Lucid Air as a car to teach my teenage daughter driving?

[EVEnthusiast]

Hi Lucid owners
I am looking to buy an used Touring and Grand Touring. Everything I have read here, online reviews and post test driving, I am smitten. I am now very clear that the car will come close to satisfying unfilled desires from my youth of a fast, track worthy car in my late 40's . That said, I am also in need of a car that will serve dual purpose of teaching my 16 year old how to drive. My current cars are Tesla Model Y and Volvo XC90. Ideally, I would like to replace Model Y with Lucid. Hence the question -
Has anyone used their Lucid to teach their teens driving?
(eventually I will of course end up buying her a car of her own in couple of years).

 

[OCDC]

The instructor we used to teach my son explicitly asked we NOT use an EV for him to practice. The reasons were that a) ICE cars are still far more common, so it's best to start with the base-line behaviors, and b) even the most pedestrian of EVs can get moving really quickly, i.e. it's easier to find a slow accelerating ICE.

Which begs the question, has anyone seen a learners/teenager mode in an EV? Dials everything down, could go as far as picking a model car to emulate that's MUCH slower. Kinda like a reverse Gran Turismo...

 

[elin]

I personally do not think the lucid air is a great car for beginners. It has some blind spot issues with the A pillars and rides lower to the ground so can bump the road if you're not careful with the angle going up/down the incline.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

I love my Dream Performance Lucid and I especially appreciate my ability to pass quickly and safely when I need to do so. However, would I want an inexperienced driver having my 800+ horsepower (in Smooth Mode) available for that person to utilize? NO!!!

 

[geosynch]

I personally do not think the lucid air is a great car for beginners. It has some blind spot issues with the A pillars and rides lower to the ground so can bump the road if you're not careful with the angle going up/down the incline.

I don't even like my wife to drive my car due to the A-pillar blind spot.

A new driver? Nope.

 

[translux]

VW Golf. Perfect car for teaching my 3 kids to drive. Safe, great visibility, nimble, easy to place easy to know where the car begins and ends with enough performance to get out of its own way. Only trouble is no longer available in base trim, only GTI and R. Any EV seems like a bad idea for a new driver. Instant acceleration has to be a problem. As mentioned terrible visibility due to massive A pillar is a deal breaker for me.

 

[Tym]

I have kids too and I understand the reasons to consider, wanting to teach her in the Lucid; don't do it.

teach her in the car she will be driving in. either a manual mazada miata or a used model 3 if she must have a cool car.

 

[translux]

I have kids too and I understand the reasons to consider, wanting to teach her in the Lucid; don't do it.

teach her in the car she will be driving in. either a manual mazada miata or a used model 3 if she must have a cool car.

A manual! My kids would rather walk than learn to drive any of my manual cars and I think I have some cool manual cars.

 

[McGriddle]

I love my Air Touring, but I would agree with others that it is a terribly unsound choice for new drivers. Even basic damage can be quite expensive, but more importantly, high power with instant (and high) torque can be deadly.

 

[EVEnthusiast]

Thanks. Hadn't thought about the A pillar visibility angle at all. Will end up getting a gas car sooner I guess.

 

[Amster]

I love my Air Touring, but I would agree with others that it is a terribly unsound choice for new drivers. Even basic damage can be quite expensive, but more importantly, high power with instant (and high) torque can be deadly.

I couldn't imagine giving a teenager something with the power of the Air. There's just too much trouble they could get into without even meaning to. When my son learned to drive I gave him my Elantra. and got something new for myself. It's reasonably safe and if you try to go over 75 on the freeway, it lets you know it's not happy. I still get complaints from him about the noise level and lack of power in it. The funny thing is that I'd have to say he's probably now the safest driver in the house., way more likely to follow safe driving rules than me or my husband. But the only time I've let him behind the wheel of the Lucid is in a parking lot at night.

 

[Tym]

i've driven a lot of cars. the lucid air is by far the easiest to unintentionally speed and have no idea how fast you are actually going. going 70 feels like 30.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

The 'A' pillar blind spot? Gee, I get the 'C' pillar blind spot, but not the 'A'. I'll have to check that out.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

The thick A pillar is an issue that you need to take into account. As you move forward to a "T" intersection with free flowing traffic (no stop signs) it can block cars coming from either the left or the right. So my solution is to move more slowly in those situations until I can clearly make sure there isn't any cross traffic approaching. Especially since many drivers can be approaching faster than posted speeds.

 

[MGRMLN]

Aside from the blind spot issues, the biggest reason I think the Air is a terrible vehicle to learn on are the performance parameters.
Most cars simply do not react to the accelerator as quickly nor have regen braking. These are EV only traits that the rest of the mostly ICE world do not possess.
I would hate for a beginning driver to rear end someone because they were anticipating the regen braking that never happens.

 

[Ughwhy]

Hi Lucid owners
I am looking to buy an used Touring and Grand Touring. Everything I have read here, online reviews and post test driving, I am smitten. I am now very clear that the car will come close to satisfying unfilled desires from my youth of a fast, track worthy car in my late 40's . That said, I am also in need of a car that will serve dual purpose of teaching my 16 year old how to drive. My current cars are Tesla Model Y and Volvo XC90. Ideally, I would like to replace Model Y with Lucid. Hence the question -
Has anyone used their Lucid to teach their teens driving?
(eventually I will of course end up buying her a car of her own in couple of years).

The XC90 would probably be my choice for teaching a new driver out of those.

 

[joec]

A manual! My kids would rather walk than learn to drive any of my manual cars and I think I have some cool manual cars.

Disown your kids immediately.

 

[TGO]

IMO, teach them on the most basic vehicle that doesn’t have all the technology and nannie’s that the Lucids have. I would be especially worried about the regenerative braking that ICE vehicles don’t have.

The concern I have is learning to rely on all the technology and nannie’s isn’t really teaching them to drive and what to do when that stuff isn’t working or it’s not there.

There are many places that teach early drivers car control and what to do in emergency situations that would be very beneficial.

Hell, once they are comfortable with the basics a couple of AutoX runs would show them they have a lot more to learn about how a vehicle handles.

And please teach them how to change a tire on their own.

More importantly stay calm and go slow, start with the basics and move up from there and eventually get them in an EV when they can recognize how it’s drives differently from an ICE vehicle.

 

[pjdcorp]

Hi Lucid owners
I am looking to buy an used Touring and Grand Touring. Everything I have read here, online reviews and post test driving, I am smitten. I am now very clear that the car will come close to satisfying unfilled desires from my youth of a fast, track worthy car in my late 40's . That said, I am also in need of a car that will serve dual purpose of teaching my 16 year old how to drive. My current cars are Tesla Model Y and Volvo XC90. Ideally, I would like to replace Model Y with Lucid. Hence the question -
Has anyone used their Lucid to teach their teens driving?
(eventually I will of course end up buying her a car of her own in couple of years).

Using a Lucid to teach a kid how to drive could result in some very expensive lessons. Even a minor fender bender is a $10k repair.

 

[illopp00]

How about no car and somebody elses car like a driving school or defensive driving school?