Steveinarizona
Active Member
Any suggestions on what I should do?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Doing a test drive tomorrow (May 25th) afternoon
- Thread starter Steveinarizona
- Start date
enjoy it? What would you normally do on any other test drive? Plus following this forum you know a lot more than other people, haha. See what software version they are running would be my request!
Steveinarizona
Active Member
Looking for specific items that folks here think might be helpful for me to make my purchase decision.
I guess it depends what you are on the fence about? What would make you NOT want to buy this car?
Steveinarizona
Active Member
Good question. Aside from not knowing what I don't know...the software implementation; how the adaptive drive works; how it corners; how it handles speed bumps and dips (we have a lot of these around the Phoenix area); how big does it feel (some cars feel bigger than they are, some smaller); how comfortable are the seats (in my BMW 530e I have pillow like headrests that feel wonderful); Do the seats encircle me to hold me in place: how does the AC handle hot Arizona sun;
Well as part of your test drive, assuming you are going to Scottsdale where they store it in the shade, maybe take it to some sunny spot and park it for 10 minutes and see how hot it gets?
Software version will determine if the ACC is working or not, so definitely see what version they are running
Software version will determine if the ACC is working or not, so definitely see what version they are running
Terrify the SA (studio advisor) by testing out the self-parking function.
Parallel, backing in, whatever. Dibs are it won’t be able to manage it.
Parallel, backing in, whatever. Dibs are it won’t be able to manage it.
Assuming the vehicle is an AGT with Dream Drive and the version of software is current:
1) Try the Navigation system. Use it for a portion of the test drive.
2) Use the auto park feature. I couldn't, as that feature was disabled for the test drive vehicle.
3) Nose into a parking space that has a raised curb and see if the car clears it.
4) Listen for the whine of the motors in the cabin, to see if that is annoying.
1) Try the Navigation system. Use it for a portion of the test drive.
2) Use the auto park feature. I couldn't, as that feature was disabled for the test drive vehicle.
3) Nose into a parking space that has a raised curb and see if the car clears it.
4) Listen for the whine of the motors in the cabin, to see if that is annoying.
Your list is similar to what I was interested in. More about the physical aspects of the car. Ensure the seat can be set to your preference. Ensure the steering wheel position is good and see if you can position it and the seat so you can see most of the screen in front of you while still being comfortable. Then when you are ready to drive, turn everything OFF. No radio, no warnings, etc.. Then you can concentrate on what you feel and hear. NVH, steering, handling in smooth and swift. Regular vs strong regen.
Software changes. You are still 6 or more months away (guessing) from having to decide. By that time, much of what you experience UX wise will be very different from what you receive (I sure hope so). When I did my test drive, I just concentrated on driving the car and what I was feeling/hearing. Don't get distracted. Release 1.0.4 is very different from 1.2.1 from what we are reading.
It's true that the software does impact your daily driving experience and if you were buying the car off the lot tomorrow, I might put a greater emphasis on the state of the software and your tolerance level. But from your list, it appears you understand Lucid is making progress in that arena and the hardware side is what you need to test. Assuming you are satisfied with the hardware, you can follow the forum to see where the software is going and where it is when you have to finally decide.
Guessing this test drive is about whether you stick it out or abandon Lucid and look elsewhere. So stick to testing what isn't changing (at least much). Echoing what @hydbob said - Enjoy the ride.
Software changes. You are still 6 or more months away (guessing) from having to decide. By that time, much of what you experience UX wise will be very different from what you receive (I sure hope so). When I did my test drive, I just concentrated on driving the car and what I was feeling/hearing. Don't get distracted. Release 1.0.4 is very different from 1.2.1 from what we are reading.
It's true that the software does impact your daily driving experience and if you were buying the car off the lot tomorrow, I might put a greater emphasis on the state of the software and your tolerance level. But from your list, it appears you understand Lucid is making progress in that arena and the hardware side is what you need to test. Assuming you are satisfied with the hardware, you can follow the forum to see where the software is going and where it is when you have to finally decide.
Guessing this test drive is about whether you stick it out or abandon Lucid and look elsewhere. So stick to testing what isn't changing (at least much). Echoing what @hydbob said - Enjoy the ride.
Slam08
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2022
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- 2022 Jaguar I Pace
Read every thread in this forum. And then you will be ready
Steveinarizona
Active Member
LOL. I have that on my current DD and have never used/tested it.
Steveinarizona
Active Member
Read every thread in this forum. And then you will be ready
Thanks. That is very helpful.
Good luck with keeping up with the threads. There is so much thread drift it will make your head spin!
We all remember what happened to Porkins after this...
(I'll show myself out.)
Steveinarizona
Active Member
Well...We did about a half hour driving. I did not get the version number on the software as Ethan told me that it was out of date. My observations:
Car handled beautifully. I might be helped here as it is about the same size as my BMW 530e. I could feel imperfections in the road (as I should be able to) but they were not annoying.
Worst observation: My ride started at 5:30 PM but the temperature was still 100. We initially drove northward which put the afternoon sun on my left pouring in through the driver side window. It felt hot. Ethan did tell me that this was a preproduction car and the windows were not factory tinted but the final windows would be. Still concerns me a bit since it gets very hot here. I will lean on my fellow Scottsdale/Paradise Valley drivers to let me know how the AC does this summer.
Since I reserved a Pure we stayed in smooth mode because Ethan said that was equivalent to the HP that the Pure would have. But the Pure would be about 400 pounds lighter. The power seemed adequate. We did a highway run so I hit the accelerator on the ramp and it felt fine.
I was not bothered by any whine in the cabin. I did not use the Nav as I really wasn't trying out the software system as I know it has growing problems and I reserved a Pure partly to delay the purchase for that reason
Frunk is huge. Rear trunk is deep but very dark and while deep, is very limited vertically. A big box would probably not fit in the frunk because it was too wide and not in the rear trunk because it was too tall.
I have a 21 month hold grandson in the area and a granddaughter on the way. Ethan showed me how the rear doors open all the way and that is a great feature for getting toddlers in and out.
I liked the redundancy in the lane changing. Hit the turn signal and if there is a car in the vicinity the alert lights up on the side mirror. BUT, there is also a camera view on the display. A nice feature.
On the other hand, I don't like the way the turn signal operated. When activated, to change lanes, it is very quiet and I often didn't realize it was still on.
Gear changes were fine. It will take a bit of time to get used to having it on a stalk (reminds me of my youth and "three on a tree") but it operates similarly to the way my more normal one does.
Automatic door unlocking and locking worked fine.
Adjusting the side mirrors worked although I still prefer the more manual buttons on my current DD. But this is something I won't do often so I can tolerate it. The same applies to the seats. I don't mind using a screen for functions I set up before driving and then leave alone. I do wish the "buttons" on the steering wheel were real and not capacitive so I could depress the correct one by feel without looking down.
Rear window is small and the view out of it is somewhat constrained.
My current daily driver is a PHEV. But the lightest regen on the Lucid is much stronger than I get on my 530e. It will take a bit of getting used to but seemed fine. The same seemed true of the more aggressive regen setting.
It is a little thing but the charger in my garage is located at what would be the front driver side of my vehicle when parked in the garage. That is perfect for the Lucid.
I didn't try to have it park itself since that is a feature I will never use (I have a form of it one my current DD and have never even tried it). But we did turn on the 360 camera view which I do use for parking and it was very nice.
Displays were nice and sharp.
I got Nappa in my current car because I didn't like the look and feel of the cheaper leather choices or the alternative ("sensatec"). But the Vegan Lucid alternative feels really nice and quite acceptable to me.
I love the HUD in my current car and have said that I would never buy another without one. But the Lucid has slightly changed that view. The display pod is located just barely below where my HUD displays and it does nicely as an alternative to a HUD. While I still which the Lucid has a HUD (or an option for one), the absence is not a disqualifying factor for me.
The Lucid folks turn off the sound alerts for test drives so I did not get to see how well they worked. But I do like the fact that Lucid gives us the option of turning them on or off.
Overall...I like the car. I still plan to cross shop it against the BMW IX 50. Interestingly, there was a test drive arranged last week at the same mall where the Lucid design studio is located. I did it but it turned out to be such a short and controlled ride that I can't really compare based on it; I will do a real test drive on one at the dealership (last time I was there I wanted to do one but the company's one IX demo was being charged). Ethan took the ride but I didn't ask him to compare...didn't seem fair. The Lucid will likely handle better being a sedan instead of an SUV; the HP is similar; the Lucid has better range but the range on the IX is pretty good. Reading reviews and actual reports of owners on this forum and a BMW forum, they both seem very efficient; storage capacity of the IX is, of course, better because it is an SUV.
While I was in the design studio waiting, I was talking with another guy who told me that he had done the test drive and immediately upgraded from the Pure to a GT which he loves.
Car handled beautifully. I might be helped here as it is about the same size as my BMW 530e. I could feel imperfections in the road (as I should be able to) but they were not annoying.
Worst observation: My ride started at 5:30 PM but the temperature was still 100. We initially drove northward which put the afternoon sun on my left pouring in through the driver side window. It felt hot. Ethan did tell me that this was a preproduction car and the windows were not factory tinted but the final windows would be. Still concerns me a bit since it gets very hot here. I will lean on my fellow Scottsdale/Paradise Valley drivers to let me know how the AC does this summer.
Since I reserved a Pure we stayed in smooth mode because Ethan said that was equivalent to the HP that the Pure would have. But the Pure would be about 400 pounds lighter. The power seemed adequate. We did a highway run so I hit the accelerator on the ramp and it felt fine.
I was not bothered by any whine in the cabin. I did not use the Nav as I really wasn't trying out the software system as I know it has growing problems and I reserved a Pure partly to delay the purchase for that reason
Frunk is huge. Rear trunk is deep but very dark and while deep, is very limited vertically. A big box would probably not fit in the frunk because it was too wide and not in the rear trunk because it was too tall.
I have a 21 month hold grandson in the area and a granddaughter on the way. Ethan showed me how the rear doors open all the way and that is a great feature for getting toddlers in and out.
I liked the redundancy in the lane changing. Hit the turn signal and if there is a car in the vicinity the alert lights up on the side mirror. BUT, there is also a camera view on the display. A nice feature.
On the other hand, I don't like the way the turn signal operated. When activated, to change lanes, it is very quiet and I often didn't realize it was still on.
Gear changes were fine. It will take a bit of time to get used to having it on a stalk (reminds me of my youth and "three on a tree") but it operates similarly to the way my more normal one does.
Automatic door unlocking and locking worked fine.
Adjusting the side mirrors worked although I still prefer the more manual buttons on my current DD. But this is something I won't do often so I can tolerate it. The same applies to the seats. I don't mind using a screen for functions I set up before driving and then leave alone. I do wish the "buttons" on the steering wheel were real and not capacitive so I could depress the correct one by feel without looking down.
Rear window is small and the view out of it is somewhat constrained.
My current daily driver is a PHEV. But the lightest regen on the Lucid is much stronger than I get on my 530e. It will take a bit of getting used to but seemed fine. The same seemed true of the more aggressive regen setting.
It is a little thing but the charger in my garage is located at what would be the front driver side of my vehicle when parked in the garage. That is perfect for the Lucid.
I didn't try to have it park itself since that is a feature I will never use (I have a form of it one my current DD and have never even tried it). But we did turn on the 360 camera view which I do use for parking and it was very nice.
Displays were nice and sharp.
I got Nappa in my current car because I didn't like the look and feel of the cheaper leather choices or the alternative ("sensatec"). But the Vegan Lucid alternative feels really nice and quite acceptable to me.
I love the HUD in my current car and have said that I would never buy another without one. But the Lucid has slightly changed that view. The display pod is located just barely below where my HUD displays and it does nicely as an alternative to a HUD. While I still which the Lucid has a HUD (or an option for one), the absence is not a disqualifying factor for me.
The Lucid folks turn off the sound alerts for test drives so I did not get to see how well they worked. But I do like the fact that Lucid gives us the option of turning them on or off.
Overall...I like the car. I still plan to cross shop it against the BMW IX 50. Interestingly, there was a test drive arranged last week at the same mall where the Lucid design studio is located. I did it but it turned out to be such a short and controlled ride that I can't really compare based on it; I will do a real test drive on one at the dealership (last time I was there I wanted to do one but the company's one IX demo was being charged). Ethan took the ride but I didn't ask him to compare...didn't seem fair. The Lucid will likely handle better being a sedan instead of an SUV; the HP is similar; the Lucid has better range but the range on the IX is pretty good. Reading reviews and actual reports of owners on this forum and a BMW forum, they both seem very efficient; storage capacity of the IX is, of course, better because it is an SUV.
While I was in the design studio waiting, I was talking with another guy who told me that he had done the test drive and immediately upgraded from the Pure to a GT which he loves.
Just a slight adjustment, the buttons on the steering wheel, unless they change it, are physical buttons and not capacitive.
Steveinarizona
Active Member
Interesting. Thanks. Didn't feel like it but I didn't spend a lot of time pressing them.
I got all of my windows but the windshield tinted, and it has made a great difference. There may also be some pre-production windows comment, as I wasn't too bothered by the heat prior to getting the car tinted. But on all of my test drives (3x), I did notice the heat through the driver's side window. And that was in WINTER. So definitely a difference between those windows and the ones they're actually putting on cars. Still a good idea to tint. Mine is at 20 and it's great!
