Anything I should be wary of? I am a Tesla refugee who just tried a 2022 Rivian for 6 months and it's been a nightmare. I chalk some of it up to the fact that I bought the first model year and they seem to have frequently had a long list of issues. As a result I've been looking at later model used Lucid's, preferably 2024. I noticed that most of the 2023s that I was looking at on their website were manufactured in October 2022, which made me a bit nervous.
Mostly they have only made one car, the Air, so other than trim there is not much significant in model years. There are some things, though. There were some problems with the speakers under the dash in the foot well area that had a rattle. That has now taken care of with a "tape fix". The dealer can do this if you hear it, and it's really obvious with the base in the front of the cabin. Before 2025 there is significant motor wine on the dual motor cars. It's not as loud as a Rivian but obvious at low speeds. To my ears it sounds like alternator whine from a bad ground on a stereo because it changes pitch with speed. After 30 mph, it pretty much disappears, but it was kind of a dealbreaker for me. The 2024 Pure is RWD so that is not an issue, but 2023 model Pure was AWD drive so you would find it then and earlier models.
After all that, though, I would strongly recommend leasing a new one if you can get it done within the next few months. A luxury car is about the worst value during the first few years. A luxury EV is even worse. Even a used one that is only a couple of years old will likely depreciate much faster than your lease payments on a new one. At the end of the year after the EV credits go away I don't know what the market will look like, but right now the lease deal is the only way I would consider it.
Coming from a Rivian, the Lucid IMO has much fewer problems, but some still haven't been fixed like the key fob and Phone-as-Key which people still complain about.
Coming from Tesla, the build quality is much better. It also is much quieter and more refined. It will seem slow at first, but that is just the throttle mapping. If you put your foot into it, it will move, but the first touch of the pedal is smooth. It makes it very easy to drive in the city. On the highway, it will have much more power than the Tesla. The stereo will not be as nice as the Tesla, even with SSP, UNLESS you listen to a really well mixed track in Dolby Atmos and play it via the Tidal app in the Lucid. Then and only then will the stereo in the Lucid be magical. It will most likely be like nothing you have ever heard before. DDP is no Tesla autopilot or FSD. IMO, I wouldn't bother lusting after this spec. They promised hands-free driving by the end of the month, but they also promised that by the end of 2024 too, and it never happened.
I absolutely love my 2024 Lucid Air Pure. With over 400 hp and RWD, it drives like nothing else. It is so refined and subtle. It probably took me 9 months to really appreciate it. At first if felt very low, wide and a bit of an "old man's car" to quote my wife. I have the 19" all-season tires on my spec, but I recently put some Pirelli P-zero summer rubber on the rear, and it made a big difference. I still get great efficiency, but now it hooks up better and is more fun to drive. The car has awesome traction control, and you can drive it faster than you feel comfortable into a corner and then get on the throttle and really feel it rotate. The systems really work well to let the car do amazing things and letting you pretend you are a skilled driver. It's not idiot-proof, but it's not like driving a computer and the systems don't fight you. No Tesla I have ever driven (3, Y, Y Juniper, X, S, S Plaid, CT) drives like this. All the Teslas have jerky throttle response and lack refinement. Even the new Y, although it rides nicer, does not ride like the Air. The Air gives you more feedback through the steering wheel, but your butt will feel how the ride is smoother. In the Tesla, the steering wheel is more isolated from the road, but you still have a bouncy ride that can feel and sound crashy.
I had a Polestar 2 before the Pure, and I loved that car. It was smooth compared to a Tesla and handled much better and was easy to understand. You could drive that car like an idiot and do things you shouldn't have been able to do, but it was obvious it was the car's systems making the magic and not the driver. The Lucid takes that great performance and tuning and takes it to a level that is almost invisible, and I think that makes it difficult to understand on a test drive or even after a few months of driving. That's why I think the 2024 and newer Pure is such a unicorn. Great performance, storage, efficiency and comfort. It just does so much stuff so well. I have drive then Touring and the Grand Touring and they are tremendous too but the dual-motor cars handle differently.
I tease myself with the idea my next car will be an ionic 5 N but it would be difficult to pay more for that car to get half the range, half the efficiency, a worse stereo and less storage. I think it would be a blast, but not as practical.
lucidowners.com
