Mobile Key / Locking and Unlocking the Vehicle / App

[Bill55]

Lucid team:

Mobile Key

I have had significant issues with the Mobile Key and they greatly impact my customer satisfaction with the Air.

I have been using the Mobile Key exclusively (except when it has not worked, I keep Valet card in my wallet as a necessary back up)

Proximity unlock needs to be an option not default. The car unlocks from random distances or doesn’t unlock at all.

1. If I am standing next to the car and press on the driver door handle the car should unlock immediately (it doesn’t)

2. If upon exiting I press a handle in, the car should lock immediately. (It doesn’t)

All your competitors vehicles do this and do it well. I have an Accord and a GMC AT4. Both behave exactly this way every time with the key fob in your pocket/purse. They are not alone, just examples I currently own.

It should be a preference to unlock just driver door or all doors on first touch. Second touch to unlock the other 3 doors if driver only is selected as default. Again, every new car I have purchased for the last 10 years does this. The Accord and GMC. Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Chevy, GMC, Honda, Lexus all from personal experience do the above. Who did the benchmarking for vehicle locking and unlocking? Kind of important.

Mr. Rawlinson you should be concerned. These features are industry standard. My wife declared the car designed by men for men as the current default and only available settings are a security / safety issue. She refuses to drive the car alone.


I want the car to unlock when I want and only when I want, and lock immediately. I never have to remove key remote from my pocket for the GMC and it works exactly as above items 1 and 2. Every time. Same with my wife’s Lexus. Remote stays in her purse and operates as 1,2. Every time and immediately.


I went into a convince store today. When I came out, I stood in front of the driver door for 30 seconds nothing. Got my iPhone (Mobile Key) out. Unlocked the iPhone. Sometimes this action gets the car to unlock. Not this time. I launched the Lucid App. I pressed unlock on the Lucid app. Spinning circle. Now I have been standing next to the car for a minute, which feels like about an hour. Ha Ha look at the guy with the fancy car he can’t open.

I got out the Valet key and it unlocked the car. Second time I had to resort to Valet key.

My wait has been 15-30 seconds over and over and over. I know that doesn’t sound like long. It's an eternity in the rain or my wife’s fear of being approached by a stranger with unknown intent as you wait for the car to unlock.

If the Mobile key can not unlock and lock the car immediately upon user input, it’s a significant concern. It’s not something I even think about with my other vehicles, because it works every time, and every time the response is immediate. Every time.

I have no idea what the Air is going to do. It’s unlocked from 20 feet away, It’s not unlocked at all. It has locked immediately when I press on a handle. Other times it’s 30 seconds or more before it locks. Take 2 steps look back, take 2 more look back. When parked between 2 cars it only takes seconds before you are out of sight of the door handles. Please, Lock immediately if I press a handle. Every time, Immediately.

Honestly, WTF. This is basic and your car (my car) is very bad at it. If the Mobile Key doesn’t work, don’t offer it.

The App

Before picking up the car my wife and I downloaded the app. She set up a Lucid account. She can not use the app unless she uses my login. Why? I should be able to authorize the car / app for multiple users without giving out my user name and password for my Lucid account.

If you log out of the app and back in the Mobile Key feature is dropped and you have to pair with the car again.

The app is nice when it works, which is frequently, but not always.

The App in general is well executed. I think the resources you are putting into the map are probably better spent elsewhere. Why?

Once you have Car Play (I’m going to guess your owners are predominately iPhone) (US and high income) 80%? Higher?

Car Play and Android auto. Everyone will be using Apple Maps, Google maps, Waze. All of those have or are in the process of adding charging stations. Also, electrify America app, charge point app…..

I think it was a mistake not to have CarPlay from day 1. It opens up so many apps and functionality and gives people a sense of immediate intimacy with the car, because there is a familiar interface that has all of your Apps and info. The address in your calendar, or in a text, or email, or whats app, or Slack can be immediately set as a destination. All your Music / audio sources. on and on.

Sooner the better for CarPlay. Many issues go away as the car software becomes secondary for so many things. Things the Air software currently sucks at.

I have noticed that the car activates the apple wallet if held by the pillar. A key in my Apple wallet would be a nice backup vs the Valet key.

Not intending to be harsh here, but Unlocking / Locking is basic, critical, and needs to work the same every time, and every time immediately.

Next Park distance / Cameras

Thank you.

 

[Paladin732]

Couple of points/questions:

Why are all the doors unlocking a security concern for your wife? Not trying to demean the concern, I'm just curious why?

Second: Tesla had the same app problems at first, although I don't believe the unpairing problem existed. when I got rid of my 3 and S they still had not fixed the ha into share a login problem(it may be fixed now though?)

This feedback is really awesome. It shows that the software clearly was not ready for prime time, but the hardware is.

 

[Bill55]

All manufactures I'm aware of have driver door only option. I have personal experience with (Chevy, Ford, Honda, GMC, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Porsche) If someone is approaching from the other side of the car you don't want them to have access. I know it is a low percentage thing to have happen. There is a reason you can set driver door only on every major brand. Whether the befit is real or just perceived, I would call it industry standard.

 

[Lucken]

I can tell some don’t live in areas like NY and other major cities when asking why someone would be concerned about security issues with car doors. Carjacking and holdups are a hobby among some in many areas.

Bill, does the key fob have the same issues as the mobile key?

 

[hmp10]

I have been using the Mobile Key exclusively (except when it has not worked, I keep Valet card in my wallet as a necessary back up)

We're having the same problem with our new Tesla Model S Plaid -- a problem we never had with our 2015 Model S. (It had perpetual software glitches, but not this particular one.)

About a third of the time, the key fob or the phone key will unlock the car and release the charger cable, but it will not start the car. For that I have to dig my key card out of my wallet and rub it over the phone charger pad. For a while it was only happening with my fob or phone key, but last week it started happening with my partner's fob and mobile key -- except that his would not even unlock the car or release the charger cable. (Won't this be fun when you're trying to get back into your car at an uncovered charging station during a rainstorm?)

God, how I long for a good, old-fashioned key you can stick into an ignition switch instead of all the software-everything-sometimes-works-sometimes-doesn't crap that plagues cars today.

 

[Lucken]

I didn’t see this issue with my 2017 MS (despite many other software issues), Jaguar I-Pace or Audi e-Tron. I wonder if this isn’t some characteristic of some new, common, software these manufacturers are now using.

 

[Adnillien]

Does anyone know if Lucid is using Ultra-Wideband for detecting the location of the mobile key or cell phone. It is relatively new with a lot a promise but could have software issues that are not fully worked out.

 

[Paladin732]

I can tell some don’t live in areas like NY and other major cities when asking why someone would be concerned about security issues with car doors. Carjacking and holdups are a hobby among some in many areas.

Bill, does the key fob have the same issues as the mobile key?

Lucken,

I live in the SFBay area.

Yes, carjackings happen. Cars are also broken into all the time here.

However, they are more likely at a stop light then when you are getting into your car. I've never heard of one while someone was just getting into their car. Maybe I'm just naive, but it seems like an odd concern to me.

I'm not saying it's an invalid concern, I'm just saying I don't think it should be on the top of the priority list. Ultimately, as the software is brand new, that is what this boils down to. Nothing is free in software. It all takes time and resources to build. Lucid was more concerned over feature x then feature y and feature y just happened to be this unlocking thing.

 

[Paladin732]

We're having the same problem with our new Tesla Model S Plaid -- a problem we never had with our 2015 Model S. (It had perpetual software glitches, but not this particular one.)

About a third of the time, the key fob or the phone key will unlock the car and release the charger cable, but it will not start the car. For that I have to dig my key card out of my wallet and rub it over the phone charger pad. For a while it was only happening with my fob or phone key, but last week it started happening with my partner's fob and mobile key -- except that his would not even unlock the car or release the charger cable. (Won't this be fun when you're trying to get back into your car at an uncovered charging station during a rainstorm?)

God, how I long for a good, old-fashioned key you can stick into an ignition switch instead of all the software-everything-sometimes-works-sometimes-doesn't crap that plagues cars today.

It's interesting how everyone has different priorities, I love cars that autostart and don't require ignition buttons or keys or anything like that anymore. I find it super frustrating that I have to hit a power button to turn on my Taycan for instance.

 

[hmp10]

It's interesting how everyone has different priorities, I love cars that autostart and don't require ignition buttons or keys or anything like that anymore. I find it super frustrating that I have to hit a power button to turn on my Taycan for instance.

It's not that I wouldn't like such features . . . if they worked consistently. But I have yet to encounter a software-operated feature that didn't fail to work more often than its mechanically-operated predecessor.

Our 2015 Tesla driver door self-presenting feature had to be replaced four times, leaving us crawling over the passenger seat while waiting for repairs. I can't count the cumulative time spent over the past six years trying to get Voice Command to recognize what I was saying. We were on our second MCU in the 2015 Tesla, with the original unit going further and further into slow-failure mode for months before it finally totally failed and qualified for warranty replacement. The number of times in the past six years I've had to pull off the road and do a soft reboot to recover accident avoidance or other features is beyond count (and it didn't always work).

Yesterday I was trying to redirect the A/C vent in our Model S as we were driving down the driveway. I finally had to ask the driver to stop long enough for me to do it, as the car's movement made it impossible to hit the adjustment icon on the central screen in just the right place. I've long since given up trying to adjust the audio volume from the passenger seat when the car is moving.

I'm not exactly a technology Luddite, and I thought all these features were ultra-cool when I first encountered them. It was only after living with them and their constant quirks and failures that I began to pine for the good old days.

 

[hmp10]

Does anyone know if Lucid is using Ultra-Wideband for detecting the location of the mobile key or cell phone. It is relatively new with a lot a promise but could have software issues that are not fully worked out.

Hmmm . . . this could explain why we're only having this problem with the new Tesla and not the old.

 

[hydbob]

Minus the all door thing, I have never had any issues using only the fob. I've found though to lock the car you need to press and hold the handle for 2 seconds

 

[Bill55]

I can tell some don’t live in areas like NY and other major cities when asking why someone would be concerned about security issues with car doors. Carjacking and holdups are a hobby among some in many areas.

Bill, does the key fob have the same issues as the mobile key?

I have not used the key fob passively enough to give a definitive answer. It seems to recognize the fob more consistently and unlocks from further away. Locking seems to be just as inconsistent. I am going to unpair my phone and try the fob over the next week or so to compare.

 

[Lucken]

Lucken,

I live in the SFBay area.

Yes, carjackings happen. Cars are also broken into all the time here.

However, they are more likely at a stop light then when you are getting into your car. I've never heard of one while someone was just getting into their car. Maybe I'm just naive, but it seems like an odd concern to me.

I'm not saying it's an invalid concern, I'm just saying I don't think it should be on the top of the priority list. Ultimately, as the software is brand new, that is what this boils down to. Nothing is free in software. It all takes time and resources to build. Lucid was more concerned over feature x then feature y and feature y just happened to be this unlocking thing.

It occurs more often than you think at some shopping malls, particularly when women approach their cars alone.

 

[Bill55]

It occurs more often than you think at some shopping malls, particularly when women approach their cars alone.

Unlocking preferences are implemented almost exactly the same by Mercede, Porsche, BMW, Honda, Toyota, GM, and Ford. That’s enough for me to call it industry standard.

 

[hydbob]

It occurs more often than you think at some shopping malls, particularly when women approach their cars alone.

Not to diminish the security concerns, but if a woman is walking to the car alone, why does it matter if one door unlocks or all of them? Wouldn't a car jacker just get her at the driver door? Or is it the matter of unlocking at random distances? I've noticed, from the FOB at least that the distance of unlock is very much reliant on how much stuff is in between the fob and the car.

 

[Lucken]

Very simple. What's happened in some of these carjackings is that the culprit awaits on the other side of the car, hidden, hoping the owners opens all doors. That's really the reason all manufacturers give you the option of an unlock on all doors or just the driver's door. That feature has been around for many years.

 

[hydbob]

Okay. Yes I know the feature has been available, basically on all the cars I've owned in recent years. Makes sense, OTA update here we come!

 

[Lucken]

I'm sure it's not a difficult OTA to implement.

 

[Bill55]

I have deleted the Mobile Key to test with the Fob. This is "passive" test ie key stays in pocket. Some of this is going to be personal preference. The car deciding when it wants to lock and unlock is not working for me. The unlock with the Fob is more consistent, but still not consistent. Just today it has unlocked from about 6ft to I had to stand next to the door for about 15 seconds. I parked in the garage, I started to go inside and realized I had forgotten something, as I turned around the car locked. It then did not want to unlock. I stood next to the door, I pressed the handle, I waited. Forgetting something and going back to the car is not an outlier situation. The car is still inconsistent in the time from shutting the door and walking away, until it locks. In my relatively short test I have had it lock in 5 seconds to about 20 seconds. At a casual walk 20 seconds is getting pretty far from the car. Second situation, I parked in the garage and my neighbor came by to look at the car. As we talked walked around the car and then out to the driveway the car is locking, unlocking, locking, unlocking....over and over. My preference is going to be require a physical touch to lock or unlock, work everytime, work immediately. Again, I think this is industry standard BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Honda, Lexus, GMC, Chevy, all cars I have owned in the last few years. All worked in exactly this way. Having the car guess at what the "human" wants the errors are going to pile up as there are more and more drivers. If you like the car guessing at what you want, i'm all for the option. My preference would be physical touch to lock and unlock and know it is going to work every time, immediately, and always the same. Just like the Honda, just like the GMC.... The GMC does turn on ground lights and shines a light where you can "kick" to open the tailgate as you approach. However, unlocking, or opening the tailgate take a physical command. I hope Lucid makes changes. I find Lucid's current approach to be different worse. Cars have been around for a long time, when the whole industry does something one way, if your going to be different it needs to be demonstrably better. The amount of inconsistency and the number of times it incorrectly anticipated my needs in one day, to me makes it clear to me this is not different better. Again, I don't want this option to go away, I want the industry standard as an option. It's not industry standard by chance.