Lucid Air Touring - major issues in cold weather - anyone else?

[LucidAirPF]

Have had my Touring for less than a year - love the drive but it is not a cold weather car (am in New Jersey). We have had snow and cold temps.
And can use some thoughts and recommendations.

- Even after warming car up with defrosters, etc -- unlocking the doors are a complete pain. Because of the flush handles, there is no way to open the car door until you physically warm the handles up yourself. I had to rub the car handle door like a genie's lamp for 30 minutes with my gloves before it would open.
- This morning i pressed the button to open the frunk, the frunk got stuck and would not open, even when hitting the button to close it again, it would not close (looks closed but it's not) - therefore not allowing you to drive the car more than 12mph. I physically pushed the frunk down (with hands on L and D as they share to do) and it closed again. The customer care agent asked me to open the frunk again and close it - this time when i pushed the button to open the frunk i heard a ripping sound and the ice ripped the front casing - therefore again, not allowing you to close the frunk
- Also the de-icer doesn't work which will also be looked at when taken in

The positive here is that customer care is kind and trying to help and welcomed a service appointment under warranty however it's January 20th and the first available appointment they can give me is in March. The service body shops they also recommended me who could potentially take me earlier won't take the car and said anything under warranty needs to go to a service center.

I asked the service center for a car in the meantime - and they said i have to manage on my own until the appointment which is more than a month away..... Lucid you can do better! HELP

 

[Truthlesshunter]

I'm in Canada so winters are even more harsh here (and it's been an extremely cold one this year)

The flush handles, I would ask lucid to look that over. Knock on wood, i've never had an issue. Did it rain or have wet snow on your car and then a cold spell and froze it over? Just seems strange because it's definitely an odd thing to happen. I had a taycan prior to this and didn't have that problem either with their flush handles.

I can confirm the frunk HATES the cold. It couldn't close once without me pushing extremely hard on it so i'm avoiding opening it unless i would absolutely have to (thankfully, lots of trunk and backseat storage helps). That's the biggest drawback in the winter.

I'm obviously not a fan of the range loss in the winter, but that's really to be expected in any EV. Thankfully the Lucid is efficient enough that it's not a major issue (probably averaging around 2.2-2.3 miles/kwh...so if i would need 100% charge, that's 240-250 miles which is fine for the winter..and more than 90-95% of EVs easily). The fact that i'm getting slightly under what my Taycan averaged in its lifetime means I get crazy more range in the summer....i just miss the taycan's looks a little more hehe

 

[socktucker]

Most of that sounds normal for a car that melts and then freezes, with pop out handles. I’d just have a thing of spray de icer around like you’d use on door locks.

 

[joec]

Yeah. I had the car for two years in Colorado and took it into the snowy mountains fairly often. The only issue I ran into was the frunk freezing on the coldest days. Otherwise, I’d say it is one of the better winter cars I’ve ever had.

Fortunately I’m now in California and no longer need to care about such things.

 

[Halodde]

The frunk is not usable in cold, snowy, and icy weather. I NEVER open it in the cold weather unless I'm at home. Once, when I was a couple hundred miles away, it got stuck cracked open and would not open or close no matter what. So it had to be towed for repair.

The door handles will freeze. The best thing I've found is to approach the car without my phone or fob and gently push each one in to break the ice BEFORE trying to unlock the doors.

My de-icer works okay. The rear defrost doesn't work well.

3 winters with the car Buffalo NY for the record.

 

[Pragmatic]

Use the frunk everytime I go skiing, every other week, I'm not buying a car that has the best space efficiency and not making use of it.

 

[borski]

Fortunately I’m now in California and no longer need to care about such things.

 

[MILucid]

Yes frunk is a pain and not usable during winters, I learnt my lesson and don't open it all during winter season. I am dreading opening it soon because I need to top off the windshield washer fluid. I have an upcoming service appointment, I will be attempting to open the frunk then so I can add windshield washer fluid and the service tech and help open/close the frunk. Handles were fine until this weekend when it was -10 here, had to rub on the handle to physically warm it so it could open.

 

[martinjlm]

Of course I take delivery of the car during a polar vortex so let's start with that. And it came off the car carrier f-i-l-t-h-y from all the road spray on the trip from Long Island to Detroit. The windows were near impossible to even see out of. So my first move? Take it to a self wash bay. In single digit weather. Brilliant move. The only real casualty so far is the frunk. Maybe it'll open in March, assuming we get above freezing by then (Detroit).

No issues with the handles. Range sucks, but degradation is on par with the other two EVs in the household (Model Y, Equinox EV)

 

[Ledmi]

Here in Montreal, Quebec, cold and snow are commonplace from November to April. My Lucid Touring is always warm in my garage, but on the advice of my service manager, I no longer use my Frunk outdoors in the cold and snow. I limit myself to the Trunk for my winter sports.
However, after having owned both Volvos and Jaguars for many years (which are known for their fragility), I lament that Lucid does not have a Winter Package like most manufacturers.

Headlight washers, camera washers, and front LiDAR washers would be appropriate. A heated windshield and heated wiper receptacle should also be considered.

In terms of accessories, I believe mudguards would also be useful to offer.

I love driving even in winter, but with the price of this car, Lucid will need to reconsider their Winter Packages.

 

[Halodde]

Of course I take delivery of the car during a polar vortex so let's start with that. And it came off the car carrier f-i-l-t-h-y from all the road spray on the trip from Long Island to Detroit. The windows were near impossible to even see out of. So my first move? Take it to a self wash bay. In single digit weather. Brilliant move. The only real casualty so far is the frunk. Maybe it'll open in March, assuming we get above freezing by then (Detroit).

No issues with the handles. Range sucks, but degradation is on par with the other two EVs in the household (Model Y, Equinox EV)

View attachment 36328

That's actually a little shitty of them to deliver the car like that. How are you supposed to identify any scratches or paint problems if you can't see through the dirt? I mean it was nbd for them to transport mine back and forth *for service* on an uncovered flatbed. But for initial delivery? Poor form by Lucid imo

 

[martinjlm]

That's actually a little shitty of them to deliver the car like that. How are you supposed to identify any scratches or paint problems if you can't see through the dirt? I mean it was nbd for them to transport mine back and forth *for service* on an uncovered flatbed. But for initial delivery? Poor form by Lucid imo

I didn't buy it from Lucid. I bought it from another luxury dealer brand's dealership. I was a bit frustrated for the reasons you stated, but at the same time I do realize that when you haul it 600+ miles on wet and snowy interstates, slush happens. Being able to quickly inspect it was another (better?) reason for taking it to a self wash. Would've been great if the transport service had hauled it in a covered trailer but that's where we are. I did get to do a FaceTime walkthrough with the dealer before it was loaded. Not perfect, but all seemed fine and now having a clean but frozen car I can see the dealer did not misrepresent.

 

[FooFighter]

I’ve had my door handles frozen over twice this winter and they would not present. It seems like the car was able to detect a frozen door handle and would produce vibrations at the handle to break free. Worked for me not times. Not sure if it was a feature or just noise from mechanisms getting stuck and mad inside the door though.

 

[Drew46]

I had the same issue with the frunk after having the car at our house in VT over Xmas and New Years. It was actually the rubber gaskets in the hood vents getting frozen to the connection point in the frunk. Some very hot water helped rectify that. But I was admittedly a bit freaked out when it wouldn't open and then wouldn't close leaving me with a car that was in limp mode when I was 200 miles from home.

 

[socktucker]

That's actually a little shitty of them to deliver the car like that. How are you supposed to identify any scratches or paint problems if you can't see through the dirt? I mean it was nbd for them to transport mine back and forth *for service* on an uncovered flatbed. But for initial delivery? Poor form by Lucid imo

I was gonna say mine came double bagged enclosed and everything.

 

[socktucker]

I’ve had my door handles frozen over twice this winter and they would not present. It seems like the car was able to detect a frozen door handle and would produce vibrations at the handle to break free. Worked for me not times. Not sure if it was a feature or just noise from mechanisms getting stuck and mad inside the door though.

I think Tesla has the best solution to this problem on the 3 and Y, its easy to open when its frozen because it still maintains some mechanical components.

 

[ME2U]

And the manual mecanical hardware exist cause it is standard on Pure and Touring without "Comfort and Convenience Package". So I think it could be do-able as "Retrofit". But my first thought was they should have installed both at the factory. Like the gaz trap on few ice car or are own trunk. (Probably a law for the trunk)

 

[Truthlesshunter]

Here in Montreal, Quebec, cold and snow are commonplace from November to April. My Lucid Touring is always warm in my garage, but on the advice of my service manager, I no longer use my Frunk outdoors in the cold and snow. I limit myself to the Trunk for my winter sports.
However, after having owned both Volvos and Jaguars for many years (which are known for their fragility), I lament that Lucid does not have a Winter Package like most manufacturers.

Headlight washers, camera washers, and front LiDAR washers would be appropriate. A heated windshield and heated wiper receptacle should also be considered.

In terms of accessories, I believe mudguards would also be useful to offer.

I love driving even in winter, but with the price of this car, Lucid will need to reconsider their Winter Packages.

As a fellow Canadian, that's one simple thing i didn't think of looking for: washer for rear camera. My last three cars have had them so i guess i took it for granted that this would have it as well..but i guess coming from california/arizona, our lifestyle is but an afterthought haha

 

[ecko04]

It would be nice if there were a remote door pop option in the app when we have these frigid temps.

 

[ecko04]

As a fellow Canadian, that's one simple thing i didn't think of looking for: washer for rear camera. My last three cars have had them so i guess i took it for granted that this would have it as well..but i guess coming from california/arizona, our lifestyle is but an afterthought haha

Though no replacement for a washer, I’ve found that cleaning the camera lens and applying a thin layer of rain protection like RainX has worked wonders in the snow, ice, and road grime. Much better than nothing at all but less effective than an actual washer. Lasts about 3 months too.