature and fan speed. Turn signals and drive modes (Park, Reverse, Drive...) and buttons on the steering wheel seem properly placed. The headlight and wiper controls are located on the left side of the dashboard touch screen. I like the push button on the left side for single windshield wipe.

3) Software and navigation. I. Effin. Dislike. Alexa! My old Pioneer headunit with Android Auto works better! Alexa is horrible at finding locations. I'd occasionally get very annoyed and yell at it! Other than that I haven't really had issues with the software. Charging has been fine and any issues on that regard has been on Electrify America's end. For music I use Tidal though searching for music has been a struggle.

AC (not fully tested) and Heating:
1) Heating and fan is not the best. I can confirm the common complaints that it is overall weak. It takes a while to heat the car.
2) Seat heating is fantastic! Level 1 heat (up to 3) provides sufficient heating. I have not really tried level 3 as I'll likely end up with a roast pork butt.
3) Steering wheel heating gets hot! Can't adjust so have to turn it off after a few minutes. Also a warm steering wheel somehow makes me sleepy.

Sound system and road noise:
My favorite part is not being able to identify where the sounds are coming from. I have a near $3k speaker system and a much more expensive headphones set-up at home. Being a basshead I currently have Bass at +4. I enjoy listening to music while charging or while just parked somewhere. Lucid sound system overall sounds clean and detailed, just missing a bit of that bass depth that a bigger subwoofer would provide. The quietness inside the car helps too since road noise can easily drown out the small details from music in poorly insulated cars. The Pure blocks out a lot of outside noise. When driving at high speeds though, I can hear some wind noise on the left side. Seems to be coming from the side mirror area.
 
Exterior:
I opted against professional ceramic coating and PPF since getting the car has already stretched my finances. However, I did my own DIY ceramic spray coating with good results.

1) Color. I have seen all the colors in person including pre-production silver which I really liked. Production silver looks more of a dirty silver than a brilliant glittery silver. I wanted to get white since my only other car is bluish grey already but the Fathom Blue on most days look more grey with a hint of blue than the other way around. It's a different color and I've grown to really like it. I posted pictures in the same Interior pictures thread.

2) Windows and windshield. The window weatherstrip (or whatever it's called that prevents water from going inside the door) gives streaky marks when opening and closing the window. That area seems to stay wet for a while so after my car is already all dried up, the windows would get wet again when I open and close them. Windshield wiper auto mode is inconsistent as there will be times where there's not much water and the wiper would turn on and times where I'd still be waiting for it to start wiping as the water piles up.

Poor visibility under heavy rain. I had not encountered this in any other cars I've driven under heavy rain. I'm not 100% certain if it's bad or lack of water repellant coating and/or aerodynamics causing very tiny fibre/lint-like droplets - - - - throughout the windshield. I had similar issues with the side mirrors and rear windshield too! Not so much the fibre-like droplets but just overall poor visibility. I used ceramic spray coating on both front and rear windshield and that helped tremendously though I still see - - - especially at higher speeds hence my hypothesis that it's caused by the car's aerodynamics.

3) Frunk and trunk. Minus the current issues I'm dealing with, there's plenty of space on both. I purchased the EZspare tire and it fits perfectly in the frunk along with various tools. I like the wide open mouth of the trunk. Automatic soft close on trunk but manual soft close on the frunk. No big deal on the frunk being soft close.

4) Doors. There is no soft close mechanism. I know some people are as upset about it as I am about the LED lighting. I do have to slam the doors quite a bit to properly close them but it's a satisfying slam as it feels and sounds like soft padded rubber rather than a hard slam noise. I've had to reopen and close it often on my first week but I know how much force to use now.
 
Driving and speed:
Coming from a much smaller Mazda3, I was worried going to a full size sedan. "I'm going to be eating the whole road!" It actually hasn't felt that way. It feels as if I'm driving the same size car. Even though I've only owned one other car, I've driven a good number of different cars and trucks. The Pure a true upgrade in all driving aspects from my 2013 Mazda3. Extra responsiveness, smoothness, turns nicely. It's fun!

In terms of power, 480hp is plenty! Even in Smooth mode the car is super responsive when I need to speed up. More than enough when I want a fun 0 to 45+ in roads. I did test drive the GT which I did 0 to 70. The Lucid representative did crazier speeds. Unless you're an absolute adrenaline junkie, Pure's power is enough. I actually feel safer with the Pure. With the quietness and smoothness of the ride, I still find myself easily accidentally overspeeding. Not as much and as often as the GT though!

Dream Drive Pro:
1) Cruise control. I have not yet used cruise control and any sort of self driving. I've never really used it on my previous car since I having my foot on the pedal and frequently checking my speed is part of the driving experience. I will eventually try the adaptive cruise control as that could help with mileage from what I've read. I will post my update eventually.

2) 360 view. I'm suuuuuper glad I went with DDP. The 360 view has been the most helpful feature for me. I struggle with estimating my car's size and distance from objects. I've had to shamely walk in and out of my Mazda 3 frequently just to see if I'm about to hit something when parking. Now I don't have to go out anymore!

3) Lane assistance. I am mixed about this. It's nice that I get notified and the car steering wheel hardens/corrects when I'm starting to slowly eat up the other lanes. On the other hand, if there's slight turn and this happens I kinda have to fight the steering wheel to make the slight turn. I'll play with the settings and have it just notify me instead of the wheels also "hardening"
 
Overall impression:
It's addicting being in the car and driving it. It's almost like a second home. I thought I disliked driving, but now I find myself driving to nowhere on my spare time, 0 to whatever speed limit when the road is clear, and even volunteering to drive my partner where in the past I'd avoid and find excuses to not drive. I've been happy and satisfied with my old car. Wouldn't have minded driving it until either of us broke. Despite the cost and huge financial expense, I'm happy I made the choice. Otherwise I would not known nor experienced this new level of enjoyment.

Pure joy!
 
Interior:
1) Materials, colors, and seats. I posted my thoughts here. TLDR: different textures gives the interior luxury feel despite being all black and grey; the seats are soft and not prone to leather creases; rear cabin somewhat lacks luxury feel. Overall interior build quality is great and much better than my previous tenant's Model Y and loaner Model S (2019?) and original X. Partner also likes it over her fully loaded leather interior BWM X1. Compared to the other GT interiors, I consider the Alcantara PurLuxe to be just a very slight downgrade only because of the rear cabin.

I mentioned this elsewhere that I'm disappointed that the ambient lighting's color can't be changed. Touring and GT have the nice ceiling light strips. I understand that customers should get more for the increased prices, but no need to significantly downgrade and cheap out on inexpensive colored LED lighting. They have to be careful what they downgrade because it becomes questionable if the Pure are missing out on features that are available on much cheaper cars.

2) Buttons and interface. The volume adjuster in the middle is my favorite! Makes volume adjusting very easy especially since different tracks I enjoy more or less at various volume levels. I have not used the manual buttons for temperature and fan speed. Turn signals and drive modes (Park, Reverse, Drive...) and buttons on the steering wheel seem properly placed. The headlight and wiper controls are located on the left side of the dashboard touch screen. I like the push button on the left side for single windshield wipe.

3) Software and navigation. I. Effin. Dislike. Alexa! My old Pioneer headunit with Android Auto works better! Alexa is horrible at finding locations. I'd occasionally get very annoyed and yell at it! Other than that I haven't really had issues with the software. Charging has been fine and any issues on that regard has been on Electrify America's end. For music I use Tidal though searching for music has been a struggle.

AC (not fully tested) and Heating:
1) Heating and fan is not the best. I can confirm the common complaints that it is overall weak. It takes a while to heat the car.
2) Seat heating is fantastic! Level 1 heat (up to 3) provides sufficient heating. I have not really tried level 3 as I'll likely end up with a roast pork butt.
3) Steering wheel heating gets hot! Can't adjust so have to turn it off after a few minutes. Also a warm steering wheel somehow makes me sleepy.

Sound system and road noise:
My favorite part is not being able to identify where the sounds are coming from. I have a near $3k speaker system and a much more expensive headphones set-up at home. Being a basshead I currently have Bass at +4. I enjoy listening to music while charging or while just parked somewhere. Lucid sound system overall sounds clean and detailed, just missing a bit of that bass depth that a bigger subwoofer would provide. The quietness inside the car helps too since road noise can easily drown out the small details from music in poorly insulated cars. The Pure blocks out a lot of outside noise. When driving at high speeds though, I can hear some wind noise on the left side. Seems to be coming from the side mirror area.
Where would that light strip go? Just one down the middle? On the sides? Just curious where you would want it to break up that alcantara headliner?
 
Where would that light strip go? Just one down the middle? On the sides? Just curious where you would want it to break up that alcantara headliner?
Ah I'm not asking for any light strip on the ceiling or anywhere but just that the current LED lights be colored in Pure. I meant that the GT and Touring's light strip is the upgrade already though thats for the glass roof. I suppose thats a legitimate question for Touring metal roof
 
Ah I'm not asking for any light strip on the ceiling or anywhere but just that the current LED lights be colored in Pure. I meant that the GT and Touring's light strip is the upgrade already though thats for the glass roof. I suppose thats a legitimate question for Touring metal roof
Enjoy the car. The colored lights don't really matter.
 
I agree with you on the steering wheel. It’s an amazing feature I’m glad to have, but I wish there were at least two intensities. The current one, and one about half as hot.

In an EV, seat heat (and cooling) are your best friend. The fan AC/Heat will never be as strong as most ICE cars. You get used to relying on the seats.
 
Noob: Great detailed review...you got a precise weight of your car??
 
Now I'll wait and see if someone quotes just the negative stuff from my review and titles their post something like "Issues with Lucid Air Air! Owner dissatisfied!" lol
Thanks for thorough review---and excellent photos. The Blue is my favorite color and I tried to switch from Touring to Pure (dual motor) in order to get it, but Lucid wouldn't give me original pricing on a Pure even though I'm grandfathered on Touring
 
Thanks for thorough review---and excellent photos. The Blue is my favorite color and I tried to switch from Touring to Pure (dual motor) in order to get it, but Lucid wouldn't give me original pricing on a Pure even though I'm grandfathered on Touring

You were only ever guaranteed grandfathered pricing on the exact model you originally chose...was that a surprise for you?
 
Great review. Thank you for it. I know folks considering Pure and am glad to see what a great car it is for the price. Don’t worry about the miles per kWH. You have plenty of battery. Glad the Pure retains so much of the GT based upon your impressions.
 
Its on a sticker I think.
20230113_072759.jpg
 
You were only ever guaranteed grandfathered pricing on the exact model you originally chose...was that a surprise for you?
You were only ever guaranteed grandfathered pricing on the exact model you originally chose...was that a surprise for you?
Not particularly, but I thought there was a decent chance they'd accommodate. And I saw no downside in asking.
 
Not particularly, but I thought there was a decent chance they'd accommodate. And I saw no downside in asking.
I do not want to recommend this but it's a possibility. In my case I reserved both Pure and Touring so I just canceled the finalized Touring. But I wonder if facing a canceled Touring, would Lucid choose no sale or honoring old price for a Pure?
 
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