Let's talk about the Air's interior compared to competing luxury cars

[Muhammad]

I initially commented on a post comparing the Air to the EQS and noticed the distaste for the EQS' interior over the Lucid's simple interior. I would like to just repost that comment in this post since this aspect of the Air has been bugging me quite a bit. Essentially, I find that for how much the Lucid Air costs and the segment it is competing in the interior just does not cut it. Sure most of the materials are good but the visual aspect and experience isn't exactly there. Doug DeMuro did briefly comment on this stating that the Air definitely isn't as luxurious on the inside as its german competitors and I absolutely agree. I have personally sat in one for a good amount as well wondering if they just took the base model's interior and copied it to every trim. It felt like I was in a $70-80,000 car rather than a six figure car and this was the same price that my friends had in mind until I told them it was above $100,000. At that point, they were shocked since it didn't seem exciting to them from a visual standpoint. To put it best I am a fan of interiors in Bentleys, Mercedes S class, and the EQS. The Air is just overly simplistic for the money and I can't forgive how many promised features have been stripped without a drop in price especially standard luxury features such as powered doors and air suspension. Anyway, I will leave my comment from the other thread below and would like to know if I am alone on this or what you all think.

I'm very surprised that the Lucid's simplistic interior is being accepted over the EQS' interior. I'm personally finding it very hard to confirm my Grand Touring reservation due to the interior as I do not see how it is worth it for the money. The EQS offers much more for less in terms of interior technology and quality/looks. I believe it could be due to the target audience? The Lucid seems to appeal to an older audience hence why I think the EQS' hyper-screen and modern fashion sense is not appreciated by the Lucid audience. The quilted leather for instance is something I really like and many of my leather jackets from Boda Skins that I wear for example are quilted giving a modern twist to the classic leather biker jacket. I receive immense compliments for this quilted style of jackets with many people telling me how much they love the quilted design so this hate for quilted leather in a vehicle seemed strange to me. I have always found this beautiful and the seats of the Air appear overly bland to me especially for the money and many others I've shown them to have been unimpressed. Also, I appreciate the ambient lighting in the EQS and if one does find it distasteful why not disable them? Again, I truly am amazed by the reaction to the EQS' interior. I've noticed that the younger reviewers <40 tend to appreciate it. In fact, Kyle from Out of Spec Reviews really loves it despite the hideous exterior of the EQS. Doug DeMuro really likes the EQS' interior as well while stating that the Air definitely doesn't meet German rivals' level of luxury. I am personally a fan of the EQS' interior being a buyer at 21. I'm likely going to skip the Air and I may wait for the next EV that can offer great performance, a nice exterior, and a "gaudy" interior . In my eyes the Air's interior just took many bits from Tesla and the Porsche Taycan and combined them for something very underwhelming. The "cockpit display" is obviously copied from the Taycan while the overall simplicity mimics a Tesla which is what I wished to avoid with Teslas in the first place (alongside their quality issues of course). With all of this being said Lucid will continue to grow and change. I am sure this company's future is going to be great despite some hurdles. Despite this, I don't see myself being in one with the overly simplistic design choices and promised features that never made it and am probably canceling my order soon. I don't think range and performance is enough to justify the money although I really do want impressive performance in a car. I also don't really like the alcantara. Give me the option of leather and a full white or light colored interior instead of forcing black front seats and a black steering wheel. For me personally, if the Lucid Air Grand Touring had the EQS' interior that'd be the perfect car (alongside better paint options because the current ones definitely aren't that great). I think what they did was they played it safe by making the interior simple, probably did it to cut on costs, or it just made their job easier. Perhaps they truly think a six figure luxury sedan should look like an $70-80k from the inside. I don't like it and it does look like the base interior was just copied to all the trims. The best thing they could do is give buyers the ability to choose what they want like many of the established brands. Also, a side note but what's up with the cheap pedals especially in the $170k dream edition? Not only that but the cheap plastic door trigger that you'll be using for the lifetime of the car. So much for attention to detail.

 

[CraZ8]

Taste is subjective to be sure but I find very few miscues in the Lucids interior. Yes you can quibble about the interior door latches and the uncluttered design but I find the EQS design language garish and incoherent. I’m coming from a background of mostly German machinery as well as classics and antiques for the last 45 years and I think the lucid design team has done a commendable job. I put it right there in terms of visual appeal with my 74 BMW CSi and my 2002 BMW Z8. It’s miles ahead of my 2019 Tesla model S Raven as well as it’s successor the plaid. It may not be at the level of a Buggatti or Bentley or Rolls Royce but those are much more expensive cars with a design language all their own steeped in automotive legend. Lucid is carving an entirely new path. My two cents

 

[Lucken]

Muhammad, excuse me for being blunt, but with your styling predispositions, could you tell us what prompted you to order the Lucid in the first place? The interior styling has been known for quite some time. So why, at this stage of the game, has the realization that the interior didn’t meet your expectations hit you?

Even if you had never seen the EQS, I would think the many renderings of the Lucid’s interior would have told you this is not for you.

I‘m not being flip, I’m genuinely curious.

 

[hmp10]

I think the outgoing S-Class was among the most beautiful sedans, inside and out, Mercedes ever produced, in large part because of its restrained elegance. When the Vision Concept hit the show circuits, I thought Mercedes had done a great job of translating that elegance into a more modernistic EV vibe. Although I already had a reservation for a Lucid Air, I thought that the production EQS -- if it followed the Vision Concept in key areas of design -- might be the car I ended up buying.

Then the production version of the EQS landed, and I almost fell off my chair. Not only was the exterior a large lump, It had been the 1970's since I had seen an interior so loaded with chrome, plastic, quilting, garish lighting, and design lines running up, down, around, and under with no coherence whatsoever. And the hyperscreen was aptly named -- it looked like a designer on cocaine just couldn't stop until he ran out of space to plaster any more black glass.

I, too, don't know why anyone who thinks Mercedes landed a home run with the design of the EQS would even give the Lucid a passing thought as a purchase.

 

[stealthpilot]

I, too, don't know why anyone who thinks Mercedes landed a home run with the design of the EQS would even give the Lucid a passing thought as a purchase.

Speaking for myself, the answer is availability. I prefer the EQS, but if my dealer keeps struggling to get an allocation for the dual motor model, then I will take delivery of a Lucid and drive that until the EQS arrives. They're both good cars, the EQS is just more full featured. While I find the Lucid is better looking, I do like the overall package of the EQS, and when you spec it with the matte gray paint it is still a striking car.

I don't think the long-run resale outlook for the Lucid is very good. The Air GT is overpriced. It is priced where a triple motor version should be. The GT should be priced around $110. What is going to happen here is what happened to Tesla buyers when they cut the price of a P100D from $150k to $110k fully equipped.

 

[hmp10]

I don't think the long-run resale outlook for the Lucid is very good. The Air GT is overpriced. It is priced where a triple motor version should be. The GT should be priced around $110. What is going to happen here is what happened to Tesla buyers when they cut the price of a P100D from $150k to $110k fully equipped.

I paid $128,000 for a Tesla Model S P90D in 2015. Six years later -- during which performance and features of the S had improved considerably for less money -- I got $42,000 for it. CarFax reports that cars depreciate, on average, 15% per year. My P90D depreciated an average of just over 11% per year.

I would be quite happy if my Lucid depreciated at the rate of my Tesla, although I do expect the Dreams will depreciate at a faster rate than the GT's. I don't think the "exclusivity" factor for the extra power will play much role, as the tri-motor will be on the market before too long.

 

[hydbob]

Personally, I think the exact opposite of what you stated Muhammed. The EQS to me represents a more antiquated and traditional form of luxury, whereas the Lucid is the modern approach to luxury. Less is more for the Lucid. I compare it to the trend in housing and décor. Minimalism is the trend and has been for years and that trend leads to the direct comparison as you have pointed out. For comparison, my mother who is 65, I showed her pictures of both interiors. Her first response was, the Lucid doesn't look luxury from pictures. The EQS she said looks silly and stupid. Granted, the last Mercedes we owned was a 2008 S55 AMG. More recently, we had a Cayenne S as a comparison. The EQS for her was just TOO much stuff inside. Then she sat inside a Lucid in a studio and said, I get it. It's nice inside, the materials are nice and it feels like a luxury car, not in the traditional sense, but the more modern sense of what luxury is these days.

In the end, it's all personal opinion, and I agree with Lucken, why did you even order a Lucid with your stated opinion above?

 

[manitou202]

Speaking for myself, the answer is availability. I prefer the EQS, but if my dealer keeps struggling to get an allocation for the dual motor model, then I will take delivery of a Lucid and drive that until the EQS arrives. They're both good cars, the EQS is just more full featured. While I find the Lucid is better looking, I do like the overall package of the EQS, and when you spec it with the matte gray paint it is still a striking car.

I don't think the long-run resale outlook for the Lucid is very good. The Air GT is overpriced. It is priced where a triple motor version should be. The GT should be priced around $110. What is going to happen here is what happened to Tesla buyers when they cut the price of a P100D from $150k to $110k fully equipped.

I disagree. As someone coming from a Taycan Turbo S with an MSRP of $205k, the Lucid Air GT seems like a steal. It's very similarly equipped compared to my Taycan, actually better in many ways. It has over the air updates, much better range, 800hp versus 616hp (750hp for 2 seconds under launch control), a lot more room, and better materials. The Taycan has Porsche driving dynamics, and superior brakes, but not much else. For the price of an Air GT you are actually looking at a mid level Taycan 4S, which is much less competitive.

When compared to the EQS, the Air GT has the AMG level of performance. The AMG version will be similarly priced, or even more expensive, but still lack the range of the Air GT. Yes the EQS is probably more "luxurious" in the traditional sense, and has a more futuristic interior, but as stated in one of the other threads, I much prefer the Scandinavian interior design of the Air. The Air GT probably has superior driving dynamics compared to the Mercedes.

When compared to a Tesla Model S Plaid, again the Lucid has much better range, and is a couple steps up in terms of luxury and interior design. It may not be quite as fast as the Model S Plaid, but 800hp is getting beyond the needs for most people. The Tesla also feels a generation old at this point. Honestly I would argue that the Model S should be much more like the Lucid Air today. It would have been a better design direction for Tesla.

Overall I don't think there is much that competes with the Air GT in terms of price at the moment. Granted any of these cars will depreciate like a brick in a normal used car market. Who knows what resale values will look like for the next 12-24 months. But once supply chain pressure is released, I expect the Lucid to hold its own in terms of price, and resale value.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

Hopefully, Lucid will introduce a young driver mode. It's a ways off but I'd be very hesitant to put my daughter as a brand new 16 year old behind the wheel of my AGT.

 

[SDHacker]

I can see where @Muhammad is coming from. The EQS has a video game/SciFi feeling interior that probably appeals to his age group. If that is his vision of what a modern luxury interior should be, then he would obviously find the "gaudy" in your face technology display very appealing.

I agree the resale value of all current gen EVs will drop as new tech comes out - especially at the higher end of the market. If solid state battery claims play out, it will impact the value of Li-on cars. But that tends to be trend in the ICE market too - luxury cars drop in value much faster than mid level/economy cars and that's without much progress in terms of tech or performance.

 

[hellolucid]

as someone said above design is very subjective. you may not be a fan of Lucid's style and others may not be a fan of EQS and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm surprised that you haven't cancelled your order yet though because it sounds like you dislike the aesthetics (not to sound rude).

 

[Paladin732]

Hopefully, Lucid will introduce a young driver mode. It's a ways off but I'd be very hesitant to put my daughter as a brand new 16 year old behind the wheel of my AGT.

Its been like this for Teslas for a very long time. I'm not sure that any of the EVs with high performance offer a locked "parental control" to lower specs? It would actually be a great feature.

I'm one of those buyers that have gone back and forth between the Lucid and the EQS. A few points on each:


EQS:

• They very clearly intended the Hyperscreen to be one screen and just couldn't make it work. To me it looks like a cheap attempt at a Hyperscreen. I would be way more into it if it was a continuous screen instead of three screens glued together
• I felt there was an inordinate amount of plastic in the interior. Now, the ones I saw were base interiors and not the upgraded "design" interiors, which is what the one I preordered would be if I took delivery of it. So its possible some of that plastic goes away. However, I was really turned off by the amount of "fake leather print" plastic that I saw on the seats, and the quality of the leather
• The air vents felt gar-ish and cheap to me
• Performance is just subpar for an EV these days. It should at least do a full 1s 0-60 quicker in each the 450 and 580 varients
• Despite what they say, I doubt there will be a single OTA of any real value. Its just not what legacy automakers are doing
• It is definitely nice having more screen real-estate then the Lucid
• The HUD is a great add-on
• I love the extra interior lighting
• The car is absurdly long. 10" longer than the Lucid but roughly the same interior space.
• No Frunk (related to above. This gives me pause about what odd EV component decisions they made, and how good the tech is)
• 50K cheaper for the 580 vs Lucid DE. Granted, this is not a fair comparison, as it is closer to the GT or AGT where the prices are much closer.

Lucid:

• I actually really like the two-tone interiors. I hate how dirty light interiors get on the driver and passenger seat, but I greatly prefer them (I despise black interiors). This solves that problem
• I like the simplicity of the interior
• Someone above mentioned the dash was a ripoff of Taycan, but the design has been around since before the Taycan, so I don't believe that is true. I believe it is just taking advantage of newer LED screen technologies
• I'm disappointed that the suspension is not air, but it felt fantastic, so that disappointment is muted
• I'm really disappointed by the utter lack of transparency of the company, it makes me very concerned of what ownership will be like should there be any issues
• The drive mechanics and acceleration were fantastic. Yes, it won't beat a Plaid in a drag-race, but it will out-accelerate it when doing lane changes
• I'm really disappointed by the lack of proper ADAS out of the gate. The lack of transparency means I don't know if it will come in 2022 or 2023 or even 2024. This gives me pause.
• I like the OTA model to continue to deliver features as time goes on, and to improve existing features.

 

[hmp10]

Any discussion about the Lucid's interior should include an acknowledgement that it is a packaging marvel. Everyone who has gotten into our Dream Edition has commented on how unbelievably spacious it feels for a car of its exterior dimensions. Not only is the length of the interior cabin on par with the EQS (which has a 10" longer wheelbase), but several reviewers have noted that the Air has more rear headroom than the EQS (which is over 3" taller).

The Air has another design element that I did not realize until delivery. The interior door panels are scooped outward, providing several inches more elbow room. It's almost hard to see where they left room for the windows to lower. It gives the cabin a greater sense of width than our Model S Plaid, which is almost identical in exterior width.

On top of all that, the view to the outside over the dashboard is very open, while several reviewers have noted a disturbingly-high cowl height on the EQS, giving the interior a more claustrophobic feel.

 

[hmp10]

• I'm disappointed that the suspension is not air, but it felt fantastic, so that disappointment is muted

Lucid's decision midstream to dispense with an air suspension originally bothered me quite a bit. However, after reading up on things such as hysteresis lag in air suspensions and tests of coils vs. air springs in trucking applications, I began to suspect that Rawlinson (who comes from Jaguar and Lotus) knew what he was doing.

Now that we have both a Lucid Air and a Tesla Model S Plaid (with air suspension) in the garage, I can attest that the Lucid handles better and rides better than the Tesla. The Plaid has a serious problem with the front end becoming unplanted during hard acceleration, to the point that we dare not get all the way into the throttle. Tesla tried to address this with an OTA modification of the calibration, but it made barely any difference. The Air stays much more planted in the same circumstances, enabling more of its accelerative prowess to be used safely.

Other than ride height adjustment, I can see absolutely no point in putting an air suspension in the Air.

 

[HC_79]

I've never owned a Mercedes but having multiple Audi's over the last 10+ years I went German for the quality and the tech. After seeing the EQS and all the new Audi's coming out I feel they're shoving in all these features and huge screens in but don't really know how to make everything seamlessly work. My e-Tron has so many features which I thought were cool at the time of buying (I work in IT and love new tech) and quickly discovered that half the time it doesn't work properly and no real thought or planning went into how to integrate it all. It was just shoved in to just tick a box saying we've got a tonne of features over out competition. This is my impression with the EQS as well which is why I was alway leaning ordering a Lucid over the Mercedes. I agree with Paladin732, they may offer OTA but I don't trust that it will be used often.

Less is more these days. I never thought I would be saying this but I would rather less gimmicks etc. and just have what is in the car work. Also, you're not getting an EQS cheaper than a Lucid at the moment considering all these shady dealers are marking up by $20K to $50K etc. so it make the EQS more expensing the the AGT anyway.

 

[Grnr92663]

Having owned several German & Japanese luxury cars over the years, and after personally checking out both the Lucid Air and Mercedes EQS, we ordered the Air. The Mercedes EQS's interior, though looking flashy, reminds us of the old Microsoft Windows Media (which we worked on back then and still hate it til now).

When we test drove the EQS, we were so shocked that Mercedes seal off the front boot (frunk), hence they created a small door on the fender for users to refill the windshield washer! Even GM wouldn't do this low-tech approach! Then our friend, who's a tech at MBZ, sent us the pix of the EQS clunky packaging... then it all makes sense

For analogy between EV and smartphone, in both the "look and feel" and "substance", the Mercedes EQS is equivalent to the Vertu, while the Lucid is more like an iPhone. A quick look under the hood of both cars, and I hope some would agree with this statement.

 

[hmp10]

Less is more these days. I never thought I would be saying this but I would rather less gimmicks etc. and just have what is in the car work.

After spending untold billions on developing state-of-the-art guidance and imagining systems for fighter aircraft, the Air Force and Navy were shocked to find that pilots were turning most of the systems off in combat conditions because they were more distracting than helpful.

I think the same thing applies to cars, as most of such features that I first find intriguing in a new car I soon learn to ignore.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

After spending untold billions on developing state-of-the-art guidance and imagining systems for fighter aircraft, the Air Force and Navy were shocked to find that pilots were turning most of the systems off in combat conditions because they were more distracting than helpful.

I think the same thing applies to cars, as most of such features that I first find intriguing in a new car I soon learn to ignore.

Bingo! That's why I personally feel a HUD in a car is a big waste. The only thing I'd want but probably won't in my lifetime is FLIR superimposition.

 

[Lucken]

I've never owned a Mercedes but having multiple Audi's over the last 10+ years I went German for the quality and the tech. After seeing the EQS and all the new Audi's coming out I feel they're shoving in all these features and huge screens in but don't really know how to make everything seamlessly work. My e-Tron has so many features which I thought were cool at the time of buying (I work in IT and love new tech) and quickly discovered that half the time it doesn't work properly and no real thought or planning went into how to integrate it all. It was just shoved in to just tick a box saying we've got a tonne of features over out competition. This is my impression with the EQS as well which is why I was alway leaning ordering a Lucid over the Mercedes. I agree with Paladin732, they may offer OTA but I don't trust that it will be used often.

Less is more these days. I never thought I would be saying this but I would rather less gimmicks etc. and just have what is in the car work. Also, you're not getting an EQS cheaper than a Lucid at the moment considering all these shady dealers are marking up by $20K to $50K etc. so it make the EQS more expensing the the AGT anyway.

I've got an e-Tron too and am curious which features are not working properly? I haven't had any real issues.

 

[HC_79]

I've got an e-Tron too and am curious which features are not working properly? I haven't had any real issues.

I've got the 2019 Prestige with the following issues

• Virtual cockpit resets to default very every few weeks
• Shortcut icons disappear
• MyAudi is constantly having connectivity issues to the car
• Customize the MMI home screen and it resets every couple of weeks
• Online map updates take days if not weeks to install
• Tons of random warning messages when nothing is actually wrong.

I've given up doing any customization on the MMI and not even bothering with the MyAudi app anymore. It's been weeks since I've been able to get the app to connect to the car. You raise these issues with Audi and the stock standard response is "this is the first we're hearing of this" when it's in numerous forums of people having issues. On top of that, the key fob is so sensitive that every now and then you'll come out to see your trunk open. The trunk will try and close on you whilst you're getting items out. When it's raining, forget about using the rear view camera as you can't see anything. The final nail in the coffin for me was when the car navigated me to an EA station in the middle of nowhere that it KNEW was completely offline. EA had pulled all the chargers out for maintenance \ replacement and the navigation system actually knows which EA stations are online and being used but the wonderful software programmers at Audi didn't think to tweak the algorithm that if all chargers are red either route somewhere else or flag a warning message. I had to drop my speed to under 50mph on the freeway to make it to the next charger.

I've given up complaining to Audi as they have no interest in fixing the issues and only selling new cars. I asked for a lease buyback and VW refused because "software" issues aren't a valid justification even though it's been with them numerous times to get the software re-flashed or if an update is available to have it applied.