32 Days, 1,100 miles in my Lucid Air Touring

Ampere

Active Member
Verified Owner
Joined
Jun 22, 2022
Messages
171
Cars
Honda Accord Hybrid
I completed a round-trip between my small town near Champaign, IL and Rockford, IL on Sunday (3/5), charging at an EA at Sam's Club in Rockford. The car averaged 2.9 miles/kWh for the trip. I consider that acceptable considering the ambient outdoor temperature was 38 degrees and we kept the cabin at about 67 degrees, also running the seat heaters. Speed was 72 mph with light wind, and no hills, with 95 percent highway driving. In any event, the Touring turned 1,000K during this journey and 1,100 be the time we returned home. Here are my one month, 1,000 mile impressions of my Touring: the good, the bad, but no ugly.

So far there have been no surprises. No creaks, squeaks, rattles, or other unseemly noises in my Zenith Red Touring with glass canopy. Just the gentle whine of the motors audible at slow speed, which is music to my ears after a lifetime of internal combustion noises. The Touring drives smoothly and quietly. It took awhile to be accustomed to one-pedal driving, but now I prefer it. The fit and finish of the car appears fine, although I am not as discerning as some of you. The charge port door is ever-so-slightly depressed when closed. The car has been pure pleasure with very few complaints. Considering its weight, it accelerates like a rocket in "smooth" mode while handling predictably and feels glued to the road. I haven't even tried the chiropractor modes. I had the front end PPF'd, filmed the glass canopy to make it darker and the entire car ceramic coated.

I didn't fully trust the "highway assist" mode, but gave it a chance on this drive. It worked reasonably well and did not bias toward the right edge of the lane. It did occasionally want to exit. I still prefer steering on my own with just the lane departure visual warning. I also noticed that if you keep your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel when in "highway assist" it does not detect your hand and flashes the warning to put your hands on the wheel.

My Touring has its quirks. I cannot get the radio to stay off. It starts playing every time I enter the car. I can mute it and follow the instruction manual's instructions for turning it off, but it keeps coming back on. This is ironic, since before retirement my career was a radio announcer. Yesterday, the turn signals stopped making any noise for the first ten minutes of my drive. After stopping and restarting, the normal indicator noise returned. Similarly, the 360-degree surround view was instantaneous until yesterday. Then it took about 30 seconds to load. Now it seems back to normal.

After reading this forum for nine months I was a bit terrified of seeing that turtle appear on the cockpit panel, but again, so far, so good.

As I previously posted, I am a bit annoyed about the time it takes to charge 60 percent at EA chargers. At home, the scheduled charging works flawlessly with my Grizzl-e charger. Lucid advertised with an asterisk something like "20-minute charging from 20 to 80 percent.." (I know someone will correct me if I misstated the numbers.) Obviously, this is not even close.

My SA and DA nudged me to upgrade from the Pure AWD to the Touring, and I'm very glad I did. Once you're in such rarefied realms of cost, another $10K doesn't make that much difference. The Touring has some extra creature comforts and I love the Tahoe interior decor. I really don't care much about the extra horsepower or glass canopy.

I purchased my Touring the day after the $7,500 Lucid price rebate. Since I already had my cashier's check in hand for the original price and had no time to return to the bank, I signed the new, lower price, sales agreement and was assured I'd receive a check from Lucid in 30–60 days. It's now Day 34 and nothing from Lucid. I really hope I don't have to tangle with Lucid over this refund.

I have not tried the navigation, preferring to stick with Google on my phone. Rumor has it that sometime before the end of the decade Lucid will update the car with Android Auto. The SurrealSound Pro audio system, (for which I paid) sounds excellent. I laud Lucid for not paying extra to use some brand name, since nearly all car audio systems are manufactured by two or three companies, regardless of the brand on the dash.

Overall, barring future surprises, I am very, very pleased with my Air Touring. I would not have spent this amount on an ICE car. Lucid fulfills the dream of a comfortable, fully functional EV that drives with all the promise and benefits embodied in a well-executed EV. Give me another trouble-free month and I'd call it a love affair. Although we don't name our cars, my partner and I were joking about naming this car. I suggested Lucinda. She said only if it works as promised. Otherwise, we call it Lucifer. So far it's Lucinda.

If you're on the fence, it seems that Lucid worked out most of the kinks that have been painfully discussed on this forum. Thus, I recommend buying your Lucid.
 
Thanks for sharing.
 
So what happens next year when BMW releases the I5? A clash of the Titans.
BMW doesnt know how to make a compelling EV. Lack efficiency and packaging. Go look at the i7- monstrosity on wheels with a range of 300 miles! The i5 will not be as good as Lucid's Air. BMW has lost the plot! Mercedes will continue to be attractive for those who like a boat like ride on roads with disco like feel on the inside. The Germans lag behind Lucid in EV knowhow.

You want the best EV sedan- Lucid wins hands down! Guess why it got all those awards??
 
BMW doesnt know how to make a compelling EV. Lack efficiency and packaging. Go look at the i7- monstrosity on wheels with a range of 300 miles! The i5 will not be as good as Lucid's Air. BMW has lost the plot! Mercedes will continue to be attractive for those who like a boat like ride on roads with disco like feel on the inside. The Germans lag behind Lucid in EV knowhow.

You want the best EV sedan- Lucid wins hands down! Guess why it got all those awards??
And thats why BMW needs a dedicated ev architecture. I think that they could become conquering then, as even now they are some of the best, look no further than:

The i3. Good city car.
The i4. Amazing drivers car, a bit cramped but it wasnt built to have space.
The iX. As ugly as it is(my opinion, it looks good but others dont think so) its actually a really good interior, drives well, and has more space than the x5 it is targeted towards.
The i7. Chauffeurs and their clients really dont care about exterior size and handling, just raw legroom and the i7 is superior in that.
 
No frunk, paying features subscription, dealership maintenance…
BMW = Break My Wallet

Want to look cool?!…
BMW = Bring Me Women

When racing against my Air
BMW = Behind My Mirrors
 
No frunk, paying features subscription, dealership maintenance…
BMW = Break My Wallet

Want to look cool?!…
BMW = Bring Me Women

When racing against my Air
BMW = Behind My Mirrors
Uh, so the air is behind the BMW's mirrors?
 
No frunk, paying features subscription, dealership maintenance…
BMW = Break My Wallet

Want to look cool?!…
BMW = Bring Me Women

When racing against my Air
BMW = Behind My Mirrors
Barely moving wreck
Big money waste
Born moderately wealthy
 
And thats why BMW needs a dedicated ev architecture. I think that they could become conquering then, as even now they are some of the best, look no further than:

The i3. Good city car.
The i4. Amazing drivers car, a bit cramped but it wasnt built to have space.
The iX. As ugly as it is(my opinion, it looks good but others dont think so) its actually a really good interior, drives well, and has more space than the x5 it is targeted towards.
The i7. Chauffeurs and their clients really dont care about exterior size and handling, just raw legroom and the i7 is superior in that.
Mmm, I feel the traditional makers will never understand how to make a desirable compelling proper EV. We dont need flashy interiors. Just an efficient, long range, user freindly well packaged EV architecture. Make the cars desirable.
 
I'm thinking of taking my Touring down to Champaign some time myself to visit my alma mater. There are no charging stations in the C-U area, right? I did a search and only found a few.. slow looking ones. Ill probably be making the drive from Naperville to C-U and back, so I think a full charge even in cold weather should get us there and back just fine. Range anxiety at its finest
 
Back
Top