12V failure and what to do.

[Bunnylebowski]

This post is not about my car, which was charging just fine at my local EA at 4pm today in 20 degree temps, but the Lucid that was next to me. I thought everything was fine until I saw a tow truck pull up! View attachment IMG_2589.jpeg
The owner was not there, I looked at the charger and it had been there 298 minutes and incurred $118 in idle fees! The car was dead, locked, and the charging cable was stuck, with a line of irritated EV owners waiting for the spot. The poor tow truck driver had never seen a Lucid before, and there was a bit of a language barrier. I called Lucid service to help him out and they answered instantly, pretty impressive for 4pm on a Sunday. He didn’t understand there was an emergency release for the cable, which you can’t access in the frunk if the car is completely dead, but then Lucid told me the 12V battery on this car had died so it just needed a jump and should release the cable. I showed the tow driver the section of the manual showing how to jump the car and he thought I was crazy when I said the 12V cables are behind the back right wheel well. It’s not easy so I don’t blame the guy for initially not wanting to let me help him out because this car is Area 51 level engineering. I moved my car so others could charge, and a line of EVs backed up. He initially wanted to leave and say he couldn’t figure it out and he had two other jobs, but the Lucid employees were persistent and kept him on the line, and finally he agreed to let me show him how to jump the car. You have to pry out with a flathead screwdriver the bottom 3 plastic wheel well clips behind the right rear wheel, it’s a very tight spot, then you have to pry out both plastic buttons that secure the red and black 12v cables, then connect red then black (no ground!) and use a booster box to jump it. Finally that booted up the car and released the charging cable and Lucid service was then able to remotely unlock the car so he could tow it. While all this was happening the car got quite a lot of attention (luckily my fully functional GT was there so it didn’t look as bad), and this WalMart EA stayed on script and sure enough a crackhead on a bike came by asking everyone for $. An Ioniq 6 owner made her day and gave her some cash. I hope whoever this Lucid owner is that their car gets to Natick OK and it’s just a silly 12V issue!

Also, before anybody levels any criticism, 12V batteries die on ALL cars ICE or EV, especially when it’s been 13F out for days. There’s already been reports of KIA EV9 owners having 12V die 2 weeks after delivery, so this is not a Lucid problem. If yours dies and you ever need a jump, the instructions are in the manual under “Roadside Assistance>Instructions for Transporters>12V battery” and there are illustrations. You’d probably do best to try and be with the car as I wouldn’t expect any tow driver is going to be able to figure out how to jump it without guidance!

 

[Amster]

That's a lot more complicated than what most tow truck drivers are used to doing! And having been in an accident when the whole car went offline, I'm not a fan of everything in the car being electronically controlled. If the car is dead, you can't open the doors, frunk, trunk or glovebox. We managed to pry a door open and got what we could out of the cabin, but even then, there's no way to open the other storage spots. I called Lucid service at the time, but it took them half an hour to answer and they had no suggestions.

 

[Ampere]

This really is more complicated than desirable. How many Lucid owners carry around hard copy of the manual? I keep an Android tablet in the glovebox with the latest manual in its memory. but if the car is dead, I can't access the glovebox. With nearly every ICE car when the 12v battery dies you can mechanically unlock a door (most police and tow struck drivers can jimmy a door open if there's no user mechanical release) and release the hood, or access the trunk if the battery is hidden there. As a Lucid owner, what this anonymous driver endured gives me the chills.

My car went totally dead at an EA station, but at least the Lucid tech in California was able to revive it remotely.

 

[xponents]

This post is not about my car, which was charging just fine at my local EA at 4pm today in 20 degree temps, but the Lucid that was next to me. I thought everything was fine until I saw a tow truck pull up! View attachment 17793
The owner was not there, I looked at the charger and it had been there 298 minutes and incurred $118 in idle fees! The car was dead, locked, and the charging cable was stuck, with a line of irritated EV owners waiting for the spot. The poor tow truck driver had never seen a Lucid before, and there was a bit of a language barrier. I called Lucid service to help him out and they answered instantly, pretty impressive for 4pm on a Sunday. He didn’t understand there was an emergency release for the cable, which you can’t access in the frunk if the car is completely dead, but then Lucid told me the 12V battery on this car had died so it just needed a jump and should release the cable. I showed the tow driver the section of the manual showing how to jump the car and he thought I was crazy when I said the 12V cables are behind the back right wheel well. It’s not easy so I don’t blame the guy for initially not wanting to let me help him out because this car is Area 51 level engineering. I moved my car so others could charge, and a line of EVs backed up. He initially wanted to leave and say he couldn’t figure it out and he had two other jobs, but the Lucid employees were persistent and kept him on the line, and finally he agreed to let me show him how to jump the car. You have to pry out with a flathead screwdriver the bottom 3 plastic wheel well clips behind the right rear wheel, it’s a very tight spot, then you have to pry out both plastic buttons that secure the red and black 12v cables, then connect red then black (no ground!) and use a booster box to jump it. Finally that booted up the car and released the charging cable and Lucid service was then able to remotely unlock the car so he could tow it. While all this was happening the car got quite a lot of attention (luckily my fully functional GT was there so it didn’t look as bad), and this WalMart EA stayed on script and sure enough a crackhead on a bike came by asking everyone for $. An Ioniq 6 owner made her day and gave her some cash. I hope whoever this Lucid owner is that their car gets to Natick OK and it’s just a silly 12V issue!

Also, before anybody levels any criticism, 12V batteries die on ALL cars ICE or EV, especially when it’s been 13F out for days. There’s already been reports of KIA EV9 owners having 12V die 2 weeks after delivery, so this is not a Lucid problem. If yours dies and you ever need a jump, the instructions are in the manual under “Roadside Assistance>Instructions for Transporters>12V battery” and there are illustrations. You’d probably do best to try and be with the car as I wouldn’t expect any tow driver is going to be able to figure out how to jump it without guidance!

Did the Lucid owner eventually show up? Weird that he just left the car there leaving your kind actions to do all the work...

 

[Shane_SLC]

Kudos to you for sticking around to help out, and for the good summary of how to get access to the 12V, which we should all know how to do just in case. As EV drivers we all need to look out for each other. Hopefully with Gravity and beyond the procedure for jumping the 12V will be a little easier / simpler.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

I think I mentioned this before but that’s also not unique to Lucid. My wife accidentally locked her key and phone in our Subaru with my toddler in the back seat with the car running. No door or trunk would open. The fire department had to jimmy the door open. At least Lucid has remote diagnostics and if the car isn’t completely bricked (although it was in your case!) they can remotely unlock it, and if not then at least the description in the manual is how you jump the 12V.

This really is more complicated than desirable. How many Lucid owners carry around hard copy of the manual? I keep an Android tablet in the glovebox with the latest manual in its memory. but if the car is dead, I can't access the glovebox. With nearly every ICE car when the 12v battery dies you can mechanically unlock a door (most police and tow struck drivers can jimmy a door open if there's no user mechanical release) and release the hood, or access the trunk if the battery is hidden there. As a Lucid owner, what this anonymous driver endured gives me the chills.

My car went totally dead at an EA station, but at least the Lucid tech in California was able to revive it remotely.

It’s in the app. So don’t lock your phone in the car!

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Did the Lucid owner eventually show up? Weird that he just left the car there leaving your kind actions to do all the work...

The car was from NJ, it’s not uncommon for any stuck car to be left for many hours until a tow can actually get there. Tow companies are always backed up, especially on the weekend, and I don’t fault this owner one bit for not being able to be there. It was random coincidence the tow truck showed up 10 minutes after I plugged in next to them. Up until that point I was just gazing at how awesome the car looked with the black wrapped roof on QG paint and 20 inch wheels with the aero covers off, not realizing the car was dead!

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Kudos to you for sticking around to help out, and for the good summary of how to get access to the 12V, which we should all know how to do just in case. As EV drivers we all need to look out for each other. Hopefully with Gravity and beyond the procedure for jumping the 12V will be a little easier / simpler.

Also, while I know this might be sounding like I’m spinning what some might perceive as a flaw into a “feature”, I think it was actually clever of Lucid to design this way of doing it so you can literally jump start the 12V with no access to the vehicle at all. These days many cars don’t have physical analog keys, so this is a smart solution to providing battery access when you can’t get into the vehicle otherwise. It’s not an easy solution but it totally works.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

The Lucid app is your friend people!

 

[efesese]

Maybe someone else called to get it removed/impounded because if not, shouldn't the owner be there or at least the tow driver should be able to contact them since the owner supposedly called them to request the service?

 

[efesese]

Also quick question, does regen charge the 12v battery too?

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Maybe someone else called to get it removed/impounded because if not, shouldn't the owner be there or at least the tow driver should be able to contact them since the owner supposedly called them to request the service?

My car was towed a full day after I left it at a hotel, Lucid got me an Uber home but couldn’t arrange a tow until the next day because it was 8pm on a Sunday. Priority was to get home with my wife and kid. The tow driver called me the next day and I remote unlocked the car for him (my car wasn’t bricked, it had a LIN bus failure limiting power to 50mph). I was relieved I didn’t have to stay at a hotel far from home and miss work the next day! I wouldn’t fault the owner here one bit given how long it took the tow to arrive, and Lucid service was on the case, the tow driver just wasn’t confident with the instructions they were giving him, which I wouldn’t expect most owners to be of much help with either…..unless you read this thread!

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Also quick question, does regen charge the 12v battery too?

I think the HV battery trickle charges the 12v. However if the 12V is dead, not much good that will do. I’m sure there’s several in here who are savvier on this topic than me who could weigh in.

 

[efesese]

Maybe someone (Bobby ;-) can make a video on how to jump start the Air. Then we don't need to read the manual just show the video.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Maybe someone (Bobby ;-) can make a video on how to jump start the Air.

I would recommend caution as those plastic button clips holding in the wheel well cover do not come out easily, for good reason as it seals that location quite well, and the wheel well cover is rigid and hard to retract, and there’s an ADAS sensor close to all of this on the rear right bumper as well. The illustration in the manual gives you enough of an idea of what to do but I wouldn’t touch it unless you really need to.

 

[no gas]

This post is not about my car, which was charging just fine at my local EA at 4pm today in 20 degree temps, but the Lucid that was next to me. I thought everything was fine until I saw a tow truck pull up! View attachment 17793
The owner was not there, I looked at the charger and it had been there 298 minutes and incurred $118 in idle fees! The car was dead, locked, and the charging cable was stuck, with a line of irritated EV owners waiting for the spot. The poor tow truck driver had never seen a Lucid before, and there was a bit of a language barrier. I called Lucid service to help him out and they answered instantly, pretty impressive for 4pm on a Sunday. He didn’t understand there was an emergency release for the cable, which you can’t access in the frunk if the car is completely dead, but then Lucid told me the 12V battery on this car had died so it just needed a jump and should release the cable. I showed the tow driver the section of the manual showing how to jump the car and he thought I was crazy when I said the 12V cables are behind the back right wheel well. It’s not easy so I don’t blame the guy for initially not wanting to let me help him out because this car is Area 51 level engineering. I moved my car so others could charge, and a line of EVs backed up. He initially wanted to leave and say he couldn’t figure it out and he had two other jobs, but the Lucid employees were persistent and kept him on the line, and finally he agreed to let me show him how to jump the car. You have to pry out with a flathead screwdriver the bottom 3 plastic wheel well clips behind the right rear wheel, it’s a very tight spot, then you have to pry out both plastic buttons that secure the red and black 12v cables, then connect red then black (no ground!) and use a booster box to jump it. Finally that booted up the car and released the charging cable and Lucid service was then able to remotely unlock the car so he could tow it. While all this was happening the car got quite a lot of attention (luckily my fully functional GT was there so it didn’t look as bad), and this WalMart EA stayed on script and sure enough a crackhead on a bike came by asking everyone for $. An Ioniq 6 owner made her day and gave her some cash. I hope whoever this Lucid owner is that their car gets to Natick OK and it’s just a silly 12V issue!

Also, before anybody levels any criticism, 12V batteries die on ALL cars ICE or EV, especially when it’s been 13F out for days. There’s already been reports of KIA EV9 owners having 12V die 2 weeks after delivery, so this is not a Lucid problem. If yours dies and you ever need a jump, the instructions are in the manual under “Roadside Assistance>Instructions for Transporters>12V battery” and there are illustrations. You’d probably do best to try and be with the car as I wouldn’t expect any tow driver is going to be able to figure out how to jump it without guidance!

Very helpful, thanks for posting

 

[Steveinarizona]

I think the HV battery trickle charges the 12v. However if the 12V is dead, not much good that will do. I’m sure there’s several in here who are savvier on this topic than me who could weigh in.

It does in my Genesis GV60P. Interestingly, the genesis has a dashboard light that shows up brightly when the battery pack is charging the 12 volt battery. It shows up a lot! I see it often when I walk through my garage to get to my home office.

It seems to be more of an issue with EVs than with ICE vehicles although I don't see why. If the alternator charges the 12 volt when you drive, and if the battery pack charges the 12 volt when you drive also, it would seem to be the same. But the light on my dashboard never lights up when I am driving. I wonder if that means it doesn't charge the 12 volt as I drive which could explain why it is charging so often in my garage or it it just doesn't light when driving (it would be very distracting if it did).

 

[RichMalden]

Not all heroes wear capes...

The owner is crazy lucky you were there.

 

[Bobby]

I’m writing an FAQ for this. Stay tuned. If you’d like to contribute, DM me. Thanks.

 

[xponents]

Not all heroes wear capes...

The owner is crazy lucky you were there.

Yeah, otherwise the car would likely be sitting abandoned as the tow driver would be too frustrated! And the glass would be broken, because those other ev owners waiting would probably throw some rocks at it.