- Joined
- Apr 9, 2024
- Messages
- 15
- Location
- San Diego, CA
- Cars
- Pure AWD, Model Y AWD
- Referral Code
- Z6C15AB2
I'm finally a Lucid owner! 
Actually I've been an owner for the past month or so, but better introducing myself late than never. I've been lurking around and heavily using the search feature in the forum to answer many of my noob questions, thanks to all of y'all who continuously contribute to help others and keep this forum active.
I've been a long time investor in Lucid, since $CCIV and the rollercoaster it went through
, but as a car enthusiast since my childhood, and an engineer knowing a thing or two about energy efficiency and batteries, I believe in the long term success of Lucid, and I'm hodling for the long term growth and success of the company, which is inevitable in my humble opinion.
I've never imagined owning and driving a Lucid Air as my daily driver any time soon, given my current financial situation, thanks to the crazy cost of living in San Diego, CA
, but I got very lucky and jumped on one of those April 2024 unicorn lease deals on 2023 vehicles, without being in one or test driving one, my vehicle was the very first Lucid I ever sat in or drove on my delivery day , but I knew enough about the company and their vehicles to blindly jump on it
I got a 2023 Pure AWD, black exterior with Mojave interior, 19" wheels and SSP. It wasn't necessarily the specs I wanted, but since I was shopping the deal not the car, I didn't have many options available. I originally ordered a white one with 20" wheels, but my SA informed me that it had a major mechanical issue that needed it to go back to the factory to be fixed with an unknown completion timeline, and they managed to find another vehicle for me. The Sales team at San Diego's UTC Studio went above and beyond and did a great job with helping make this happen, kudos to them.
Right after my delivery, I noticed very abnormal noises coming from my steering assembly, and it was towed to the Costa Mesa service center 3 days after delivery. However, the service center team was able to find me a loaner to use until my vehicle is serviced, since it needed a new steering column. The loaner I got was a gorgeous zenith red GT with 21" aero blade wheels and Santa Cruz interior, which is probably the specs I would've went for if I had the freedom to choose. I drove it for about a week or so until my vehicle came back, and it was a lovely machine. Thanks to the Costa Mesa team for their professionalism and quick actions to fix my vehicle and cover my driving needs with a loaner while my vehicle is being services
After using my Pure for about a month now, I'm absolutely in love with it, and considering keeping it after my lease is over (if I didn't get a Gravity instead lol). The NVH is on another level, truly a luxury vehicle experience. I was describing how smooth it is to a friend of mine, and I told them that it feels like driving on clouds, afterwards I realized that the smooth mode actually shows an icon of clouds
Also given how rare Lucid's still are, the looks and comments I randomly get from strangers is wild, I think this is one of the reasons why Lucid pushed for the 2023 vehicles to be driven on the streets for a very good deal like the one I got, part of the cost they're eating is an advertising cost that we're paying back to them by driving the car around and telling people about it. It looks much fancier and more expensive that it really is, people driving much more expensive vehicles are staring at mine like I won the lottery lol, I'm sure my neighbors and coworkers are thinking the same
I used to drive a Tesla for a while, and I'm used to regenerative braking and one-pedal driving, but the strength of regenerative braking in the Lucid is more powerful, and makes the controlling the vehicle easier and better, it just takes some getting used to until your driving dynamics are adapted to it and you know the sweet spot of when to start slowing down at stop signs/traffic lights etc. After that learning curve, it's a very well tuned machine from a driving dynamics point of view.
Understandably, the software in general still needs some time until it matures, and minor things like the delay of volume controls from the steering wheel and the vehicle not sleeping/turning off after leaving it are things that I hope can be addressed in future updates. It is understandable given how new the company is, and I think it's a matter of time until it improves to compete properly with competitors.
The thing that I find it hard to overcome or ignore is the lack of driving assistance features. I understand that the company is trying to cut costs when introducing entry-level trims like the Pure I'm driving, but the lack of a feature like lane-keep assist (not lane departure protection) is disappointing for a vehicle at this price point. There are currently vehicles in the market for less than $30k that offer lane-keep assist. I'm not trying to start an argument here by not comparing apples to apples, but for someone getting a vehicle at this price point, such features are taken for granted. At the very least, they should've kept the front cameras and enabled Highway-Assist in the Pure trim, the other features like 360 view is a nice to have and can be eliminated from the cheapest Pure trim. Even when I drove the loaner GT which includes Highway Assist, the performance of the feature is below average and comparable to the sub-$30k vehicles I was referring to. I'm not comparing it to Tesla's driving assistance features because they're on a completely different level, and in my opinion it would make more sense for companies to simply license Tesla's AP & FSD software instead of trying to reinventing the wheel.
I saw the Gravity yesterday at the UTC studio during the VIP private event, and it's interesting, I don't mind the way it looks, it looks more sporty to me than a minivan like many people think. I'm shocked however that the charging port is still in the same location, given that they're adopting NACS, and it would've made more sense to move it to the back to make it less awkward when using Tesla's superchargers. Everything around the Gravity will depend on the price, so not much can be said until the prices are confirmed.
Finally, I need to reiterate how beautiful and well-tuned the Lucid Air is, it's a best-in-class by every mean, and my criticism is from a constructive point of view to keep up with the competition and from my personal experience with EVs.
I'm happy to answer any questions (it's probably already answered here in the forum) about the vehicle, lease process and help with what I can.
Thanks again to the owners and moderators of this forum.
Actually I've been an owner for the past month or so, but better introducing myself late than never. I've been lurking around and heavily using the search feature in the forum to answer many of my noob questions, thanks to all of y'all who continuously contribute to help others and keep this forum active.
I've been a long time investor in Lucid, since $CCIV and the rollercoaster it went through
, but as a car enthusiast since my childhood, and an engineer knowing a thing or two about energy efficiency and batteries, I believe in the long term success of Lucid, and I'm hodling for the long term growth and success of the company, which is inevitable in my humble opinion.I've never imagined owning and driving a Lucid Air as my daily driver any time soon, given my current financial situation, thanks to the crazy cost of living in San Diego, CA
, but I got very lucky and jumped on one of those April 2024 unicorn lease deals on 2023 vehicles, without being in one or test driving one, my vehicle was the very first Lucid I ever sat in or drove on my delivery day , but I knew enough about the company and their vehicles to blindly jump on it I got a 2023 Pure AWD, black exterior with Mojave interior, 19" wheels and SSP. It wasn't necessarily the specs I wanted, but since I was shopping the deal not the car, I didn't have many options available. I originally ordered a white one with 20" wheels, but my SA informed me that it had a major mechanical issue that needed it to go back to the factory to be fixed with an unknown completion timeline, and they managed to find another vehicle for me. The Sales team at San Diego's UTC Studio went above and beyond and did a great job with helping make this happen, kudos to them.
Right after my delivery, I noticed very abnormal noises coming from my steering assembly, and it was towed to the Costa Mesa service center 3 days after delivery. However, the service center team was able to find me a loaner to use until my vehicle is serviced, since it needed a new steering column. The loaner I got was a gorgeous zenith red GT with 21" aero blade wheels and Santa Cruz interior, which is probably the specs I would've went for if I had the freedom to choose. I drove it for about a week or so until my vehicle came back, and it was a lovely machine. Thanks to the Costa Mesa team for their professionalism and quick actions to fix my vehicle and cover my driving needs with a loaner while my vehicle is being services
After using my Pure for about a month now, I'm absolutely in love with it, and considering keeping it after my lease is over (if I didn't get a Gravity instead lol). The NVH is on another level, truly a luxury vehicle experience. I was describing how smooth it is to a friend of mine, and I told them that it feels like driving on clouds, afterwards I realized that the smooth mode actually shows an icon of clouds
Also given how rare Lucid's still are, the looks and comments I randomly get from strangers is wild, I think this is one of the reasons why Lucid pushed for the 2023 vehicles to be driven on the streets for a very good deal like the one I got, part of the cost they're eating is an advertising cost that we're paying back to them by driving the car around and telling people about it. It looks much fancier and more expensive that it really is, people driving much more expensive vehicles are staring at mine like I won the lottery lol, I'm sure my neighbors and coworkers are thinking the same
I used to drive a Tesla for a while, and I'm used to regenerative braking and one-pedal driving, but the strength of regenerative braking in the Lucid is more powerful, and makes the controlling the vehicle easier and better, it just takes some getting used to until your driving dynamics are adapted to it and you know the sweet spot of when to start slowing down at stop signs/traffic lights etc. After that learning curve, it's a very well tuned machine from a driving dynamics point of view.
Understandably, the software in general still needs some time until it matures, and minor things like the delay of volume controls from the steering wheel and the vehicle not sleeping/turning off after leaving it are things that I hope can be addressed in future updates. It is understandable given how new the company is, and I think it's a matter of time until it improves to compete properly with competitors.
The thing that I find it hard to overcome or ignore is the lack of driving assistance features. I understand that the company is trying to cut costs when introducing entry-level trims like the Pure I'm driving, but the lack of a feature like lane-keep assist (not lane departure protection) is disappointing for a vehicle at this price point. There are currently vehicles in the market for less than $30k that offer lane-keep assist. I'm not trying to start an argument here by not comparing apples to apples, but for someone getting a vehicle at this price point, such features are taken for granted. At the very least, they should've kept the front cameras and enabled Highway-Assist in the Pure trim, the other features like 360 view is a nice to have and can be eliminated from the cheapest Pure trim. Even when I drove the loaner GT which includes Highway Assist, the performance of the feature is below average and comparable to the sub-$30k vehicles I was referring to. I'm not comparing it to Tesla's driving assistance features because they're on a completely different level, and in my opinion it would make more sense for companies to simply license Tesla's AP & FSD software instead of trying to reinventing the wheel.
I saw the Gravity yesterday at the UTC studio during the VIP private event, and it's interesting, I don't mind the way it looks, it looks more sporty to me than a minivan like many people think. I'm shocked however that the charging port is still in the same location, given that they're adopting NACS, and it would've made more sense to move it to the back to make it less awkward when using Tesla's superchargers. Everything around the Gravity will depend on the price, so not much can be said until the prices are confirmed.
Finally, I need to reiterate how beautiful and well-tuned the Lucid Air is, it's a best-in-class by every mean, and my criticism is from a constructive point of view to keep up with the competition and from my personal experience with EVs.
I'm happy to answer any questions (it's probably already answered here in the forum) about the vehicle, lease process and help with what I can.
Thanks again to the owners and moderators of this forum.
, it was very nice meeting you in person
