Hagerty review featuring Jason Cammisa
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Oooh Weee!
Ooh, nice..so how many of us are going to the next track day?
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Frankly, Thunder Hill is calling me. Once I get the car it'll be hard not to head up there and do some moderately-hot laps. Would be great to feel more of the limits of the chassis setup so I can better control it off the track.
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Very nice!! He definitely destroyed those tires!!
DJ@SJ
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This video was posted in the Reddit Cars sub-directory. Jason Cammisa was personally answering questions and offering further opinions in the comments. I highly recommend those interested to check them out.
This is a good one here...
If you ever need to put people in the car, there's really no contest between the massive Air and the cramped Taycan. I haven't driven the RWD Taycan yet, so I can't speak to its range, speed, or efficiency, but as a "car," the Air just works better.
But that Taycan suuuure does look good.
If you ever need to put people in the car, there's really no contest between the massive Air and the cramped Taycan. I haven't driven the RWD Taycan yet, so I can't speak to its range, speed, or efficiency, but as a "car," the Air just works better.
But that Taycan suuuure does look good.
This is actually pretty much what a lot of us feel right now..
So, welcome to the Conundrum of the Modern Car Reviewer. I do indeed have gripes with the UI (and a lot of them.) The problem is that a review like ICONS on YouTube is permanent, but OTA-updatable cars aren't.
I'll be making a followup post on IG about this, but the infotainment system on the Lucid Air is by far the weakest part of the car. I didn't experience any significant crashes, but I find the interface incredibly cumbersome to use. And the car occasionally took 30s or more to boot, during which time I couldn't even move it.
I spent a lot of time in the car, and then spent a lot of time in a debrief with the engineers. I didn't find a single issue that they weren't already aware of, and weren't already working on. (Except perhaps the PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF light, which, even at night, is brighter than the surface of the sun.)
Because of their transparency and honesty with me, I genuinely believe those few bugs I noticed are being worked on. And so I chose to concentrate the narrative on the things that AREN'T changeable: the hardware. The Air's packaging is truly game-changing. The chassis tuning is possibly better than the Taycan's.
There are benefits to having a team of Real Car Guys develop a car, and maaaaan does this car benefit from those. There are also drawbacks — because you could say their priorities aren't fully in line with the consumer. The average consumer won't notice limit-handling and 4-wheel drifts from the AWD-programming gods; they'll be pissed that they're sitting in their driveway waiting for the car to boot. Or that there's no Autopilot. Or that there's no CarPlay/Android Auto.
So yeah, nothing's perfect. But the hardware is right and the rest can be fixed. At least, I hope it will.
So, welcome to the Conundrum of the Modern Car Reviewer. I do indeed have gripes with the UI (and a lot of them.) The problem is that a review like ICONS on YouTube is permanent, but OTA-updatable cars aren't.
I'll be making a followup post on IG about this, but the infotainment system on the Lucid Air is by far the weakest part of the car. I didn't experience any significant crashes, but I find the interface incredibly cumbersome to use. And the car occasionally took 30s or more to boot, during which time I couldn't even move it.
I spent a lot of time in the car, and then spent a lot of time in a debrief with the engineers. I didn't find a single issue that they weren't already aware of, and weren't already working on. (Except perhaps the PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF light, which, even at night, is brighter than the surface of the sun.)
Because of their transparency and honesty with me, I genuinely believe those few bugs I noticed are being worked on. And so I chose to concentrate the narrative on the things that AREN'T changeable: the hardware. The Air's packaging is truly game-changing. The chassis tuning is possibly better than the Taycan's.
There are benefits to having a team of Real Car Guys develop a car, and maaaaan does this car benefit from those. There are also drawbacks — because you could say their priorities aren't fully in line with the consumer. The average consumer won't notice limit-handling and 4-wheel drifts from the AWD-programming gods; they'll be pissed that they're sitting in their driveway waiting for the car to boot. Or that there's no Autopilot. Or that there's no CarPlay/Android Auto.
So yeah, nothing's perfect. But the hardware is right and the rest can be fixed. At least, I hope it will.
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Since you have the engineers' ear, perhaps you can ask them why so much Velcro in the car, instead of clips. With the intense summer heat here in Az, I'm a bit concerned that one day I may find parts of the car literally hanging down by a melted Velcro strip .
Oh no I need to put Jason's comment in quotes. That was a question he answered on Reddit.
And all this time, I was impressed that you're so well connected
Another great comment from Jason
So, my feelings are that they both fail as consumer products, EQS and Taycan, but for opposite reasons.
EQS fails on the face of it. Or, rather, its face. It's frumpy and unappealing (great styling details, I think, but awkward proportions that make it look like a Corolla.) Te suspension tuning is nausea-inducing for all passengers. And then the back seat is a nonstarter for livery use. Why do we buy an S-Class over an E-Class? Back seat space. So, Stuttgart we have a problem.
Taycan is the opposite — wow, is it appealing. Initially. But then it suffers as a car. Horrendous real-world range — the worst efficiency of any non-truck EV ever tested by the EPA. Charmless driving experience, difficult infotainment. And then an uncomfortable back seat. Plus, a clunky 2-speed rear transmission.
I don't think Mercedes redefined anything except styling. And that's only skin deep. The thing looks like a walrus on the road, with no presence at all. Even my local dealer calls it "the Corolla."
So, my feelings are that they both fail as consumer products, EQS and Taycan, but for opposite reasons.
EQS fails on the face of it. Or, rather, its face. It's frumpy and unappealing (great styling details, I think, but awkward proportions that make it look like a Corolla.) Te suspension tuning is nausea-inducing for all passengers. And then the back seat is a nonstarter for livery use. Why do we buy an S-Class over an E-Class? Back seat space. So, Stuttgart we have a problem.
Taycan is the opposite — wow, is it appealing. Initially. But then it suffers as a car. Horrendous real-world range — the worst efficiency of any non-truck EV ever tested by the EPA. Charmless driving experience, difficult infotainment. And then an uncomfortable back seat. Plus, a clunky 2-speed rear transmission.
I don't think Mercedes redefined anything except styling. And that's only skin deep. The thing looks like a walrus on the road, with no presence at all. Even my local dealer calls it "the Corolla."
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We had an interesting dinner this evening. We went to a restaurant in a very busy outdoor entertainment/shopping mall. When the valet saw the Air, he asked if I wanted him to leave the car at the valet station right in front of the patio dining area (for 20 bucks, of course). I thought it might be interesting to see what kind of notice the car drew, so I said yes and asked the hostess for patio seating. Our car was then parked right in front of a blue Tesla Model X.
Being a beautiful, mild Friday evening, the sidewalk traffic alongside the cars was very heavy. I'd say probably two-thirds of the passersby paid no attention to the car at all. But of the third or so who did notice the car, a goodly portion of them really gave it a going over. People were peering inside, looking under the rear bumper for exhaust pipes, looking at the front and rear logos. Some people then left and came back a few minutes later with a larger group. A lot of cell phone cameras were out, and one guy must have taken a dozen pictures from every angle. One woman, rather annoyingly, leaned against the car with her purse rubbing the paint while her husband photographed her. A couple gave the car a thorough going over, left, and came back a few minutes later with ice cream cones that they ate while staring at the car. I'd say that roughly as many women as men were the first in a group to notice the car, and the people who examined the car most closely skewed to the "mature" end of things.
Then . . . the owner of the Model X came out to his car. I couldn't see exactly what transpired, but suddenly his car was flashing its lights and flapping its falcon-wing doors, using that built-in circus sideshow program that makes the car appear to dance. It elicited a lot of laughter, some of it in true amusement but some of it appearing a bit derisive.
What immediately sprang to mind was Jason Cammisa's remarks in the Hagerty video: Tesla imagines the future as teenage video gamers see it; Lucid imagines the future as sports car enthusiasts see it.
Being a beautiful, mild Friday evening, the sidewalk traffic alongside the cars was very heavy. I'd say probably two-thirds of the passersby paid no attention to the car at all. But of the third or so who did notice the car, a goodly portion of them really gave it a going over. People were peering inside, looking under the rear bumper for exhaust pipes, looking at the front and rear logos. Some people then left and came back a few minutes later with a larger group. A lot of cell phone cameras were out, and one guy must have taken a dozen pictures from every angle. One woman, rather annoyingly, leaned against the car with her purse rubbing the paint while her husband photographed her. A couple gave the car a thorough going over, left, and came back a few minutes later with ice cream cones that they ate while staring at the car. I'd say that roughly as many women as men were the first in a group to notice the car, and the people who examined the car most closely skewed to the "mature" end of things.
Then . . . the owner of the Model X came out to his car. I couldn't see exactly what transpired, but suddenly his car was flashing its lights and flapping its falcon-wing doors, using that built-in circus sideshow program that makes the car appear to dance. It elicited a lot of laughter, some of it in true amusement but some of it appearing a bit derisive.
What immediately sprang to mind was Jason Cammisa's remarks in the Hagerty video: Tesla imagines the future as teenage video gamers see it; Lucid imagines the future as sports car enthusiasts see it.
The amount of people who take pictures of the car is staggering. Maybe because I have never ever considered taking a picture of someone else's car. The Air definitely gets A LOT of attention.
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I was down at the Chandler airport today and ran into Kirby Chambliss (Red Bull Champion and Airshow pilot) only because I had my Lucid parked nearby and he wanted to know more about it. I am not sure if I convinced him to buy one but I would not be surprised. He already drives a Tesla Model X and wants something with more range.
That's usually what I hear as well from Tesla folks "need more range". We're already selling our brand new Model X LR we received today! 11 months wait but oh well a few more months for Lucid won't hurt coz of the range at the very least
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