MotorTrend Drives the Pure RWD

[joec]

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2024-lucid-air-pure-rwd-first-test-review/?id=applenews

 

[joec]

“Lucid has done what others (including Mercedes with that EQE) haven't yet figured out: create a luxurious electric sedan that feels fun to drive and lighter than it really is. We have tested literally every trim of the Lucid Air, so you can trust us: This thing's fun to drive.”

 

[Lucken]

Interesting among the many positives they pointed out, they did ding it for a subpar standard audio system. This does validate what owners with this system have said.

 

[xponents]

Interesting among the many positives they pointed out, they did ding it for a subpar standard audio system. This does validate what owners with this system have said.

Yes, I now think Lucid should make changes seeing as how almost nobody is liking it.

 

[Rogue]

The audio system upgrade is a steal at that price for what you get in my opinion. This is coming from someone with the option being non-optional, but I feel like folks make their bed and lay in it when skimping out.

A post-purchase upgrade service would be fantastic for Lucid. Labor and parts would allow an extra revenue stream.

Fair review of the Pure and aligns with my brief ogling of the car at a service center.

 

[borski]

The audio system upgrade is a steal at that price for what you get in my opinion. This is coming from someone with the option being non-optional, but I feel like folks make their bed and lay in it when skimping out.

A post-purchase upgrade service would be fantastic for Lucid. Labor and parts would allow an extra revenue stream.

Fair review of the Pure and aligns with my brief ogling of the car at a service center.

It sounds like there is benefit in adjusting SS Base so that it sounds better though. The options should be good and incredible, not terrible and incredible.

 

[Haggy]

Interesting among the many positives they pointed out, they did ding it for a subpar standard audio system. This does validate what owners with this system have said.

Tesla had the same issue with the early Model S. Their base audio system was sub par. They eventually dropped the option of a cheaper audio system. But it would be hard to justify having a less expensive audio system that sounded great when selling a more expensive one. Given that a good audiophile system can easily cost more than the car, I temper my expectations.

As for the rest of the review, it's pretty good. Yes, it has a slower 0-60 than the other trims, but it's not going to be an issue in day to day driving. It's also plenty of range for local driving and even most road trips.

Auto tilt down mirrors are nice if you don't have surround view and auto park. Lucid should add that, but there are lots of things I'd put higher on my list.

When I got a Model S back in the days when you could pick and choose features, one of the reasons I went for the glass roof was that it gave a tad more headroom, especially in the back where it slopes down.

I wish that Lucid had the name recognition of Mercedes and BMW. Great reviews are nice but more people need to experience it.

 

[par11768]

Review seems spot on as a Pure AWD owner. Agree with the audio system as I have posted here several times. Had I known about the audio, I would have waited for a car with the better audie. I also would pay for an upgrade if Lucid would offer this.

 

[donfenn]

I think its a fair review.. Tons of exposure for Fathom Blue with the Air Pure. I agree with the tilting mirrors and seat ventilation gripes on my Pure AWD .. I have SS Pro, so no issues there.

 

[donfenn]

II also noted that they mention more headroom in hardtop than glass roof... Never realized this.

 

[koflo]

After owning my Air for a week I think their summary is really fair: "But once you start considering the full experience (and the software issues we've noticed on other, non-prototype Airs), some buyers won't find enough of what they need here."

I know that software is a focus of Lucid's now but it still seems like they are struggling on that front. If they want to continue growing they also need to get their software bug free with useful features. Us early adopters are willing to deal with the lumps but many people want to spend $80k on a good experience and at times, the software does not give a good experience to the driver. We shouldn't have to hope that the doors open when we approach or pick between navigation and music. Hopefully Gravity will come with a HUGE software update to fix these things.

 

[vices]

After owning my Air for a week I think their summary is really fair: "But once you start considering the full experience (and the software issues we've noticed on other, non-prototype Airs), some buyers won't find enough of what they need here."

I know that software is a focus of Lucid's now but it still seems like they are struggling on that front. If they want to continue growing they also need to get their software bug free with useful features. Us early adopters are willing to deal with the lumps but many people want to spend $80k on a good experience and at times, the software does not give a good experience to the driver. We shouldn't have to hope that the doors open when we approach or pick between navigation and music. Hopefully Gravity will come with a HUGE software update to fix these things.

Agreed 100 percent. I can tolerate the bugs but my wife can't, and even I have only so much patience. If the bugs are fixed then a gravity is also in my future, if not, I'd likely be looking at other cars such as the polestar 3.

 

[hydbob]

Agreed 100 percent. I can tolerate the bugs but my wife can't, and even I have only so much patience. If the bugs are fixed then a gravity is also in my future, if not, I'd likely be looking at other cars such as the polestar 3.

One thing is guaranteed. Gravity will not be bug free. Neither will any other EV you purchase.

 

[koflo]

One thing is guaranteed. Gravity will not be bug free. Neither will any other EV you purchase.

No offense but this same mindset is what I see echoed throughout this forum. Yes no EV is bug free however I hope you can at least agree that the bugs plaguing the Lucid lineup are much more substantial and intrusive to the experience than other vehicles. I mean hell when 90% of the negatives that come out of reviews all relate to the software experience it should be worrisome. Us as enthusiasts and owners of the vehicle tend to give passes to Lucid on the software front because we deem them a new product or because we feel like other cars have similar issues (which most don't, especially Tesla's).

Tesla has made a boatload of money not off crazy capable cars but off a driving experience centered around impeccable software. I just want software that is good enough and consistent. Right now we are lacking both good enough and consistent. Thats a problem.

 

[hydbob]

No offense but this same mindset is what I see echoed throughout this forum. Yes no EV is bug free however I hope you can at least agree that the bugs plaguing the Lucid lineup are much more substantial and intrusive to the experience than other vehicles. I mean hell when 90% of the negatives that come out of reviews all relate to the software experience it should be worrisome. Us as enthusiasts and owners of the vehicle tend to give passes to Lucid on the software front because we deem them a new product or because we feel like other cars have similar issues (which most don't, especially Tesla's).

Tesla has made a boatload of money not off crazy capable cars but off a driving experience centered around impeccable software. I just want software that is good enough and consistent. Right now we are lacking both good enough and consistent. Thats a problem.

No offense taken, but as someone who has gone through every single software iteration Lucid has put out, I truly believe they will get there. The current state of software is pretty darn stable so I'm not sure which bugs would be a deal-breaker, but that's also a personal issue and not an overall brand issue IMO. The problem is that every reviewer is comparing every car's software to Tesla, but again on the personal front, I hated Tesla's software. Lucid can improve and they have been, I also trust Lucid's software over Tesla's for what I need. There is definitely a lot of personal bias when it comes to software, and that's fine too. If Lucid ever took the same route that Tesla took in software, I'd probably sell the car, again, personal preference. Can it be improved? Sure. But I disagree with your last statement about it not being good enough nor consistent enough.

 

[koflo]

No offense taken, but as someone who has gone through every single software iteration Lucid has put out, I truly believe they will get there. The current state of software is pretty darn stable so I'm not sure which bugs would be a deal-breaker, but that's also a personal issue and not an overall brand issue IMO. The problem is that every reviewer is comparing every car's software to Tesla, but again on the personal front, I hated Tesla's software. Lucid can improve and they have been, I also trust Lucid's software over Tesla's for what I need. There is definitely a lot of personal bias when it comes to software, and that's fine too. If Lucid ever took the same route that Tesla took in software, I'd probably sell the car, again, personal preference. Can it be improved? Sure. But I disagree with your last statement about it not being good enough nor consistent enough.

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!

 

[vices]

Heck even my 3yo wants to use the Rivian all the time because she knows "papas car" has a "radio" that "always doesn't work" (WiFi to LTE handoff fails 10 percent of the time or so needing an air reset but in the meantime she can't listen to her songs in the car on the way to daycare).

 

[Bobby]

Heck even my 3yo wants to use the Rivian all the time because she knows "papas car" has a "radio" that "always doesn't work" (WiFi to LTE handoff fails 10 percent of the time or so needing an air reset but in the meantime she can't listen to her songs in the car on the way to daycare).

Turn off WiFi.

 

[joec]

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 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.

 

[DBV]

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!

Totally agree with your above comments/assessment. Tesla software is definitely more modern and I hope Lucid can get there soon.