Lucid Air's Number One Software Issue?

[Birdman]

Leaving aside the phone issues, if you have the key fob in your pocket, will the doors reliably unlock automatically as you approach the car and then lock automatically as you walk away from the car without having to press the buttons on the key fob? Or are there also issues with unlock and walk away lock with the key fob in your pocket?

 

[joec]

I always feel bad for people who seem to have constant issues. I have none at this point, which is why I’m not convinced all of these annoyances are strictly the fault of software on its own. Rather, it’s the combination of software and perhaps intermittently malfunctioning hardware.

Also, the physical design of how all the hardware in this car talks to all the other parts. Which is a nightmare, if some folks on the inside who have spoken to me in the past are to be believed.

Reminds me of that scene in Empire Strikes Back: “Sir, I don’t know where your ship learned to communicate, it it seems to have the most peculiar dialect.”

 

[Birdman]

Not that it is a direct comparison but I have a 2018 Model 3 LR AWD that I bought new in October of 2018. Definitely an early build. (I have been spending a lot of time on these forums trying to convince myself to jump in and lease a lucid. Going for my 3rd test drive shortly!)
In the 7 years I have had my model 3 I have come across probably hundreds of posts of people who have had problems getting their cars to unlock with their phone. I am not suggesting that they do not have legitimate concerns but in the thousands of times I have walked up to my car with my iPhone in my pocket it has maybe failed to unlock the car less than a handful of times. And it always locks when walking away. For whatever reason that is just not an issue I personally have had but many many other have wrestled with it endlessly.

One of the great joys of my model 3 is walking up to the car, getting in driving away and then getting out and walking away. I often forgot to lock the door of our other car because I am so used to just strolling off and only listening for the “short horn beep” confirming it locked with half an ear.

 

[DennisIS]

Leaving aside the phone issues, if you have the key fob in your pocket, will the doors reliably unlock automatically as you approach the car and then lock automatically as you walk away from the car without having to press the buttons on the key fob? Or are there also issues with unlock and walk away lock with the key fob in your pocket?

The fob works more reliably. Still is variable in terms of activation range.

 

[Leftlane]

Thread #659 about door opening issues…..

 

[tarator]

Overall, there should be a way to ignore "safety" issues and drive the car. It is ridiculous when the car thinks that the frunk is open (when it is not) or the driver's door is open (when it is not), and I can't drive with more than 15 mph or can't drive at all!

 

[borski]

Not that it is a direct comparison but I have a 2018 Model 3 LR AWD that I bought new in October of 2018. Definitely an early build. (I have been spending a lot of time on these forums trying to convince myself to jump in and lease a lucid. Going for my 3rd test drive shortly!)
In the 7 years I have had my model 3 I have come across probably hundreds of posts of people who have had problems getting their cars to unlock with their phone. I am not suggesting that they do not have legitimate concerns but in the thousands of times I have walked up to my car with my iPhone in my pocket it has maybe failed to unlock the car less than a handful of times. And it always locks when walking away. For whatever reason that is just not an issue I personally have had but many many other have wrestled with it endlessly.

One of the great joys of my model 3 is walking up to the car, getting in driving away and then getting out and walking away. I often forgot to lock the door of our other car because I am so used to just strolling off and only listening for the “short horn beep” confirming it locked with half an ear.

This is my experience with the Air. It has failed to unlock over the past few years maybe… twice? 3 times? Anyway, a handful.

It locks every time I walk away. I haven’t even looked in over a year.

Other people apparently do not have that same experience. Sounds a lot like the Tesla experience you’re describing.

 

[DeaneG]

For me, it's the navigation. It'll generally get me close to my intended destination, but not often enough that I can trust it. I spend a lot of time checking that the car's destination is the same as the one I planned using Google maps, and correcting it as needed. One big failure and one small one today out of three nav destinations.

 

[Batteryman]

Its kind of embarrassing having friends or even clients accompanying me in the car and waiting few seconds waiting for door handle to pop out after multiple presses.

Ditch the phone key and just use key fob, but phone key needs to be more robust, Lucid embarrassingly dropped the ball on this big time! Hope someone got fired for messing up the phone key and app responsiveness…..

 

[kae02]

For me, it's the navigation. It'll generally get me close to my intended destination, but not often enough that I can trust it. I spend a lot of time checking that the car's destination is the same as the one I planned using Google maps, and correcting it as needed. One big failure and one small one today out of three nav destinations.

Yeah its an issue as well which is why being on android, its crucial to get android auto. In Lucid's defense, they simply use HERE maps based on what I learnt in this forum and are limited to HERE maps capabilities, nothing much they can do software wise except to get AA approved somehow

 

[kae02]

Ditch the phone key and just use key fob, but phone key needs to be more robust, Lucid embarrassingly dropped the ball on this big time! Hope someone got fired for messing up the phone key and app responsiveness…..

Key fob has battery drain issue of its own but yes I agree, apart from that one problem it is surely more reliable. Apart from once in a month kind of scenario where I drive my co workers or friends around, I am mostly driving alone or with family, so phone key definitely adds a convenience of not have to worry about key fob wherever I go. Like you said, phone key is a good feature, implementation could have been better.

 

[Birdman]

This is my experience with the Air. It has failed to unlock over the past few years maybe… twice? 3 times? Anyway, a handful.

It locks every time I walk away. I haven’t even looked in over a year.

Other people apparently do not have that same experience. Sounds a lot like the Tesla experience you’re describing.

Thx. With the phone or with the fob?

 

[Lucken]

Leaving aside the phone issues, if you have the key fob in your pocket, will the doors reliably unlock automatically as you approach the car and then lock automatically as you walk away from the car without having to press the buttons on the key fob? Or are there also issues with unlock and walk away lock with the key fob in your pocket?

At least in my case I’d estimate that 95-98% of the time the doors open reliably as you approach the car with the fob in your pocket, no button pressing necessary. The remaining 2-5% of the time the opening occurs either just as you arrive at the car or within 1-2 seconds after. Locking is 100% of the time as you leave the car.

It’s just so much easier than putting up with the dicier phone as a key.

 

[WP1101]

I’ve only had my AT for about 2 weeks. My hope is for the cameras to be activated for dash cam and “sentry” mode in the near future.

My only major issue thus far is the way Lucid is using a cell signal for SiriusXM and not a satellite antenna. I constantly lose signal and can only get it to work again with a system reboot.

 

[DeaneG]

Yeah its an issue as well which is why being on android, its crucial to get android auto. In Lucid's defense, they simply use HERE maps based on what I learnt in this forum and are limited to HERE maps capabilities, nothing much they can do software wise except to get AA approved somehow

They could've chosen to use Google's map data instead.

 

[GratefulMed]

I agree with the phone delayed unlocking up the door says the most frequent and annoying problem for me. I often sit for five seconds or so waiting for the door handles to open after getting groceries or coming back from a restaurant. What so odd, though, is how reliably and annoyingly quickly it works whenever I pass within 25 feet of my car in the garage! Why so reliable there and unreliable most everywhere else?

 

[LuvLucy]

I’d agree that Mobile Key reliability is the #1 software issue … and cause of embarrassment in buying a $100K+ car that doesn’t unlock.

 

[californiaboy935]

Never had any mobile key problems. My main gripe was the load time, and that’s been pretty much eliminated. Lucid software is great and being iterated upon a lot.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

... if you have the key fob in your pocket, will the doors reliably unlock automatically as you approach the car and then lock automatically as you walk away from the car ... ?

Yes.

....unless you are wearing a metal mesh suit,

or your pocket has a conduction mesh, a metal foil gum wrapper, or bit of aluminum foil, or the fob is behind your phone (blocking the radio signal). In which case the radio signal won't wake the car, and your battery will last years and years.

... press the buttons on the key fob?

what buttons ?

Slip the fob into the watch pocket and forget about it. Almost as if Lucid designed the fob for that pocket.

and if your car is parked in range, keep the fob in a Faraday cage, ( a tea can, a metal box, a piece of aluminum foil, a metal window screen..)

Michael Faraday is pissed you aren't using his invention.

Battery is not discharged, car won't "wake up" when shielded by any conducting screen, foil, metal.

or a $2 Faraday key fob pouch. >

 

[borski]

Thx. With the phone or with the fob?

Phone, although the fob hasn’t failed me in ages either. But the only time I ever carry it is when it’s going to service.

But with the caveat with the phone that, for me, tapping my phone to wake it up is *no big deal* and that constitutes “working” in my book. I tap it in my pocket or jostle it a bit, and car opens right up.