Faster Chip Available for Retrofitting in the Air?

[hmp10]

Kyle Conner put up a video two hours ago in which he is testing the newest Air Grand Touring. He said it has a new chip which is much "snappier" than in older versions of the Air . . . and that it is available for installation by a Service Center. Has anyone else heard about this?

Or is this just an erroneous rehash of the misinformation about retrofitting a newer CPU into older cars?

The discussion starts at 19:25:

 

[dragonwang]

Kyle Conner put up a video two hours ago in which he is testing the newest Air Grand Touring. He said it has a new chip which is much "snappier" than in older versions of the Air . . . and that it is available for installation by a Service Center. Has anyone else heard about this?

The discussion starts at 19:25:

2nd time I've heard about this... I think the video from savageee mentioned it before. Surely, there's some truth to this now....

 

[lsbuffs]

Sounds like no more motor noise (or nearly no motor noise), per the video.

 

[coma24]

From Felice at Customer Care when I asked about it on Jul 30:
"It is not an option at this time. If we offer a retrofit, we will announce it at a later date! This message comes directly from our service team."

Separately, I got a call from the KOP service center about it, they said the same thing. I would question Kyle through the YT comments to ask specifically where he got his information that it was available as a retrofit.

FWIW, I use the in-car nav exclusively in a '22 GT, and I don't find it to be laggy or unresponsive.

 

[fisheral]

From Felice at Customer Care when I asked about it on Jul 30:
"It is not an option at this time. If we offer a retrofit, we will announce it at a later date! This message comes directly from our service team."

Separately, I got a call from the KOP service center about it, they said the same thing. I would question Kyle through the YT comments to ask specifically where he got his information that it was available as a retrofit.

FWIW, I use the in-car nav exclusively in a '22 GT, and I don't find it to be laggy or unresponsive.

Hmm, I find the in-car nav to be extremely laggy. Especially compared to carplay.

 

[McGriddle]

I've found the in-car nav got be mostly responsive and generally quick to use. The only lag I've noticed is when clicking search for the first time just after the car has woken up where the keyboard will take a second to fully load onto the screen. Once loaded, everything is "snappy" enough. I don't notice lag at other times or subsequently using the search keyboard again after the first time it loads.

That said, any upgrade to a faster chipset is never a bad thing... if it exists.

 

[joec]

Kyle Conner put up a video two hours ago in which he is testing the newest Air Grand Touring. He said it has a new chip which is much "snappier" than in older versions of the Air . . . and that it is available for installation by a Service Center. Has anyone else heard about this?

Or is this just an erroneous rehash of the misinformation about retrofitting a newer CPU into older cars?

The discussion starts at 19:25:

It seems someone at Lucid is telling YouTubers this upgrade will be available. But Lucid has not yet officially announced any such thing. I am hopeful they are planning on making it available, as I know many will want it. Especially if it opens up some future features that won't be available to the older chips.

 

[Sid432]

It seems someone at Lucid is telling YouTubers this upgrade will be available. But Lucid has not yet officially announced any such thing. I am hopeful they are planning on making it available, as I know many will want it. Especially if it opens up some future features that won't be available to the older chips.

Kyle Conner said if it’s under $2000, it’s a no brainer as the new chip is faster. I sure hope Lucid announces soon.

 

[scal_air]

I'm ready to upgrade - from robust to snappy!

 

[Unmutual]

I'm ready to upgrade - from robust to snappy!

In Kyle-speak, snappy is one step down from spicy.

 

[STOCKacts]

I watched another review where they mentioned the same thing. The long term review from Savage Geese. I would assume a retrofit is coming, similar to MCU upgrades in Tesla. What would be really awesome, is if the new motor mounts that make the car less noisy will also be available to retrofit. However, I personally don't mind the winding noise.

 

[jace]

I'm very interested in a potential CPU/main computer processor upgrade for older Lucid Air models. I've just contacted the Chicago Service Center about this and am eagerly awaiting their response. Please keep me updated on any information they provide regarding the possibility of an infotainment/main computer CPU upgrade. This would be a fantastic enhancement if offered at a reasonable price!

 

[hydbob]

I'd say stop contacting service centers and asking them. These videos are shafting customer care.

 

[Pragmatic]

If and when this is offered we will hear about. No use asking.

 

[hmp10]

I'd say stop contacting service centers and asking them. These videos are shafting customer care.

That's probably true. But it does raise the question of why a Lucid employee, in turning a car over to a popular YouTuber for testing, would tell him a chip upgrade is available if Lucid is not ready to deal with inquiries from owners . . . especially as Lucid no doubt knows that concern about software responsiveness has been a frequent complaint since the Air's introduction.

There is, of course, another possibility. Kyle Conner frequently gets technical details about the Air wrong. This could be one of those cases, although it seems more likely that someone did tell him this, as it's not the same kind of error as getting a technical spec confused.

 

[Professor Y Cars]

Hmm, I find the in-car nav to be extremely laggy. Especially compared to carplay.

Really bizarre. I definitely believe those who report the in-car nav or infotainment to be laggy, but now 3 weeks into my ownership of my Lucid Air I haven't see any instance of lag. My entire nav experience is nearly instantaneous, I don't even bother with CarPlay because it takes more time for me to use CarPlay than it does to use the native Lucid apps.

I know from my testing of the Hummer EV, the responsiveness of the Hummer's infotainment was very dependent on the LTE signal and quality in an area (they use AT&T from what I know). It's for that reason that for MY25, GMC started moving most their EV lineups to 5G connectivity to reduce customer complaints about input lag. I wonder if Lucid is signal-dependent as well?

Nevertheless, I'd definitely pay to upgrade the chip if that option actually became available, just because you can't ever have too much speed and power

 

[borski]

That's probably true. But it does raise the question of why a Lucid employee, in turning a car over to a popular YouTuber for testing, would tell him a chip upgrade is available if Lucid is not ready to deal with inquiries from owners . . . especially as Lucid no doubt knows that concern about software responsiveness has been a frequent complaint since the Air's introduction.

Because, for the sake of argument, if it is true, then telling them would be useful. However, it is also possible that Kyle (and the other guy) didn't listen to the "but that's not public yet" and/or Lucid didn't say that so as to intentionally leak things.

Or it's not coming at all and some Lucid employee needs a talking-to. My guess is the former, but who knows.

Either way, until it's announced by Lucid, there's no point in harassing CS or service about it.

 

[alancath]

Really bizarre. I definitely believe those who report the in-car nav or infotainment to be laggy, but now 3 weeks into my ownership of my Lucid Air I haven't see any instance of lag. My entire nav experience is nearly instantaneous, I don't even bother with CarPlay because it takes more time for me to use CarPlay than it does to use the native Lucid apps.

I know from my testing of the Hummer EV, the responsiveness of the Hummer's infotainment was very dependent on the LTE signal and quality in an area (they use AT&T from what I know). It's for that reason that for MY25, GMC started moving most their EV lineups to 5G connectivity to reduce customer complaints about input lag. I wonder if Lucid is signal-dependent as well?

Nevertheless, I'd definitely pay to upgrade the chip if that option actually became available, just because you can't ever have too much speed and power

Try switching profiles, especially unintentionally, which is an easy mistake to make when using Homelink (the UI is a trap - the menus are right next to each other and look identical). This takes ~30 seconds and frequently happens when leaving home.

Another extremely laggy (and tenuous) system: locking & unlocking (typically instantaneous in other cars); not sure if it would benefit by this alleged CPU upgrade.

 

[hmp10]

Either way, until it's announced by Lucid, there's no point in harassing CS or service about it.

That's assuming Lucid announces it. Due to the load it might put on already-busy Service Centers, they might just make it available to customers who ask about it instead of soliciting owners to make the change. That's been the case with Tesla on occasion, such as when a wheel became available to replace the yoke.

I agree, though, that at this point it's better to wait a bit, especially as recent inquires have been made with no result. Either Lucid will announce it, or put it up on the Lucid Store, or a forum member will eventually get one and let everyone know they've become available.

 

[fisheral]

I just spoke to the service center because my car is already going in for repair in late September and I figured I might be able to kill two birds with one stone. They told me they can't do anything until Lucid announces/rolls out the upgrade program, but that I was "definitely not the first person to call about this."