I just visited the Lucid Seattle Service Center. For three weeks, they have had a (temporary) Studio there too. Here are my impressions of Lucid. I confirmed order 3/30/22, AGT, Silver, Tahoe, 19”.
I am 6’-5”, 210 lbs, 38” Tall inseam, 36” waist, XXL Tall for jackets, 13 wide shoes, mid 60s. Typically wear hiking shoes in the car. I am not a car guy, but since 2007, I have travelled out of state about fifteen plus separate weeks per year (air + rental car) and same even during COVID. I always rent full size sedan and take whatever brand they give me, but sometimes they give me luxury or SUV instead. I always bring one carry on and two suitcases 45 lbs each. I likely drive more cars than my own.
I visited most dealer ships in the greater Seattle area at the beginning of the year to find a car/SUV with good leg room and finalized on XC90 hybrid extended range 455 HP (with non-flat battery) – six months plus lead time. Lack of cars in show rooms made it generally cumbersome.
I measured maximum leg room for left and right leg. I measured from the bottom of the shoe heel to the bottom of the back bottom of the driver seat and with stretched tape measure. For the left leg, I took the largest measurement of the left footrest and the area between the footrest and brake pedal if there was enough room for the shoe. I list the measurements as L/H. The cars/SUVs that made the cut to even be considered were Lincoln Aviator 50”/45”, GV80 50”/46”, G90 50”/46”, XC90 50”/46”, and QX60 48.5”/45”. Some of the aforementioned did not have enough ceiling height or the steering wheel did not come out far enough. XC90 was the best pick. My 2014 Altima has 51”/45”. With 51”, I can keep my leg completely straight. For example, none of Audi car/SUV, BMW car/SUV, Lexus car/SUV, Acura car/SUV, or Porsche car/SUV made my cut. I know that Impala sedan has excellent leg groom, but they do not sell it anymore.
Lucid had a white AGT in the parking lot of the service center when I arrived. I was unimpressed by its looks and had to look twice to ensure it was a Lucid. To me, it looked particular but reminiscent of what was a hot topic 20+ year ago – not today. They had a black AGT indoors. I also saw a customer’s red Air. Air looks better online than in real life.
Step in/out to/of the driver seat is likely the tightest of all sedans – double fold body and “crawl in”. Step in/out to/of the back seat is worse. However, I fast-pace hike unmaintained forest trails six miles five days a week for exercise so no trouble for me stepping in/out.
The Airs on display were pre-production cars. I measured Lucid Air to 50”/44.5” leg room. However, the steering wheel needs to come out three more inches than it can for comfort and to use full leg room comfortably. (The overall travel range of the steering wheel seems to be small too.) Could not rest my right elbow on the center console arm rest and hold any part of the steering wheel simultaneously – distance too large. Not a good or comfortable place to rest left elbow at the inside of the door and being able to hold any part of the steering wheel simultaneously. Somehow the center console interferes a little with the right leg. I keep my heel on the floor and foot on the accelerator as typical. However, to brake for comfort and reaction speed, I keep the heel down and swing the upper part of the foot over to the brake pedal. I do this on all cars. However, in Lucid something under the panel prevented me from this move – cannot handle shoes size 13 wide. I have to lift the entire foot and leg and move back and then over to the brake pedal. In total, not ideal leg room, no arm rests, steering wheel not far enough out, and center console encroachment, etc. -- drive comfort is not great.
With the driver seat in the most comfortable position, the SA could sit behind it in the back seat but only with keeping the legs spread apart. However, he could not get into the back seat to this position since the back of the front seat was hanging over the entire foot area of the back seat, so could not get into back seat seating position. He was young, of average height, and fit body build. XC90 is a little bit better in this regard.
Good ceiling height in both front and rear seats. Cabin is nice and fairly open-spaced. The seat of the back seat is low, so I sit with knees “at my chest”. The knee situation is similar to sitting in the third row of a medium-sized SUV albeit with more leg room in Air but cannot be used since the knees are way up in the air. For long trips, the back seat is really only best suited for people of average height and shorter.
Sun visors are good as in any car. Flips up/down and sideways with extension to the door window.
Mechanical buttons for basic seat adjustments, temperature, fan, and radio volume – good.
I have Samsung 20+ with case. By far it does not fit in the charger slot. Do not think it will fit without case either. However, newer phones seldom need to be charged during the day and, upon need, it is easy to just plug in a cord.
Unlikely, soda cans, burger takeout medium drink, or a water bottler from a 36-bottle sheet from the grocery store will fit in the cup holders. Water bottle may not fit in the door pocket even laying down. Will bring all three items for revisit and test. There is a storage area by the phone chargers and a furniture maker could custom make an insert for this area having two normally sized cup holders. Could also see if cup holder extenders/enlargers will work.
Measured trunk height to ~13” -- the half of the trunk close to the opening is taller. Typical suitcases are 31.0" x 20.0" x 12.75". With the middle zipper extender open, the suitcase will unlikely fit in the trunk. Larger suitcases will not fit. Could not tell if two suitcases fit. Will bring two suitcases for revisit and test. Based on all my car rentals and that I always bring two suitcases and one carry on, Air has one of the smallest trunks on the sedan market in particular regrading fitting one larger item. The back of the back seat can be folded, in sections, for transportation of larger boxes or skies. There is also a ski opening in the seat back.
Apparently, it takes three to four menu changes or radio button presses to open/close garage doors. One of the most cumbersome in the industry, and I would custom mount remotes on the sun visor or elsewhere hoping the signal will go through the windshield. I would need to do this for three garage doors. Likewise, members report it seems to take ~30 sec to get the car rolling out of the garage. My laptop boots in 10 sec and has 100s of applications and 2/3 of the 17” monitor is filled with app icons.......
From the forum, I understand that the door handles are unreliable, fob battery wears out early, car battery discharges, etc. One member commented on being at the airport and the car locked itself, and he could not get in. Unacceptable -- hello flat bed. I would be outmost upset and have a rental car in five minutes and have a towing company dealing with all of it no matter the cost.
Members have infinite discrepancy comments on software issues. However, I know firsthand that all low volume software is garbage, has unlikely been thoroughly tested on an HIL bench, and its HMI unlikely has been tested on typical and atypical demographics. However, I would not use any of it in any car. Just use the radio and put google maps on my phone for direction – done.
In total, and not what I was hoping for, I found Air is less suited for a tall person, or really not, at least for longer drives. Together with all the discrepancies members report and that, for example, you cannot buy a take-out burger with drink, I need to reconsider. I will bring 2014 Altima and XC90 to the service center again, perhaps more than once, and really compare, so I do not talk myself into Air having enough driver comfort and legroom when it really may not and will instead become a mere toy car for shorter trips and if so purchase it for that reason. The cost of the car is not as important to me but for someone it is, I do not recommend purchase due to all the headaches on top of the price. People 6’ and shorter will fit and can buy the car unseen.
