I thought I would share why I decided to cancel my order and pass on Lucid for the time being after my test drive this week. Let me qualify it by saying I really think Lucid has the makings of a category killer but I came to the realization that it is not for me
at this time. I also fully acknowledge my impressions are mine alone and could very well be wrong compared to what many others think, but since I’m the one scratching the check, my impressions take precedence in this particular case.
Thanks for the really thoughtful post! A few comments about a couple things:
2. The software in the test drive car (GT) was laggy and I didn’t like the inability to split the screens for navigation and music. Seems weird that you can do some combos but not others.
Not sure what happened here - it definitely isn’t laggy for me. The ability to split the screens is something I very much want as well.
3. The electric whine was pretty pronounced and not for me.
This seems to be a love it/hate it thing. I’ve loved it ever since they sampled the original Tesla Roadster for the Batmobile bike sound, so I’m so happy they left it in. It gives the car a tiny bit of soul I miss from an ICE car, and feels futuristic at the same time.
That said, it’s not silence, and I respect that a lot of people like silence.
4. Yes the car flat out moves in all modes, especially in Sprint, but the sensation of all four wheels “grabbing” at the pavement was a bit unsettling, like I just didn’t have traction. I’m sure I did, but the sensation was off. Maybe it was tire related.
This I legitimately am astounded by. I have never - I repeat, literally never - been able to get the 21s to skid without doing so very intentionally. They just plant, almost no matter what I try to do. I’m not sure what happened here, but it doesn’t echo my experience … ever, lol. I certainly believe it is what happened! Just really confused.
5. The lack of the turn signals not auto cancelling after a lane change is a miss and probably easily updated at some point with OTA updates.
They have two modes. A single click (about halfway) turns on the signal for 3 flashes and then turns it off. A full click turns it on until you turn it off.
7. The car is much larger feeling than I expected - I knew it was big but it felt large and in charge - not a negative, just an observation.
Yeah, this took me a lot of getting used to. I’m really used to smaller cars, but I figured out what was going on with the Lucid - it isn’t actually that much bigger. It’s certainly bigger, yes, than my previous cars - but it isn’t that much bigger.
However - the wheelbase is *way* wider. That affects the turning radius immensely, making it *feel* like a much bigger car when turning. That took me a while to get used to, but I did eventually.
9. I could never get comfy with the charging network - I drove to Dallas this week and passed several Buccee’s with 24-48 Tesla superchargers and plenty of open spots, while my Plugshare app could barely find any available “other” chargers. Maybe I was filtering wrong or interpreting wrong, but is a killer point for me.
Yeah, this depends on your location largely. I haven’t had any issues with it, but plenty of people have.
10. Last - I am concerned about Lucid existing long term, and the recent reports have not been promising. Yeah, Saudi $$, great engineering, etc - but I foresee necessary price cuts coming to get some volume and I see what Tesla did to their owners by killing the resale values with lots of cuts. Don’t blame them, maybe necessary to survive, but I expect some pain in the not too distant future.
I buy the thing I want that fulfills my desires and needs at the time. Even if Lucid dies (which it won’t), it will just get bought. Then again, I bought the DE, and I didn’t do it because I was speculating it would get yet more valuable (though I wouldn’t have been upset if it did).
