MotorTrend Drives the Pure RWD

[xponents]

I couldn’t disagree with this more.

Sit any person who has never used a Tesla in a Tesla and ask them to turn on the wipers.

Or heck, put them in the new models with no stalks and ask them to turn on the turn signals.

Tesla’s software is familiar to Tesla drivers. You get used to it after a while. But even I had a tough time finding a lot of features. And I’m pretty open minded to new UX experiences.

Tesla’s user interface is a never ending array of tabs, each containing a long list of switches. They often move items from one tab to another. And often the thing I’m looking for is not in the tab I expect.

When I test drove the Air (and then took mine home after buying) I had zero issues figuring out how to do anything I needed for basic driving. Items that are further buried down in settings tend to be things you set once and then forget.

And the bugs constantly getting mentioned by reviewers are bugs they experienced several versions ago. I know some here still have occasional glitches, but I haven’t had to do any sort of resetting for several months now. My car just works.

I look forward to new features of course. And refinements over time to some of the more limiting bits of the interface. But I would not call my car particularly buggy anymore. Not any more than the Tesla I had before it, or anything I drove prior to that.

I literally couldn't open the frunk during my model s test drive, yes even the techy TEENAGER couldnt figure it out on his first try. Literally had to search it up, and once we did we all laughed at it and I quote, "that's useless." A bit off topic, just trying to prove the point.

 

[DBV]

I literally couldn't open the frunk during my model s test drive, yes even the techy TEENAGER couldnt figure it out on his first try. Literally had to search it up, and once we did we all laughed at it and I quote, "that's useless." A bit off topic, just trying to prove the point.

I think any first time driver in a Lucid would find it hard to open the frunk or a lot of the controls too. Which is true of about any car now and days.

 

[hydbob]

That's fair, there is a lot of personal bias that goes into the software experience. Tesla's software is more modern and similar to a modern smartphone experience so for the general public, its user friendly and easy to wrap their mind around. I could care less about the fun features they add to the infotainment (watching youtube, playing games, etc...).

I guess its possible to have a near perfect experience with the cars software but majority of us have not judging by the LucidUpdates website that is tracking the bugs as well. 83% of people were experiencing inconsistent locking/unlocking of doors... Plus who wouldn't like to have consistent (hopefully google backed) navigation that doesn't have the chance take you to the wrong place or gives you worse route planning? Or who wouldn't love to see that navigation and be able to search for a song at the same time? Or a key that is detected when you get in the car so you can drive away(63% of people experienced that as well according to the LucidUpdates website)? I would love the 360 view to load up quicker as I dont use it a lot of the time since its not ready by the time I am ready to leave as well. Sure I can wait but again thats not a good user experience. Idk I can go on and on. Some of them might be opinionated but I would argue that most of these are improvements that I pointed out are both widely experienced and crucial for a car in 2023.

PS. Thanks for having a discussion, always love to nerd out about these things!

True, but that survey was done almost a year ago with at least 20 updates between then and now. Either way, we will see in a few days the differences and then a year from now (if we don't get the updates on the Air) how it has changed. Exciting times ahead.

 

[Bobby]

I think any first time driver in a Lucid would find it hard to open the frunk or a lot of the controls too. Which is true of about any car now and days.

I didn’t have any trouble at all. I think the controls are actually well laid out. There are five different ways you can open the frunk.

 

[xponents]

I think any first time driver in a Lucid would find it hard to open the frunk or a lot of the controls too. Which is true of about any car now and days.

Actually, even my parents figured that out in 5 seconds without asking anybody. I do wish there was multitasking support in the Lucid, but UX 3.0 looks to have a mac os esque dock, maybe it is coming?

 

[hydbob]

Agree with @joec , there is no way that anyone coming from a completely non-ev background thinks that Lucid's UX is not much easier to use than Tesla's UX.

 

[Instinctive]

Agree with @joec , there is no way that anyone coming from a completely non-ev background thinks that Lucid's UX is not much easier to use than Tesla's UX.

I'll report back in a week on how far Lucid has or hasn't come when I take delivery. Although I won't have a comparison to Tesla.

 

[Viking]

I have to agree with MT that the steering is too heavy. Certainly more that my previous cars.

 

[Lucken]

That's fair, there is a lot of personal bias that goes into the software experience. Tesla's software is more modern and similar to a modern smartphone experience so for the general public, its user friendly and easy to wrap their mind around. I could care less about the fun features they add to the infotainment (watching youtube, playing games, etc...).

I guess its possible to have a near perfect experience with the cars software but majority of us have not judging by the LucidUpdates website that is tracking the bugs as well. 83% of people were experiencing inconsistent locking/unlocking of doors... Plus who wouldn't like to have consistent (hopefully google backed) navigation that doesn't have the chance take you to the wrong place or gives you worse route planning? Or who wouldn't love to see that navigation and be able to search for a song at the same time? Or a key that is detected when you get in the car so you can drive away(63% of people experienced that as well according to the LucidUpdates website)? I would love the 360 view to load up quicker as I dont use it a lot of the time since its not ready by the time I am ready to leave as well. Sure I can wait but again thats not a good user experience. Idk I can go on and on. Some of them might be opinionated but I would argue that most of these are improvements that I pointed out are both widely experienced and crucial for a car in 2023.

PS. Thanks for having a discussion, always love to nerd out about these things!

The difference in experiences is so bizarre. I’m approaching 3 months of Air Pure ownership and I just haven’t experienced the issues discussed here. My doors open every single time I approach the car…I mean every single time. In fact the only software issue I ever encounter is the temporary loss of the internet signal that impacts SXM/Tidal reception. I also had one spontaneous rebooting of the infotainment system. That’s it.

Putting things in perspective, this is my 6th EV and the Air has been as or more reliable (software included) than my previous Tesla MS, Jaguar I-Pace, Audi e-Tron, Genesis G80, or my other current EV, a BMW i4.

As to why experiences should be so different when most cars have the same software, remains a mystery…at least to me.

 

[EXOTIC2]

I couldn’t disagree with this more.

Sit any person who has never used a Tesla in a Tesla and ask them to turn on the wipers.

Or heck, put them in the new models with no stalks and ask them to turn on the turn signals.

Tesla’s software is familiar to Tesla drivers. You get used to it after a while. But even I had a tough time finding a lot of features. And I’m pretty open minded to new UX experiences.

Tesla’s user interface is a never ending array of tabs, each containing a long list of switches. They often move items from one tab to another. And often the thing I’m looking for is not in the tab I expect.

When I test drove the Air (and then took mine home after buying) I had zero issues figuring out how to do anything I needed for basic driving. Items that are further buried down in settings tend to be things you set once and then forget.

And the bugs constantly getting mentioned by reviewers are bugs they experienced several versions ago. I know some here still have occasional glitches, but I haven’t had to do any sort of resetting for several months now. My car just works.

I look forward to new features of course. And refinements over time to some of the more limiting bits of the interface. But I would not call my car particularly buggy anymore. Not any more than the Tesla I had before it, or anything I drove prior to that.

I would disagree with the most of this. Obviously it’s gonna be a personal preference.
To each their own. Whichever forum you’re on is gonna be 100% biased. I’ve been through the Porsche /Fisker/Karma ev’s and each forum thinks they’re the best. I just try to keep it real since it’s not my first rodeo. I will be adding a Gravity next year.

 

[Rogue]

I would disagree with the most of this. Obviously it’s gonna be a personal preference.
To each their own. Whichever forum you’re on is gonna be 100% biased. I’ve been through the Porsche /Fisker/Karma ev’s and each forum thinks they’re the best. I just try to keep it real since it’s not my first rodeo. I will be adding a Gravity next year.

Agree to disagree. Menus within menus within menus is not my cup of tea. Lucid keeps the total depth of menus fairly shallow.

 

[borski]

Tesla has made a boatload of money not off crazy capable cars but off a driving experience centered around impeccable software.

Tesla's software is far from impeccable. Its design is questionable from a UI/UX perspective, but moreover: it has plenty of bugs. I had to reboot my rental twice in a week just to get it to work.

Or who wouldn't love to see that navigation and be able to search for a song at the same time?

The latest update going out now adds that.

I would love the 360 view to load up quicker

You'll love the latest update.

I agree mostly with @joec here - I don't like Tesla's interface at all, but that's mostly preference. The issue I have is when anyone expects any vehicle to be 'bug free' or 'impeccable' and then compares it to, for example, Tesla. I'm not picking on Tesla here - it has tons of quirks and bugs; you're just used to them. That's OK, but it doesn't make it perfect.

And I agree Lucid's software needs to continue to improve.

 

[EXOTIC2]

I’ve had a original Fisker / then a karma a Porsche Taycan, an extended run in a air, Tesla plaid and I will order a Gravity as software will be better ( peeps in casa grande) , but the Tesla software is better than anything else is out there. It’s not even a question. Not my first rodeo here and not bias. Long-term EV adapter.
They all have little tidbits of functionality issues

 

[koflo]

Tesla's software is far from impeccable. Its design is questionable from a UI/UX perspective, but moreover: it has plenty of bugs. I had to reboot my rental twice in a week just to get it to work.


The latest update going out now adds that.


You'll love the latest update.

I agree mostly with @joec here - I don't like Tesla's interface at all, but that's mostly preference. The issue I have is when anyone expects any vehicle to be 'bug free' or 'impeccable' and then compares it to, for example, Tesla. I'm not picking on Tesla here - it has tons of quirks and bugs; you're just used to them. That's OK, but it doesn't make it perfect.

And I agree Lucid's software needs to continue to improve.

Interesting findings. My last 3 years were spent on the Tesla side (MYLR, MYP, MSP) and my girlfriend still has a M3. I still stand by Lucid having the most user impacting and substantial bugs. I mean unlocking the doors consistently is a huge one. I can count on my hands in 3 years the amount of times I had to pull out my phone for the car to register I was close enough to unlock with the Tesla. I never had an issue where the key fob thought it was missing even though it was in the car. I've had those issues more than a handful of times already.

Theres definitely some bias (probably on both sides) but regardless I am excited for the new update for "features" that should be standard in a car that $80k+. I'm glad we can all agree that Lucid needs to continue innovating in the future with their software.

 

[hydbob]

Interesting findings. My last 3 years were spent on the Tesla side (MYLR, MYP, MSP) and my girlfriend still has a M3. I still stand by Lucid having the most user impacting and substantial bugs. I mean unlocking the doors consistently is a huge one. I can count on my hands in 3 years the amount of times I had to pull out my phone for the car to register I was close enough to unlock with the Tesla. I never had an issue where the key fob thought it was missing even though it was in the car. I've had those issues more than a handful of times already.

Theres definitely some bias (probably on both sides) but regardless I am excited for the new update for "features" that should be standard in a car that $80k+. I'm glad we can all agree that Lucid needs to continue innovating in the future with their software.

You might be having more issues with an early build DE that you bought. Just food for thought being in the first 200 cars built is not in the same vein as your vehicle history.

 

[koflo]

You might be having more issues with an early build DE that you bought. Just food for thought being in the first 200 cars built is not in the same vein as your vehicle history.

Very true. I’ve thought about that as well. In theory the internals have remained the same from what I gather right? I have a plethora of physical issues that lucid service is going to try to address but the earliest they could get me in was December 8th. I don’t have a working frunk which is probably the biggest. It works but it tears off the lip trim. That and some massive panel gaps. I can stick my pinky past the nail between the charge port and hood panel. Some carpet is pulled up in the frunk. Bunch of small cosmetic things but it’s harder to know what’s going on under the exterior. We will see in a month or so!

 

[hydbob]

Very true. I’ve thought about that as well. In theory the internals have remained the same from what I gather right? I have a plethora of physical issues that lucid service is going to try to address but the earliest they could get me in was December 8th. I don’t have a working frunk which is probably the biggest. It works but it tears off the lip trim. That and some massive panel gaps. I can stick my pinky past the nail between the charge port and hood panel. Some carpet is pulled up in the frunk. Bunch of small cosmetic things but it’s harder to know what’s going on under the exterior. We will see in a month or so!

Yea it sucks and that stuff should have been addressed early on like mine was. Not sure why the original owner didn't have service fix all those issues.