Faster Chip Available for Retrofitting in the Air?

[joec]

There is not one iota of information to suggest Lucid will offer a motor mount retrofit. All we saw was a report that the 2025 Air will have isolation mounts on the front motor.

Lucid will be making all kinds of changes to the Air as it evolves, and all will presumably confer some advantage. Such was the case with the switch from resistive heating to a heat pump, which will not be retrofitted. Such is the case with internal motor modifications that enhance efficiency but will not be retrofitted. Such is the increase in GT battery capacity from 112 to 118 kWh, without any prospect of retrofitting.

Switching out a computer chip is one thing. Changing elements in the core of the car's structure are another.

People should really not speculate on or feed an expectation that such core changes will be offered as retrofits unless they affect safety or seriously impact reliability, such as the replacements of the HV battery packs in some cars.

Yes. 100% this. We don’t need to be spreading misinformation here.

I, for one, am happy to see Air evolving so quickly. I was hoping Lucid wouldn’t pull a Tesla and only upgrade their cars once every five or six years.

Retrofits are extremely rare in the auto industry. The only reason any of us is hoping for the chip retrofit is because these two YouTubers suggested it’s available. And, as many have said, swapping out a computer chip is generally easier than remounting a motor.

 

[Lucken]

I’m also unsure what a new chip, if it actually did become available, would confer to the everyday use of the car. I’m not seeing any painfully slow aspects to the UI that would have me chomping at the bit for this chip swap.

 

[fisheral]

I’m also unsure what a new chip, if it actually did become available, would confer to the everyday use of the car. I’m not seeing any painfully slow aspects to the UI that would have me chomping at the bit for this chip swap.

The glass cockpit does get pretty hot after a while in use (try touching the back of it), so a much better chip could be both underclocked and still faster.

 

[segbrk]

The glass cockpit does get pretty hot after a while in use (try touching the back of it), so a much better chip could be both underclocked and still faster.

I don't think that has any relation to the infotainment computer's heat. For me at least that thing just gets hot from the sun.

 

[DeaneG]

The glass cockpit does get pretty hot after a while in use (try touching the back of it), so a much better chip could be both underclocked and still faster.

I suspect a lot of that is the display's backlight.

 

[RM-S8]

Out of curiosity, I inquired about the software retrofit, I was being told that the Sapphire already has it and it will be available in the near future for older Airs.
That aside, i compared my GT-P and the Sapphire. I can't see any difference.

 

[joec]

Out of curiosity, I inquired about the software retrofit, I was being told that the Sapphire already has it and it will be available in the near future for older Airs.
That aside, i compared my GT-P and the Sapphire. I can't see any difference.

Yes. Sapphire already has the newer chip. I believe that chip was required to run the advanced in-house driving dynamics software they developed for Sapphire.

 

[borski]

Is it because of physical constraint or technological incompatibility?

No idea, but I would surmise that @NoseyReporter is right.

Out of curiosity, I inquired about the software retrofit, I was being told that the Sapphire already has it and it will be available in the near future for older Airs.
That aside, i compared my GT-P and the Sapphire. I can't see any difference.

The Sapphire and new cars will already come with the new chip; the Sapphire always did, it was the first vehicle to use it.

 

[Lightmatrix]

I would welcome an enhanced processor for the vehicle. I find the native nav to route oddly vs. Google/Waze/Apple. Not necessarily better, either. A snappier response time for door unlock, USB load, driver profile changes, and future enhancements would certainly be a nice thing to have. BUT it isn't necessarily slow now in every way.

It was funny to me, however, when I took delivery of my 2024, the guy giving me the walkthrough on my brand new car mentioned how much faster the 2025 response time was... like, thanks for telling me the car I just bought is already outdated! Lol

 

[borski]

I would welcome an enhanced processor for the vehicle. I find the native nav to route oddly vs. Google/Waze/Apple. Not necessarily better, either. A snappier response time for door unlock, USB load, driver profile changes, and future enhancements would certainly be a nice thing to have. BUT it isn't necessarily slow now in every way.

It was funny to me, however, when I took delivery of my 2024, the guy giving me the walkthrough on my brand new car mentioned how much faster the 2025 response time was... like, thanks for telling me the car I just bought is already outdated! Lol

Just to be clear, the chip being discussed would not affect the nav at all, except to make it snappier.

 

[borski]

It was funny to me, however, when I took delivery of my 2024, the guy giving me the walkthrough on my brand new car mentioned how much faster the 2025 response time was... like, thanks for telling me the car I just bought is already outdated! Lol

Haha maybe trying to talk you into waiting and spending more on the 2025

 

[hmp10]

Out of curiosity, I inquired about the software retrofit, I was being told that the Sapphire already has it and it will be available in the near future for older Airs.
That aside, i compared my GT-P and the Sapphire. I can't see any difference.

That's very interesting. It's helpful to hear from someone who lives with two different versions of the car.

I'm wondering if all Kyle Conner's talk about the enhanced "snappiness" of the new chip was actually a result of the fact that the test car he had some time ago (and to which he compared the 2025 car) was running an earlier version of the software. Quite a few of the update notes have referred to improvements in operability rather than the addition of features.

 

[Domo35]

I’m also unsure what a new chip, if it actually did become available, would confer to the everyday use of the car. I’m not seeing any painfully slow aspects to the UI that would have me chomping at the bit for this chip swap.

Rocklin, CA studio got ‘25 models in the other day. They were very nice and allowed me to check out the new infotainment chip. I can tell a big difference with every aspect in the navigation. It immediately pulled up rather than taking a few seconds to load. Maneuvering around the map, again was immediate with no lagginess. Inputting an address into the nav, the keyboard popped up immediately vs taking a few seconds. The auto zooming was smooth vs jerky. You get the idea. The other aspects of maneuvering through the various menus, music and hvac there wasn’t much of a difference. I personally hope Lucid does offer a paid chip upgrade at some point. I know some will respond back, I don’t use the nav, CarPlay or die, that’s fine and great but I have to figure Lucid is going to continue adding features to the car, so it has the potential of taxing the infotainment even more. I will not complain if Lucid does end up offering an unprecedented chip upgrade. As for the motor mounts, I didn’t get a chance to test drive the ‘25. I’m in the camp that likes the motor noise.

 

[scal_air]

Interesting...
So robustness = snappiness or robustness << snapiness...I'm confused . In general, I tend to believe processor upgrades will improve performance but I guess the question is how the software makes use of the hardware and how discerning or critical the end user is???

 

[Amster]

Since it probably won't be free, if it just makes menus come up faster I probably wouldn't pay for it. I'm not that impatient. But if it enables new features, that would be a different story.

 

[borski]

Since it probably won't be free, if it just makes menus come up faster I probably wouldn't pay for it. I'm not that impatient. But if it enables new features, that would be a different story.

It’s not going to enable new features. Of course I don’t know that for sure, but I have heard *regularly* from Lucid that the existing cars have everything needed for any features across the Air. Gravity is obviously a different story.

The main difference between the old and new chips is speed; snappiness, etc., just as @Domo35 wrote above.

And what’s funny is while you wouldn’t pay for it, which I completely understand… I absolutely would, lol. I’m so impatient!

 

[AlignTrex]

Wishful thinkers here. Lucid is a car company here to sell cars. The annual guidance or performance is based off of number of cars produced and/or delivered. Not parts or services rendered. Retrofits are unlikely. Closing the differentiation gap between new and old models won’t help it sell more cars. When a “better” model Air exists, I won’t hesitate to trade in my current Air for a newer one. As of now, a faster chip and a newer motor mount is just not making me to want to trade.

 

[hellolucid]

i would be very surprised if they offer this. i have seen so many rumors about software/hardware which never materialized so i don't trust this until it's official.

 

[momo3605]

Wishful thinkers here. Lucid is a car company here to sell cars. The annual guidance or performance is based off of number of cars produced and/or delivered. Not parts or services rendered. Retrofits are unlikely. Closing the differentiation gap between new and old models won’t help it sell more cars. When a “better” model Air exists, I won’t hesitate to trade in my current Air for a newer one. As of now, a faster chip and a newer motor mount is just not making me to want to trade.

I think Tesla was charging +/-$1000 for the FSD chip upgrade or the MCU2 upgrade. Both of which they offered at times. Though you were getting additional functionality for the money.

If it costs lucid 2 hours of labor and $100 for a part, I could see them at least OFFERING a $1000
Upgrade even if it’s not useful for everyone. I don’t know if I would pay $1000 for a snappier cpu, but I’m sure some people would. Helps earn trust with current customer base too that they will be supported as the cars improve over time

 

[thecodingart]

Wishful thinkers here. Lucid is a car company here to sell cars. The annual guidance or performance is based off of number of cars produced and/or delivered. Not parts or services rendered. Retrofits are unlikely. Closing the differentiation gap between new and old models won’t help it sell more cars. When a “better” model Air exists, I won’t hesitate to trade in my current Air for a newer one. As of now, a faster chip and a newer motor mount is just not making me to want to trade.

This is something the Model S offered in the early days (which the head of Lucid designed), plus a model most OEMs want to unlock.

The whole idea is far from far fetched and very grounded.

If they have the hardware and appetite to support it, it will save a ton on software headaches while offsetting costs to customers. They should do it and seems like they will.