Gravity Remote Start -- Another Software Bust

[msaunders9430]

Both the Air and the Gravity prevent you from putting the car into gear while a charge cable is attached. This safety feature has been in both models from the outset, long before remote start (or the Air mobile key) came along.

I think the reason the remote start feature doesn't unlock the car is because it is intended for use before you go out to the car and may not want to leave it unlocked before you get there. However, that makes the 2-minute limit seem a bit tight.

But this raises another question. If you still have to use the app (or a key fob or card) to unlock the car once you get to it, what is the point of a remote start feature to power it up beforehand? If it's to start climatizing the interior before you arrive, you could turn the A/C on from the app from its inception. If it's to warm the engine up, that's not an issue with electric cars as it was with ICE cars.

In short, without unlocking the car or the charge cable, I don't see anything this new "feature" does that you couldn't already do remotely with the app. All it does is power up the car, which an EV does instantly, anyway, as soon as you open the doors. . . assuming the screens aren't frozen, which they sometimes are in a Lucid and which the remote start doesn't cure.

Really, folks. The mobile key I get. The remote start I don't. What useful function does this feature provide that wasn't already there?

For me, what the remote start feature does that wasn't there already is allow me to drive the car without using the key fob or key card.
Granted I have a 2-minute window, but I know that parameter and am fine with it.
Also, even if I go outside the 2-minute window, I still don't need my key fob or key card to drive the car.
I don't even carry my fob with me anymore; just the card for backup.

If I've been charging, I unlock from the app, remove cable, and use remote start to drive.
I'm fine with that. Still no need for fob or card.

 

[hwy17er]

My limited use case is:

I'm in the garage and find I need to back the car out to access something in the garage. Instead of going back in my house to get the fob or key card, I can use my phone to unlock the car, get in and back it out. It's useful. But, I think it was issued to be a stop-gap measure to use your phone to drive your car, without touchless, wireless PAAK.

It does that. OK, fine, but still waiting for true wireless, no touch PAAK. "Remote Drive Off" might have been more descriptive, but then people might have thought it was more than it was...

and thus my point about skipping the fob

The other use case is if your wife calls you and the fob battery is now too weak and isn't being recognized so she can get home from Costco with a year's supply of groceries you can start the car remotely for her (or whomever) even if you are in another state.

 

[tmichael]

and thus my point about skipping the fob

The other use case is if your wife calls you and the fob battery is now too weak and isn't being recognized so she can get home from Costco with a year's supply of groceries you can start the car remotely for her (or whomever) even if you are in another state.

Yes! I can't tell you how many times that exact situation has happened to me!

 

[msaunders9430]

Yes! I can't tell you how many times that exact situation has happened to me!

Even the being in another state part?
So, exactly why do you choose to leave the state when your wife goes grocery shopping?

Uh-oh. Here comes the off-topic emoji.

 

[Saksak]

We have two buttons:

1. Lock/unlock button for doors and charge port.
2. Remote start button to allow someone in the car to start driving.

Lucid just gave us #2, and the misunderstandings and complaints are now:

• Remote start was greyed out because the charging cable was plugged in.
  • The OP thought this was a bug with the remote start, but now we know this is intentional and is the correct behavior.
• Remote start should also unlock all doors and charge ports.
  • “Allow the car to move” vs “lock/unlock” are two different user concepts. I can think of situations where I might want to allow the car to move but not lock/unlock the doors and leave that decision to those inside the car.
  • I’m ok with remote start the way it is. Shall we agree to disagree on this point? I’m fine with pressing two buttons instead of one in the very rare situations I might need to do so.

Remote start was a good additional feature in 3.5.1. It might not behave as some users want it to behave, but I don’t see any bug with the feature and is far from being a “software bust.” As others have pointed out, PaaK is a different concept that has yet to be implemented.

 

[apollo1403]

My key fob is safely put away in a drawer and not being used. I also expected this to work same as the Air but quickly realized it's not the same. It's a bit annoying that we have to press some extra buttons, but I am confident that it's temporary until we get to similar functionality as the Air.

I do have to remember to lock the car through the app as I walk away. Something that is not fully registered in my brain just yet.

 

[tmichael]

Even the being in another state part?
So, exactly why do you choose to leave the state when your wife goes grocery shopping?

Uh-oh. Here comes the off-topic emoji.

 

[hmp10]

We have two buttons:

1. Lock/unlock button for doors and charge port.
2. Remote start button to allow someone in the car to start driving.

Lucid just gave us #2, and the misunderstandings and complaints are now:

• Remote start was greyed out because the charging cable was plugged in.
  • The OP thought this was a bug with the remote start, but now we know this is intentional and is the correct behavior.
• Remote start should also unlock all doors and charge ports.
  • “Allow the car to move” vs “lock/unlock” are two different user concepts. I can think of situations where I might want to allow the car to move but not lock/unlock the doors and leave that decision to those inside the car.
  • I’m ok with remote start the way it is. Shall we agree to disagree on this point? I’m fine with pressing two buttons instead of one in the very rare situations I might need to do so.

Remote start was a good additional feature in 3.5.1. It might not behave as some users want it to behave, but I don’t see any bug with the feature and is far from being a “software bust.” As others have pointed out, PaaK is a different concept that has yet to be implemented.

That's a good synopsis of where this thread landed.

However, I would point out a few things that triggered the creation of this thread. First, the email Lucid sent out that first made me aware of this feature referred to it as "keyless driving" using the "mobile app". As I have an Air with PaaK -- which Lucid calls "mobile key" -- I assumed this was the same feature in the Gravity.

I was further confused when the email said it came with "the latest software update 2.5.1". When I couldn't get the Gravity to behave as the Air does with the mobile key, I assumed there was a software update I had missed. But I was confused because our Gravity already has 3.5.1. So I thought it must be a mobile app update to which they were referring. So I checked the Apple App Store and found there was no update beyond the 2.14.1 I already had. So I called Customer Service and found that 2.5.1 in the Lucid email was a typo.

In my book, this was a very confusing way to roll out this feature. And it left me wondering why the Air has had the mobile key feature for some time, but they were rolling out something less complete in the Gravity.

Beyond that, I am currently so beleaguered with the expanding array of software issues we've seen since 3.5.1 and so exhausted from chasing down the cause of one malfunction after another that my patience for all this is wearing very, very, very thin. Consequently, I tend to react a bit strongly to further hiccoughs.

 

[hmp10]

I do have to remember to lock the car through the app as I walk away. Something that is not fully registered in my brain just yet.

I now have to do the same thing even though I keep the key on me, as the car now often fails to lock and power down after I move away from it. (It also now fails to recognize the key fob upon approach, even with a new battery in it.). Several other posters on the forum have reported the same thing has started to occur with their cars.

 

[TahoeMichael]

My takeaway from all this is that the Gravity is obviously missing a hardware feature: there should be a motorized charging cable ejector, so you don't need to bother removing the cable yourself.

 

[msaunders9430]

My takeaway from all this is that the Gravity is obviously missing a hardware feature: there should be a motorized charging cable ejector, so you don't need to bother removing the cable yourself.

I can see the lawsuits or service calls.
Concussion from charging cable impact due to miscalibration of ejector motor.

 

[dbsb3233]

I now have to do the same thing even though I keep the key on me, as the car now often fails to lock and power down after I move away from it. (It also now fails to recognize the key fob upon approach, even with a new battery in it.). Several other posters on the forum have reported the same thing has started to occur with their cars.

Still frustrating that they didn't include a confirmation chirp for walkaway lock in 3.5.1. Seems so simple.

I have noticed the car do 2 shallow horn honks a couple of times recently, but not most times. Not sure what that's about. Doesn't seem to be walkaway lock confirmation because it usually doesn't happen. But it has maybe twice (although perhaps for a different reason?). No idea.

 

[fencing_dad]

For me, what the remote start feature does that wasn't there already is allow me to drive the car without using the key fob or key card.
Granted I have a 2-minute window, but I know that parameter and am fine with it.
Also, even if I go outside the 2-minute window, I still don't need my key fob or key card to drive the car.
I don't even carry my fob with me anymore; just the card for backup.

If I've been charging, I unlock from the app, remove cable, and use remote start to drive.
I'm fine with that. Still no need for fob or card.

+1 to all this. I use the feature precisely the way you describe, and I enjoy it when it works. My experience has one Byzantine failure mode, though, that trips me up pretty often. Perhaps some of the people experiencing inconsistency have poor cellular coverage in their garage, as I do...

CONDITIONS TO REPRO:
* poor cell service in the garage. (Connect both phone and car to home WiFi so that app features that require cloud connectivity work smoothly.)
* Phone is associated with the car for wireless Android Auto
* charging cable is plugged in to the car

WHAT HAPPENS:
Sitting in my living room, I can stop charging if needed, and hit the unlock button to release the charging cable. Then I remember that I can't hit the remote start button while the car is plugged in. So walk out to the car and pull out the charging cable. By this point, Android Auto often comes up in the car. Great, it connects fast! That's good... except that when android auto connects, the phone connects to the car's hotspot and disconnects from the home wifi. Now the phone can't reach the internet so I can't use the remote start button. Aaarrggh!

WHAT I EXPECT TO HAPPEN:
Exactly what happens. A classic case of "working as implemented."

WHAT I I WISH WOULD HAPPEN:
Real PAAK (I guess that may be coming later,) or allow me to hit the remote start and start the 2 min timer while the charging cable is unlocked but still plugged in. (Or, ironically, a bigger lag to connect wireless android auto so I can quickly mash the start button after unplugging the cable. Sigh.)

 

[hmp10]

My experience has one Byzantine failure mode, though, that trips me up pretty often . . . .

WHAT HAPPENS . . .

WHAT I EXPECT TO HAPPEN . . .

WHAT I WISH WOULD HAPPEN . . . .

That's part of the problem with all these "convenience" software features. For many of them to work, a half dozen conditions have to align perfectly for them to work as intended . . . so they often don't.

Sometimes it's better not to attempt to use a feature the car offers, but human nature doesn't work that way. When you are told something is available, you have an urge to get it or use it. That's why blue light specials at Walmart work. And this is especially the case when it's a feature in something that cost well over $100K.

For instance, I've noticed that an increasing number of posters are turning off their HUD units in the Gravity for various reasons: the image is too high in the field of view and can't be adjusted downward enough; it has no adaptive brightness adjustment or can't be turned down low enough at night; the reflections from the screen and frame interfere with the image and in tandem create too much visual noise; you have to use non-polarized sunglasses, etc. Yet it's a decision most note resenting having to make, just because the feature is there.

And these frustrations compound in a car with as many other software bugs as the Gravity has.

 

[RajD]

My remote start has worked since 3.5.1 with zero issues. I love this feature (something i used frequently with my Teslas).

 

[9point81]

I have noticed the car do 2 shallow horn honks a couple of times recently, but not most times. Not sure what that's about. Doesn't seem to be walkaway lock confirmation because it usually doesn't happen. But it has maybe twice (although perhaps for a different reason?). No idea.

So I've noticed that the car honks when you walk out of key range and it attempts to lock, but a door/trunk/frunk isn't closed yet. Once all of those are closed, the car then locks and powers down. What many of us would like, is for a horn/chirp to happen every time we walk away and it locks up. I would love for it to do that.

 

[Saksak]

My key fob is safely put away in a drawer and not being used. I also expected this to work same as the Air but quickly realized it's not the same. It's a bit annoying that we have to press some extra buttons, but I am confident that it's temporary until we get to similar functionality as the Air.

I do have to remember to lock the car through the app as I walk away. Something that is not fully registered in my brain just yet.

I still carry the key fob. It stays in my pocket and is still a convenience over pulling out my phone and pressing buttons.

I hope you are carrying the keycard for areas without cell phone reception!

 

[msaunders9430]

+1 to all this. I use the feature precisely the way you describe, and I enjoy it when it works. My experience has one Byzantine failure mode, though, that trips me up pretty often. Perhaps some of the people experiencing inconsistency have poor cellular coverage in their garage, as I do...

CONDITIONS TO REPRO:
* poor cell service in the garage. (Connect both phone and car to home WiFi so that app features that require cloud connectivity work smoothly.)
* Phone is associated with the car for wireless Android Auto
* charging cable is plugged in to the car

WHAT HAPPENS:
Sitting in my living room, I can stop charging if needed, and hit the unlock button to release the charging cable. Then I remember that I can't hit the remote start button while the car is plugged in. So walk out to the car and pull out the charging cable. By this point, Android Auto often comes up in the car. Great, it connects fast! That's good... except that when android auto connects, the phone connects to the car's hotspot and disconnects from the home wifi. Now the phone can't reach the internet so I can't use the remote start button. Aaarrggh!

WHAT I EXPECT TO HAPPEN:
Exactly what happens. A classic case of "working as implemented."

WHAT I I WISH WOULD HAPPEN:
Real PAAK (I guess that may be coming later,) or allow me to hit the remote start and start the 2 min timer while the charging cable is unlocked but still plugged in. (Or, ironically, a bigger lag to connect wireless android auto so I can quickly mash the start button after unplugging the cable. Sigh.)

What do you mean " ... the phone connects to the car's hotspot ..."?

I'm not aware of the Gravity having a WiFi hotspot feature.
I can use my phone to create a hotspot for the car to connect to, but no need when I have home WiFi access or cellular service.

 

[hwy17er]

Still frustrating that they didn't include a confirmation chirp for walkaway lock in 3.5.1. Seems so simple.

I have noticed the car do 2 shallow horn honks a couple of times recently, but not most times. Not sure what that's about. Doesn't seem to be walkaway lock confirmation because it usually doesn't happen. But it has maybe twice (although perhaps for a different reason?). No idea.

My GGT chirps if I use the fob to lock as I walk away; although it is kind of quiet. Wonder if the volume is adjustable in a SW setting?

 

[msaunders9430]

My GGT chirps if I use the fob to lock as I walk away; although it is kind of quiet. Wonder if the volume is adjustable in a SW setting?

I've had the experience of a chirp if I press the fob to lock, think the car isn't locked, and then press the fob again.