Navigation System on the Lucid, does it really work?

[Bus Driver]

Its OK to get you from city to city. But I no longer use it arrive at a certain location. It placed me 1/2 mile from the office I was trying to visit. I even asked another person, in the parking lot, where I can find the office. I thought I just could not find the right building. But I was not even close. That showed me to use my phone and not Lucid's nav.

On one occasion, Lucid Navigation brought me about four miles west of where I needed to be, and called it good. In that instance I knew I where my destination was, and found myself surprised and annoyed that Lucid Nav could be so off.

On another occasion, after asking for directions to the nearest Electrify America station, I got directed to the rear parking lot of a medical offices building. Not a charger in sight. Had to drive another twenty miles down the frewway to where I knew a charger really was, having used it before.

 

[borski]

For me, it's like the choice of a partner - do I want someone who is an extraordinary athlete, or someone who is extraordinarily smart? Unfortunately we currently can't get both in one car.

I guess I pick partners differently from how I pick my cars/toys.

 

[BS8899]

Don’t know if my experience is unique. But the navigation system on my Lucid is unbelievably unreliable. Honestly, it never really worked since Day 1 (16 month ago). Specifically,

• It “locks up” often…i.e., total unresponsive to any inputs.
• Sometimes it works…you can access it on the front display and on the Pilot Panel.
• Often, there is no destination input box (for destination) and no (tactile) way to input a destination.
• SOMEIMES when there is no tactile input, one can use Alexa to send in a command. However, that’s by no means guaranteed.
• Even when working, the navigation is laggy and close to being totally useless.
• I don’t care for the navigation display (grey-ongrey), but you can call that a personal preference (and suck it up).

My questions:

• Do many of you Lucid owners experience the kind of problems I encountered? Is my experience unique?
• I am an Android user. Now that Lucid supports CarPlay, are most of you iPhone users (80% of the Lucid owners) using CarPlay for navigation instead?
• Is the navigation system on the Lucid a lost cause?

First, I want to thank many of the owners who replied to this post, sharing their experience with the Lucid Navigation system.

My takeaway:

> None of you experienced the screen lock-up and inability to input the destination as I (often) do. I will try to reboot, and if that doesn't fix the problem, I will take it to service.
> Some of you share my concerns RE: laggy navigation performance and non-optimal route selections

I am still curious:
> For the 80% of Lucid owners that use iPhones, since CarPlay's deployment on the Lucid, how many of you switched to navigation and infotainment on CarPlay instead of using the Lucid suite?

Ideally, we all want a "gee-whiz" navigation/infotainment system on our cars personalized to our taste. But at some point, reliability and familiarity (aka intuitive functionality, no quirky behaviors, etc.) are more important.
I remember the days when every computer manufacturer and phone manufacturer designed and built their core logic (chipsets) and UIs as differentiators. Today's computers have two UIs (MS and Apple) and phones have two UIs (Apple and Android). It is simply too expensive and time-consuming to develop and properly validate your own.

Does that make every car a "Toyota"? Maybe, but Toyotas are very intuitive and reliable! Everything works intuitively and lasts forever.

Lucid is halfway there with CarPlay. I am still waiting for my AA. Rivian (my other car) still says no to CarPlay and AA.....though the Rivian UI/ Infotainment system seems much more robust and stable than the Lucid's.

 

[kort6776]

I use waze via car play for most destinations. the nav systems are ok for finding charging

 

[sk8ndad]

First, I want to thank many of the owners who replied to this post, sharing their experience with the Lucid Navigation system.

My takeaway:

> None of you experienced the screen lock-up and inability to input the destination as I (often) do. I will try to reboot, and if that doesn't fix the problem, I will take it to service.
> Some of you share my concerns RE: laggy navigation performance and non-optimal route selections

I am still curious:
> For the 80% of Lucid owners that use iPhones, since CarPlay's deployment on the Lucid, how many of you switched to navigation and infotainment on CarPlay instead of using the Lucid suite?

Ideally, we all want a "gee-whiz" navigation/infotainment system on our cars personalized to our taste. But at some point, reliability and familiarity (aka intuitive functionality, no quirky behaviors, etc.) are more important.
I remember the days when every computer manufacturer and phone manufacturer designed and built their core logic (chipsets) and UIs as differentiators. Today's computers have two UIs (MS and Apple) and phones have two UIs (Apple and Android). It is simply too expensive and time-consuming to develop and properly validate your own.

Does that make every car a "Toyota"? Maybe, but Toyotas are very intuitive and reliable! Everything works intuitively and lasts forever.

Lucid is halfway there with CarPlay. I am still waiting for my AA. Rivian (my other car) still says no to CarPlay and AA.....though the Rivian UI/ Infotainment system seems much more robust and stable than the Lucid's.

When carplay came out, I used maps on the iphone, but I ended up not liking the way it looked. So, I mainly use the built in. I like the way it uses the space. I'm not thrilled with some things, but overall I like it better. I can always call up Maps or Google maps if there's an issue.

 

[borski]

When carplay came out, I used maps on the iphone, but I ended up not liking the way it looked. So, I mainly use the built in. I like the way it uses the space. I'm not thrilled with some things, but overall I like it better. I can always call up Maps or Google maps if there's an issue.

Around town I use Lucid nav almost exclusively. Because I installed radar/laser, I don’t need the cop warnings as much with Waze.

For longer trips, I use CarPlay nav (usually Waze) for warnings about the road conditions, but in general I prefer lucid nav. I use CarPlay almost exclusively for SMS, calls, Home Assistant, and the like. Also for Siri, which I prefer to Alexa.

 

[Amster]

"Alexa, navigate to Crust Pizzeria Carmel Valley Rd in San Diego, CA"

That works really good!

 

[hydbob]

That works really good!

Alexa works well, you just need to know how to prompt her.

 

[BS8899]

Shape of the Future?

"Amazon and Stellantis will work together on STLA SmartCockpit software that will appear in millions of vehicles starting in 2024 as part of a multiyear cloud deal, according to a statement. The service will incorporate Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, e-commerce, maintenance, navigation and other elements. Stellantis said it will move its vehicle data pipeline to a cloud-based system and that Amazon Web Services will become its preferred cloud provider for vehicle platforms."

 

[hydbob]

Shape of the Future?

"Amazon and Stellantis will work together on STLA SmartCockpit software that will appear in millions of vehicles starting in 2024 as part of a multiyear cloud deal, according to a statement. The service will incorporate Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, e-commerce, maintenance, navigation and other elements. Stellantis said it will move its vehicle data pipeline to a cloud-based system and that Amazon Web Services will become its preferred cloud provider for vehicle platforms."

I thought Amazon was abandoning Alexa in cars?

 

[momo3605]

Shape of the Future?

"Amazon and Stellantis will work together on STLA SmartCockpit software that will appear in millions of vehicles starting in 2024 as part of a multiyear cloud deal, according to a statement. The service will incorporate Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, e-commerce, maintenance, navigation and other elements. Stellantis said it will move its vehicle data pipeline to a cloud-based system and that Amazon Web Services will become its preferred cloud provider for vehicle platforms."

Partnering with Stellantis is probably negative branding. If I was Amazon I’d rather do nothing than partner with Stellantis

 

[Steveinarizona]

For me, it's like the choice of a partner - do I want someone who is an extraordinary athlete, or someone who is extraordinarily smart? Unfortunately we currently can't get both in one car.

If by "partner" you mean a golfing partner, then absolutely an extraordinary athlete. If you mean a life partner...probably a third choice.

 

[BS8899]

Partnering with Stellantis is probably negative branding. If I was Amazon I’d rather do nothing than partner with Stellantis

I think the cloud taking over the car dash is inevitable. I think it is the right direction as most of the car companies don't have the competency and infrastructure to do a proper job, especially the smaller car companies like Lucid.

That said, Amazon is not the only cloud company of consequence. Google, Apple, and MS are significant players as well. I don't think such a move would make all cars "vanilla". I am sure there will be room for the individual companies to add value.
Aside from "infotainment", navigation/D/river Assist/Autonomous driving would benefit greatly from a robust cloud infrastructure.

 

[Steveinarizona]

I think the cloud taking over the car dash is inevitable. I think it is the right direction as most of the car companies don't have the competency and infrastructure to do a proper job, especially the smaller car companies like Lucid.

That said, Amazon is not the only cloud company of consequence. Google, Apple, and MS are significant players as well. I don't think such a move would make all cars "vanilla". I am sure there will be room for the individual companies to add value.
Aside from "infotainment", navigation/D/river Assist/Autonomous driving would benefit greatly from a robust cloud infrastructure.

For features like navigation...absolutely. But there are many features that are dependent on various car setups and I think it will be hard for third parties to get all of that right for all the car companies. For example, some EVs use blended brake systems and some limit the brake pedal to friction braking. That decision creates lots of different options and setups.

 

[BS8899]

For features like navigation...absolutely. But there are many features that are dependent on various car setups and I think it will be hard for third parties to get all of that right for all the car companies. For example, some EVs use blended brake systems and some limit the brake pedal to friction braking. That decision creates lots of different options and setups.

I think navigation, collision avoidance, traffic re-routing, highway assist, and autonomous driving would benefit greatly from the cloud. As far as vehicle-specific features such as what you referred to, with a proper architecture, I don't see why they cannot co-exist with the cloud.

 

[BS8899]

Partnering with Stellantis is probably negative branding. If I was Amazon I’d rather do nothing than partner with Stellantis

The Stellantis name might not have the swagger like Mercedes or BMW. That said, Stellantis is a significant player in the world auto market.

 

[skndrni]

FWIW, through my own unscientific comparisons of HERE, CarPlay and Waze, I find HERE draws maps that are EV optimized (taking into account elevation changes) to mamize range/regen. The other observation is that ETA can be way off. Then again I’m in LA: you just cross your fingers, add 20 minutes travel time and hope it works out.

 

[DeaneG]

FWIW, through my own unscientific comparisons of HERE, CarPlay and Waze, I find HERE draws maps that are EV optimized (taking into account elevation changes) to mamize range/regen. The other observation is that ETA can be way off. Then again I’m in LA: you just cross your fingers, add 20 minutes travel time and hope it works out.

Google maps does have a "prefer fuel-efficient routes" setting, and I can tell it what kind of car I have for charging compatibility. We use it extensively in our other EV, as it runs natively in that car's AAOS.

 

[A Fischman]

Day before yesterday finished 1200 miles round-trip and used built-in navigation for most of my trip. I've not faced the issues that were described in the post like - laggy, tactile not working, etc.

Plus point of using built-in navigation -
1. I tried to stick to the car's navigation mostly because it preconditions the battery when a charging station is selected as a stop on the way. Not sure if carplay will do that - need input from others.
2. It shows multiple routes with battery usage for each of the route options. Read more later in this post.

But here are the issues I faced:
1. Route choices were not great. I learned it the hard way and started comparing routes with the phone's Google Maps.
2. I couldn't find an option for "Avoid Tolls" in settings. The navigation always picked up toll routes, which I don't prefer when it is non-peak hours.
3. It doesn't have the precision required in navigation, many times it'll not take you to a nearby destination location and stops navigation on the road, not the exact place.
4. Though the navigation provides ETAs for multiple routes, I found them unreliable and I always picked up Google map suggestions to ensure I had a better ETA. This also left me questioning the battery usage estimates provided for comparison.

I would love LUCID to improve navigation because that's the key to battery utilization estimations and the impact on expected SOC on arrival.

I have the same issues with the navigation. We definitely need the ability to avoid tolls. The navigation always seems to give indirect, longer routes. For this reason I use Google maps in Car Play. I charge at home and have not traveled, but the few times that I tried to find EA chargers, I was routed indirectly, and worse, I ended up paying tolls to arrive at non working chargers. Navigation is the weakest link on this otherwise great vehicle.

 

[Taz K]

As a relatively new owner, 7 months with 8000 miles, I have driven routinely for work during the weekdays and for fun on the weekends. I have taken two road trips of about 1000 and 500 miles. I tend to use the traffic monitoring with HERE navigation daily as I live in SoCal and the highways are unpredictable. I do not use CarPlay but often use Apple Maps and Google Maps also running in the background, as I have both phones. I like the Lucid's overall interface with dual displays. Alexa commands are mostly how I enter the destination info, but also push the destination from either phone to the Lucid app as well. I do experience a lag at startup of about 15 seconds on HERE. However, the accuracy of navigation has been quite good for me. There were 2 instances that the HERE navigation did not bring me to the destination correctly, once over several miles away and another was to the opposite side of the building. The estimated times were generally on par with Google and Apple Maps. I feel fortunate that I haven't run into issues. I hope your issue just needs a little software tweak or update.