LUCID Included Charger

[joec]

Locked while charging, unlock when not. Otherwise some old jerk is tying up the charger because they are not coming back to unplug when done. Again, it should be a software setting. The jerks who want to tie up the charger can keep it locked. The rest of us who want to be considerate can have the plug unlock when done in case we are late getting back to the car.

You’re forgetting the jerks who will walk by charging stations unplugging all the cars, just to cut off the session and leave you coming back 40 minutes later to a still empty battery.

This is why I love the proximity lock/unlock of the phone app on my Tesla. If I’m close enough to unplug the cable, my car is already unlocked.

 

[Sandvinsd]

You’re forgetting the jerks who will walk by charging stations unplugging all the cars, just to cut off the session and leave you coming back 40 minutes later to a still empty battery.

This is why I love the proximity lock/unlock of the phone app on my Tesla. If I’m close enough to unplug the cable, my car is already unlocked.

You can’t unplug it if it is locked while charging. Never had that happen to me in all my years of charging. I have only experienced people not coming back to upnplug when their session finished.

AGAIN, it’s only software. It is useful to have it unlocked when charging in my garage. You can always turn it on and leave your car plugged into a public station all day, if that is your style. Not sure why you are so opposed to that toggle feature

 

[borski]

I too gave up waiting for the (whatever it is). I ordered a Juice Box 40 for hard wire. Hope it gets here before the electrician. I had planned to do a NEMA plug and then call the electrician back to hard-wire the (whatever it is) when it's available, but Lucid is mum tells me they have better things to do. Reading how Lucid is uniquely incompatible with the EV chargers is kinda bummer. No wonder it's free.

Also the locking of the charger cable is necessary. When you come out of the mall you don't want to see the charger cable not connected and dirt stuffed in your Lucid's receiver. I've already seen a trumper pickup parked across a charger bank blocking access with impunity. Lots of trumpers charged - up with hate who can't wait to stick it to themselves.

I'm in a bad mood after reading the Times article.

Lucid isn’t incompatible with EA chargers, if that’s what you’re referring to. Sometimes people don’t know that they can start the process manually from the Lucid app if it doesn’t auto-negotiate, and sometimes EA fails. I’ve actually never had it happen, but have heard enough stories.

Not a problem unique to Lucid; other EV forums are filled with the same issue, just at different times.

 

[joec]

You can’t unplug it if it is locked while charging. Never had that happen to me in all my years of charging. I have only experienced people not coming back to upnplug when their session finished.

AGAIN, it’s only software. It is useful to have it unlocked when charging in my garage. You can always turn it on and leave your car plugged into a public station all day, if that is your style. Not sure why you are so opposed to that toggle feature

Because a toggle adds complexity. I need to remember that I had it toggled off when I charged at home last week. But now I need to turn it on when I’m charging in public, or else some jerk might screw me. So I’m digging into my app every other time I charge.

Can you begin to imagine the customer service headaches for Lucid when people who are computer illiterate get confused about whether they can or can’t unplug their car? Which setting they turned on last?

Bluetooth phone Auto Unlock solves the problem without me ever having to think about whether I left my charge cable locked or not. I’ve never had to think about this at all, because my car just does the right thing. I walk up to it and unplug. Anyone else walks up to it and they can’t unplug.

Obviosuly, Lucid has a ways to go in making the Bluetooth connection work reliably. I’d be putting my efforts there if I were them, as that both solves this problem and eliminates the need for carrying around a fob.

 

[joec]

You can’t unplug it if it is locked while charging. Never had that happen to me in all my years of charging. I have only experienced people not coming back to upnplug when their session finished.

AGAIN, it’s only software. It is useful to have it unlocked when charging in my garage. You can always turn it on and leave your car plugged into a public station all day, if that is your style. Not sure why you are so opposed to that toggle feature

Now, if they came up with a setting where you could designate a “Home” geolocation, and say “Only when I am charging in this spot, keep my cable unlocked even if the car is locked” I’d could see that being useful to some.

I still think just making the Bluetooth phone unlock more reliable would be easier.

 

[DeaneG]

Because a toggle adds complexity. I need to remember that I had it toggled off when I charged at home last week. But now I need to turn it on when I’m charging in public, or else some jerk might screw me. So I’m digging into my app every other time I charge.

A setting for "lock cable while charging except at home" would take care of most people without bother. Every once in a while my Model 3 would annoy me when I tried to unplug it at home, but had left my phone on the kitchen counter.

 

[joec]

A setting for "lock cable while charging except at home" would take care of most people without bother. Every once in a while my Model 3 would annoy me when I tried to unplug it at home, but had left my phone on the kitchen counter.

Ha. Read my mind. See my post just above yours.

 

[DeaneG]

It's similar to the behavior you'd want once the car has a charge timer implemented: You'd want the car to have a charging window that was only active at home, and charges immediately on plug-in everywhere else.

 

[Steveinarizona]

Locked while charging, unlock when not. Otherwise some old jerk is tying up the charger because they are not coming back to unplug when done. Again, it should be a software setting. The jerks who want to tie up the charger can keep it locked. The rest of us who want to be considerate can have the plug unlock when done in case we are late getting back to the car.

Jerks come in all ages and sizes.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

Lucid isn’t incompatible with EA chargers, if that’s what you’re referring to. Sometimes people don’t know that they can start the process manually from the Lucid app if it doesn’t auto-negotiate, and sometimes EA fails. I’ve actually never had it happen, but have heard enough stories.

Not a problem unique to Lucid; other EV forums are filled with the same issue, just at different times.

Yea I know...the Times article was just reporting but the responses had some enraging stuff and horror stories. I did not know that EA is the penalty VW paid for a massive consumer fraud...not a great pedigree. A side note....I haven't visited my doctor since before the pandemic. Went last week and was told my sugar has been low. That explains behavior that even I was thinking: " what is wrong with me? why do I get so irritable and anger so easily?" Cut my meds. I will strive to be the nice pete from now on.

I just read the "jiggle the handle" post. That's encouraging.

 

[pam4_AGT]

I did not know that EA is the penalty VW paid for a massive consumer fraud...not a great pedigree.

I wish people go around sticking big "VW" logos on all the EA chargers. At least, people looking at those EA chargers would know those are from a bunch of lying weasels and automatically lower expectations.

 

[GMan]

The laws of electricity are fairly constant and consistent. If you're installing a 14-50 outlet, you will max out at 40 amps at the outlet, regardless of what size wiring or breaker (100 amp) at the panel. To achieve anything greater than 40A, the charger must be hard-wired. Also, installing a Lucid bi-directional charger is not as simple as it sounds. You will need at least an isolation switch so you are not backfeeding the power company and/or your neighbors. Based on the reliability of my local power company, I'm skipping the Lucid charger. If a future software update includes the ability to set a timer for charging, that may make a home charger (like ChargePoint Flex) moot.

When you say "based on the reliability of my local power company", does that mean the reliability of the local power provider to provide the necessary electricity, or does it mean based on the competency of your local power company to address all of the complexities you mentioned to get a Lucid Charger installed safely, & correctly? Thanks

 

[AIR.LUCID]

The laws of electricity are fairly constant and consistent. If you're installing a 14-50 outlet, you will max out at 40 amps at the outlet, regardless of what size wiring or breaker (100 amp) at the panel. To achieve anything greater than 40A, the charger must be hard-wired. Also, installing a Lucid bi-directional charger is not as simple as it sounds. You will need at least an isolation switch so you are not backfeeding the power company and/or your neighbors. Based on the reliability of my local power company, I'm skipping the Lucid charger. If a future software update includes the ability to set a timer for charging, that may make a home charger (like ChargePoint Flex) moot.

My thought exactly. The Lucid site under charging says they are working on a scheduler

 

[AIR.LUCID]

Charging demystified​

We take the guesswork out of charging. With the Lucid app, you can soon schedule your charge, setting when it should start or stop

 

[emoylv]

When you say "based on the reliability of my local power company", does that mean the reliability of the local power provider to provide the necessary electricity, or does it mean based on the competency of your local power company to address all of the complexities you mentioned to get a Lucid Charger installed safely, & correctly? Thanks

I have been in my home for 15 years and don’t recall having an unscheduled outage. That’s why I’m foregoing the Lucid charger. I’m checking with a friend to see if his solar installation is cost-effective; if so, I may have to rethink this. Also checking into whether Lucid app allows scheduling. If it does, I might skip a Level 2 EVSE altogether and just buy an extra cable hung on the wall and leave it “permanently” plugged into a 14-50 receptacle.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

I have been in my home for 15 years and don’t recall having an unscheduled outage. That’s why I’m foregoing the Lucid charger. I’m checking with a friend to see if his solar installation is cost-effective; if so, I may have to rethink this. Also checking into whether Lucid app allows scheduling. If it does, I might skip a Level 2 EVSE altogether and just buy an extra cable hung on the wall and leave it “permanently” plugged into a 14-50 receptacle.

The charger cable provided with the car will work just fine in a 14-50 receptacle and will charge your car up overnight. You should get around 30 miles per hour of charge. The Lucid EVSE will charge your car at ~18Kw providing around 80 miles of charge per hour. The main reason I bought the LCHCS (Lucid EVSE) was for future power outage protection, but the software for that feature is not yet available. Also, the software does not currently allow you to schedule your charging time. If it is plugged in it starts charging.

 

[momoskier]

I am having the LUCID home charger installed on Monday. Qmerit could not find a “certified” electrician in Yakima so I’m going with a well
know local company which has installed tesla home chargers for my friends. I’m curious to see if anyone has had the bidirectional charging hardware installed already in anticipation of the software update later?

 

[MoniputerLM]

I am having the LUCID home charger installed on Monday. Qmerit could not find a “certified” electrician in Yakima so I’m going with a well
know local company which has installed tesla home chargers for my friends. I’m curious to see if anyone has had the bidirectional charging hardware installed already in anticipation of the software update later?

Does the Lucid home charger come with bi-directional charging install instructions?

 

[momoskier]

Does the Lucid home charger come with bi-directional charging install instructions?

All it talks about is how to connect the wires, connect to the internet via ethernet or wifi and that’s it. It doesn’t mention anything about any special installation instructions to allow bidirectional - in the future

 

[MoniputerLM]

All it talks about is how to connect the wires, connect to the internet via ethernet or wifi and that’s it. It doesn’t mention anything about any special installation instructions to allow bidirectional - in the future

Ok, my assumption is that you need a transfer switch, manual or automatic, just like a generator.