Drive System Fault - Car stopped dead in the middle of the road

[Drdon220]

My GT with 1872 miles flashed the Drive System Fault and just died right in the traffic lane before I went into an intersection. Sat there for almost 2 hours waiting for customer service to get a flatbed. Luckily I was able to speak to a service rep at the service center and they sent out 3 service guys to try to get the vehicle going (no luck). 2 police officers stopped behind me to direct traffic around and call a flatbed. Since its a Saturday late in the day I was provided a Lyft home and a promise of a loaner vehicle (from a car rental agency) on Monday. Feel lucky it was me driving and not my wife, hopeful of a quick repair since this is our only vehicle.

 

[borski]

Was there a warning? Did you try rebooting?

Just curious, of course. That sucks.

 

[STOCKacts]

Same thing happened to me, its kind of scary when it happens. My car lunged forward when I was at a low speed. At high speeds it'll slow you suddenly down to a complete stop and you can't move. My wife and child are in the car when it happens. It's really dangerous.

 

[Ksa23]

Same thing happened to me, its kind of scary when it happens. My car lunged forward when I was at a low speed. At high speeds it'll slow you suddenly down to a complete stop and you can't move. My wife and child are in the car when it happens. It's really dangerous.

Ugh.. this is the scariest concern I have for my Air. It's such an amazing drive, but I cant help but always wonder if it will suddenly crap out on me.

My biggest worry is losing power on a highway and getting hit. Have you lost power at high speed? If so, was it as if you pulled the key out of an ICE car with total loss of power? What about power brakes?

 

[STOCKacts]

Ugh.. this is the scariest concern I have for my Air. It's such an amazing drive, but I cant help but always wonder if it will suddenly crap out on me.

My biggest worry is losing power on a highway and getting hit. Have you lost power at high speed? If so, was it as if you pulled the key out of an ICE car with total loss of power? What about power brakes?

Yes, I have lost power at speeds of 60-70. You don't have a long time before it comes to a stop, its not instant, but it's a steady decline of speed to 0. I think the breaks would still work but I haven't had to use them when it occurs. Worst part is to try and restart the car you physically have to get out of it (I was told you can do it without getting out, but it takes a lot longer and I have never tried it). The first time it happened to me, I had just received the vehicle, driving it home and it went into turtle mode. Restarting the Vehicle made it go away. The last time it happened, it happened over and over, and didn't go for long with a restart.

I don't want to freak you out as it may possibly never happen to you, but be aware of the issue incase it does.

 

[Ksa23]

Yes, I have lost power at speeds of 60-70. You don't have a long time before it comes to a stop, its not instant, but it's a steady decline of speed to 0. I think the breaks would still work but I haven't had to use them when it occurs. Worst part is to try and restart the car you physically have to get out of it (I was told you can do it without getting out, but it takes a lot longer and I have never tried it). The first time it happened to me, I had just received the vehicle, driving it home and it went into turtle mode. Restarting the Vehicle made it go away. The last time it happened, it happened over and over, and didn't go for long with a restart.

I don't want to freak you out as it may possibly never happen to you, but be aware of the issue incase it does.

Ok -- slightly reassuring to know it doesn't just flat out die on you at high speed. Lucid really needs a master reset button in the pilot panel rather than having to do a dance with the blinker and walking away.

I have the steps written down on my phone incase I need it as an emergency but it sucks having to keep it in the back of my mind.

 

[hellolucid]

My GT with 1872 miles flashed the Drive System Fault and just died right in the traffic lane before I went into an intersection. Sat there for almost 2 hours waiting for customer service to get a flatbed. Luckily I was able to speak to a service rep at the service center and they sent out 3 service guys to try to get the vehicle going (no luck). 2 police officers stopped behind me to direct traffic around and call a flatbed. Since its a Saturday late in the day I was provided a Lyft home and a promise of a loaner vehicle (from a car rental agency) on Monday. Feel lucky it was me driving and not my wife, hopeful of a quick repair since this is our only vehicle.

Sucks that happened to you. It’s baffling that lucid hasn’t figured out the root cause and issued a recall yet. It’s been months and you get one of these reports every week on average.

Do you recall how much time you got between when the sign showed up and when it completely shut down? Supposedly you get 5mins but multiple people on these forums have mentioned that they only got few seconds.

 

[DolphinTale]

Yes, I have lost power at speeds of 60-70. You don't have a long time before it comes to a stop, its not instant, but it's a steady decline of speed to 0. I think the breaks would still work but I haven't had to use them when it occurs. Worst part is to try and restart the car you physically have to get out of it (I was told you can do it without getting out, but it takes a lot longer and I have never tried it). The first time it happened to me, I had just received the vehicle, driving it home and it went into turtle mode. Restarting the Vehicle made it go away. The last time it happened, it happened over and over, and didn't go for long with a restart.

I don't want to freak you out as it may possibly never happen to you, but be aware of the issue incase it does.

Does it decelerate like it is in neutral or more abrupt as with regen?

 

[Drdon220]

Sucks that happened to you. It’s baffling that lucid hasn’t figured out the root cause and issued a recall yet. It’s been months and you get one of these reports every week on average.

Do you recall how much time you got between when the sign showed up and when it completely shut down? Supposedly you get 5mins but multiple people on these forums have mentioned that they only got few seconds.

It was a matter of a second or so. Immediately no power and came to a quick stop.

 

[Drdon220]

Was there a warning? Did you try rebooting?

Just curious, of course. That sucks.

About a one second warning. Tried rebooting with no luck. No movement, and only could change from park to drive to reverse. No neutral! Service rep showed up and was able to try the resets again and was luckily able to get it into neutral to pull it on the flatbed truck.

 

[eLUCID8]

I also had a drive system fault around 3000 miles. Fortunately I was on a residential street half a mile from home. The car went into a reduced power mode and I was able to drive (albeit very slowly) back home. The brakes worked fine. I went inside to call Lucid, and when I went back out, the car had gone into turtle mode. Lucid was good about getting someone out quickly to “un-turtle”and tow the car and offered a loaner. The ultimate cause was the rear drive unit which failed and had to be replaced.

 

[Bobby]

To get to neutral, did you try to hold the stalk there for a second or two? It doesn’t engage immediately to prevent accident shift to neutral if the stalk is inadvertently moved.

 

[borski]

To get to neutral, did you try to hold the stalk there for a second or two? It doesn’t engage immediately to prevent accident shift to neutral if the stalk is inadvertently moved.

Yeah, this was in response to people accidentally shifting into neutral on the highway and thinking they’d lost all power.

 

[njg-agt]

Yeah, this was in response to people accidentally shifting into neutral on the highway and thinking they’d lost all power.

Hum, its almost as if the better implementation might be to not move from D/R to N unless/until the car comes to a stop (or is below some very low threshold speed).

 

[Michael Greenberg]

Had a recent drive system fault at around 8600 miles. Great service regarding loaner and tow. Was told that there was a short in the air conditioning system and because it was my second problem, they replaced the entire high voltage system, battery and all. I still love the car but do have some anxiety about the two electrical problems I have had.
We'll see what happens down the road.

 

[MoniputerLM]

Yeah, this was in response to people accidentally shifting into neutral on the highway and thinking they’d lost all power.

In the Lyriq, you have to pull the stalk, then move it up or down.

 

[borski]

Hum, its almost as if the better implementation might be to not move from D/R to N unless/until the car comes to a stop (or is below some very low threshold speed).

I don’t know of a single car that doesn’t let you shift into neutral while driving.

 

[njg-agt]

I don’t know of a single car that doesn’t let you shift into neutral while driving.

And prior to this I didn't know of any that would delay that shift for "a second or two"... I'm not even quite sure what "N" actually means in this/an electric car (with no transmission)...

 

[eLUCID8]

And prior to this I didn't know of any that would delay that shift for "a second or two"... I'm not even quite sure what "N" actually means in this/an electric car (with no transmission)...

It still has a motor engaged with each axle, and N allows the car to roll freely by disengaging the motors from the axles. As someone who has made the D to N mistake, I can provide some context. In a couple other cars I’ve owned, the right stalk controls the windshield wipers with up turning them on. Out of habit when first driving the Lucid, I inadvertently put the Lucid in neutral thinking I was turning on the wipers. Now I’ve adapted, but I think the fix is warranted. It was unsettling when it first happened as it took a few seconds to process why the car wasn’t responding normally.

 

[njg-agt]

It still has a motor engaged with each axle, and N allows the car to roll freely by disengaging the motors from the axles. As someone who has made the D to N mistake, I can provide some context. In a couple other cars I’ve owned, the right stalk controls the windshield wipers with up turning them on. Out of habit when first driving the Lucid, I inadvertently put the Lucid in neutral thinking I was turning on the wipers. Now I’ve adapted, but I think the fix is warranted. It was unsettling when it first happened as it took a few seconds to process why the car wasn’t responding normally.

I am not so sure that there is a physical disengagement of the motors from the axles, as opposed to (and I believe more likely) an electrical disengagement of the motor from the battery... I believe either could be done...

Yes, the wiper controls are in the wrong place! Both of these design flaws could be solved by putting the wiper control on that right stalk and moving the P/R/N/D engagement to the left cockpit panel... push button transmission selectors are not a new idea and would be a better arrangement than the problems created by the current arrangement.

car with push button transmission selector - Google Search