Does Anyone Have Regrets? (non-owner asking)

[DeaneG]

Seven tabs later, I get a kick out of the fact that the OP's 'last seen' on the forum is June 5th!

 

[billvb]

I received my Air GT Stealth in early April of last year, and over a year later, I have zero regrets. I still get this ‘wow’ feeling when driving it that I never got with my previous cars.

 

[no gas]

18 months- absolutely no regrets! Best sport sedan out there, and it even beats the might BMW M5!

 

[DRWHO42]

15 months in and I absolutely love my choice. No regrets and eventually will plan to get Gravity or another future Lucid vehicle in a few years.

 

[Drendino]

Regrets? I’ve had a few….

Sorry, I had to do that. Carry on.

 

[msav2000]

I do have some. Here is the summary:

Positives:
- Probably, one of the best cars I have ever driven. A pure joy to drive, to be in, and to look at.
- Solid quality. Outside of an accident I had, in 8000 miles I had very few problems, none serious.

Negatives I will split into two parts. One is about car and another about car ownership.

Car negatives:
- Lacks multiple features standard on much lower end cars. Android Auto, trunk open/close with a kick, projection dashboard, etc.
- Disappointing range. According to the car, I average 2.8 mile per kW, once I was able to squeeze 280 miles from a charge (GT with 21"), usually it is 240 miles or so. Just now, on a 99% highway drive to LA from Vegas, then from LA to Malibu, I charged the car with 27 miles remaining on the screen and 230 since the last charge. Even assuming the 27 miles estimate is actual 27 miles (ha-ha), this is 2.25 at best, with car showing 2.7, a far cry not only from the 469 max I should get, but from anything reasonable. I understand 10% off, 20%, but almost 50%?
- I have brown interior with light brown carpets and door trim. The materials are not durable or easily cleaned, there are marks I can't get rid off all over. My Mercedes with the same interior colors, uses black carpeting and the materials are easily to clean.

Negatives outside of the car:
- Poor public charger infrastructure.
- Horrendous resale value.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

I do have some. Here is the summary:

Positives:
- Probably, one of the best cars I have ever driven. A pure joy to drive, to be in, and to look at.
- Solid quality. Outside of an accident I had, in 8000 miles I had very few problems, none serious.

Negatives I will split into two parts. One is about car and another about car ownership.

Car negatives:
- Lacks multiple features standard on much lower end cars. Android Auto, trunk open/close with a kick, projection dashboard, etc.
- Disappointing range. According to the car, I average 2.8 mile per kW, once I was able to squeeze 280 miles from a charge (GT with 21"), usually it is 240 miles or so. Just now, on a 99% highway drive to LA from Vegas, then from LA to Malibu, I charged the car with 27 miles remaining on the screen and 230 since the last charge. Even assuming the 27 miles estimate is actual 27 miles (ha-ha), this is 2.25 at best, with car showing 2.7, a far cry not only from the 469 max I should get, but from anything reasonable. I understand 10% off, 20%, but almost 50%?
- I have brown interior with light brown carpets and door trim. The materials are not durable or easily cleaned, there are marks I can't get rid off all over. My Mercedes with the same interior colors, uses black carpeting and the materials are easily to clean.

Negatives outside of the car:
- Poor public charger infrastructure.
- Horrendous resale value.

Since you've owned the car for a while... Have you taken similar trips in the cooler months? I'm guessing that the heat played quite a big factor in those dismal miles/kWh numbers.

 

[msav2000]

Since you've owned the car for a while... Have you taken similar trips in the cooler months? I'm guessing that the heat played quite a big factor in those dismal miles/kWh numbers.

I have driven LA to San Diego and back a couple of times, once in May, once in winter. A totally flat road, no traffic jams to speak off, cruising speed of 80 m/h. Leaving with a fully charged battery, I had to charge in SD in order to make it back without range anxiety. This is 120 miles one way, I should've easily go 240 and have enough left, but no..

 

[HC_79]

I have driven LA to San Diego and back a couple of times, once in May, once in winter. A totally flat road, no traffic jams to speak off, cruising speed of 80 m/h. Leaving with a fully charged battery, I had to charge in SD in order to make it back without range anxiety. This is 120 miles one way, I should've easily go 240 and have enough left, but no..

I’ve found when doing 80mph it drains quickly. 70mph to 75mph is usually my sweet spot where it still drains faster than normal but not too much.

 

[msav2000]

I’ve found when doing 80mph it drains quickly. 70mph to 75mph is usually my sweet spot where it still drains faster than normal but not too much.

Heat drains quickly... 80 m/h drains quickly... Hills drains quickly... Cold drains quickly...

I understand I drive the way I like, not the way ideal for EV range, but I still find the difference in advertised range and real life range ridiculous. Also ridiculous is the difference between the actual average range and the average range the car is showing.

Of course, this could be my car in particular, but had the battery tested by Lucid without finding anything wrong with it.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

I have driven LA to San Diego and back a couple of times, once in May, once in winter. A totally flat road, no traffic jams to speak off, cruising speed of 80 m/h. Leaving with a fully charged battery, I had to charge in SD in order to make it back without range anxiety. This is 120 miles one way, I should've easily go 240 and have enough left, but no..

Sorry. I mistakenly thought you were Las Vegas based. I don't see how your range should have been so bad on an 80 MPH run between LA and San Diego. Any other combination of exogenous factors such as wind, rain, really unusual heat/cold? Otherwise, sounds to me like something is amiss.

 

[msav2000]

No, I am in LA proper, so no 100° temps.

Winter drive was in ideal conditions - 70F, sunny, light weekend traffic. I actually wanted to see how much I will get, hoping to see 300+ on a single charge for the first time. Forget 400.

Also interesting, I get exactly the same mileage from LA driving, a mix of city and freeway.

 

[Amster]

I have driven LA to San Diego and back a couple of times, once in May, once in winter. A totally flat road, no traffic jams to speak off, cruising speed of 80 m/h. Leaving with a fully charged battery, I had to charge in SD in order to make it back without range anxiety. This is 120 miles one way, I should've easily go 240 and have enough left, but no..

That really doesn't sound right, or at least that's very different from my experience. I do have the GT, which I got more for the additional range than the power, although that's the hp is a nice bonus. I live in north San Diego, I have a relative in LA who lives about 125 miles away. I've driven there and back and never worried about charging. For exact numbers, I went up to LA for the Auto show last November, 105 miles each way, with a two hour car rally Sunday morning. I charged to 94% before the trip, got home with 150 miles left on the battery.

 

[msav2000]

Different car, different experience. I saw ppl here reporting pulling 4+ on long trips, I have no doubt this is the case. For me, it doesn't work this way and this sucks even more as I have no charger in my building and have to rely on a very unreliable public infrastructure.

Well, it is what it is.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

- Disappointing range. According to the car, I average 2.8 mile per kW, once I was able to squeeze 280 miles from a charge (GT with 21"), usually it is 240 miles or so. Just now, on a 99% highway drive to LA from Vegas, then from LA to Malibu, I charged the car with 27 miles remaining on the screen and 230 since the last charge. Even assuming the 27 miles estimate is actual 27 miles (ha-ha), this is 2.25 at best, with car showing 2.7, a far cry not only from the 469 max I should get, but from anything reasonable. I understand 10% off, 20%, but almost 50%?

So, judging by your comments above, you must have charged all the way to 100% before you left. Have you noted how many kWh and range show up as available when you charge to the max? Do you often charge to 100%?

 

[Buffalo Bob]

One thing I will say, just in the unlikely event that you don't already know... I also do all of my charging on public chargers, and whenever possible, I avoid charging above an 80% SOC and letting it run lower than a 10% SOC. High output chargers are a lot tougher on batteries than home chargers, and holding in that territory goes a lot easier on them.

 

[RM-S8]

Zero regrets.
Guess why I've got the Sapphire in my driveway?

 

[msav2000]

So, judging by your comments above, you must have charged all the way to 100% before you left. Have you noted how many kWh and range show up as available when you charge to the max? Do you often charge to 100%?

Yeap, to 100% or close. I have not noticed kW, but the car is 114, so I assume 100 is 114. 460+ miles on the car.

I tend to charge to 80-90%, depending on charger performance. Basically wait for the speed yo drop 50 kW.

The car has 8000 miles, charging every 250 miles, it is 32 charges total. "Often" doesn't not apply much here.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Yeap, to 100% or close. I have not noticed kW, but the car is 114, so I assume 100 is 114. 460+ miles on the car.

I tend to charge to 80-90%, depending on charger performance. Basically wait for the speed yo drop 50 kW.

The car has 8000 miles, charging every 250 miles, it is 32 charges total. "Often" doesn't not apply much here.

I was wondering if the car was falling short of the target kWh at full charge for some reason.

I follow about the same charging process. I usually stop at 82%, which interestingly gets me out of the charger parking lot at 80%, but I also often follow your 50 kWh rule. My Pure AWD has about the same miles on the odometer as you, but only has 92 kWh available at 100%. So far, I am not seeing any signs of degradation.

 

[SDHacker]

I have driven LA to San Diego and back a couple of times, once in May, once in winter. A totally flat road, no traffic jams to speak off, cruising speed of 80 m/h. Leaving with a fully charged battery, I had to charge in SD in order to make it back without range anxiety. This is 120 miles one way, I should've easily go 240 and have enough left, but no..

That's crazy. While my MIL was alive, drove to Alhambra from Escondido at least once a month. Round trip would take about 50% battery capacity. Last week, drove to Fullerton (90 miles) and used 20% one way going 70 to 80 mph (hard to keep a steady speed with idiots camping in the #1 and #2 lanes). I run 19s but it shouldn't be as different as you are experiencing.