Open letter to Lucid after 7 months of ownership

[CoulombsCruiser]

The problem as it seems from where I’m sitting (which is probably FAR from where most of you come from in terms of ownership and/or experience with luxury brands and tech) is that we are so used to receiving instant results/gratification because we have the whole world AT OUR FINGERTIPS, almost 24/7! Most on this forum are older than I am, and I beg you to just sit in your Lucid and recall your childhood and how much technology has EXPLODED at such an exponential rate, hell even the past 25 years since Y2K! A few months of waiting for software issues is chump change in the grand scheme of things. Also last time I checked vehicles are for “driving” and not “technology”, but I guess I’m an old-soul at heart. The problem is exacerbated due to social media and co-rumination of problem X or Y and letting those emotions fester and not stopping to think about how folks at Lucid HQ are almost guaranteed to be working hard to resolve the UX/software issues at hand. Do I think Lucid should be more transparent about prospective solutions to these issues? Yeah probably, but is it their job to broadcast these “potential” solutions just so we feel better? No, it’s their job to actually do the damn thing and make it happen. If you think otherwise you’ve most likely lost so much faith in the company you should probably go invest in another mode of transportation…just my .02

 

[sri]

The problem as it seems from where I’m sitting (which is probably FAR from where most of you come from in terms of ownership and/or experience with luxury brands and tech) is that we are so used to receiving instant results/gratification because we have the whole world AT OUR FINGERTIPS, almost 24/7! Most on this forum are older than I am, and I beg you to just sit in your Lucid and recall your childhood and how much technology has EXPLODED at such an exponential rate, hell even the past 25 years since Y2K! A few months of waiting for software issues is chump change in the grand scheme of things. Also last time I checked vehicles are for “driving” and not “technology”, but I guess I’m an old-soul at heart. The problem is exacerbated due to social media and co-rumination of problem X or Y and letting those emotions fester and not stopping to think about how folks at Lucid HQ are almost guaranteed to be working hard to resolve the UX/software issues at hand. Do I think Lucid should be more transparent about prospective solutions to these issues? Yeah probably, but is it their job to broadcast these “potential” solutions just so we feel better? No, it’s their job to actually do the damn thing and make it happen. If you think otherwise you’ve most likely lost so much faith in the company you should probably go invest in another mode of transportation…just my .02

Most here are not talking about the advancements, we are also talking about the bugs in the software. To put things in perspective for example: One day i am driving to costco which is 40miles away from home. I am in middle of highway and all of sudden all my screens went black except the screen behind the steering wheel(just like that). Good thing the car is still driving but no turn signal cameras no surround camera , no warning sounds no music nothing. For some it may be ok for some it may not be ok. But there are certain consumers that needs this and more depended on this stuff( i am in this boat). I immediately messaged my mobile tech who is really helpful. He can fix most stuff that is mechanical but this is software and the only thing he can help me is to suggest restart or let the car go sleep for some time. HQ is working on a fix for this.

Now the major issue here is this started with 2.5 and its been 72days and there is no fix for this bug and this may happen anytime anywhere and its a big issue for me. Luckily it happened only twice and i still believe this is a great car and great company. But if this happen couple more times and Lucid didnt care to fix it in a timely manner, my opinion may change. As a great admirer of Lucid and a big fan of there work, i dont want that to happen.

So, most of us here are not to downplay Lucid’s work of their efforts.But they need to increase the priority on software at-least a bit before its too late.

 

[CoulombsCruiser]

Most here are not talking about the advancements, we are also talking about the bugs in the software. To put things in perspective for example: One day i am driving to costco which is 40miles away from home. I am in middle of highway and all of sudden all my screens went black except the screen behind the steering wheel(just like that). Good thing the car is still driving but no turn signal cameras no surround camera , no warning sounds no music nothing. For some it may be ok for some it may not be ok. But there are certain consumers that needs this and more depended on this stuff( i am in this boat). I immediately messaged my mobile tech who is really helpful. He can fix most stuff that is mechanical but this is software and the only thing he can help me is to suggest restart or let the car go sleep for some time. HQ is working on a fix for this.

Now the major issue here is this started with 2.5 and its been 72days and there is no fix for this bug and this may happen anytime anywhere and its a big issue for me. Luckily it happened on twice and i still believe this is a great car and great company. But is this happens couple of more times and Lucid didnt care to fix in a timely manner, my opinion may change. As a great admirer of Lucid and a big fan of there work, i dont want that to happen.

So, most of us here are not to downplay Lucid’s work of their efforts.But they need to increase the priority on software at-least a bit before its too late.

Thank you for sharing this, I am new to both Lucid and the EV world as a whole. First, I’m glad you were able to maneuver through this issue and nothing bad happened. Second, while it seems like a long time 72 days is pretty quick to launch software updates paired with enhancement features and whatever else goes into the OTAs that I’m unaware of. Maybe someone who has a greater understanding/more experience in the Comp Sci or coding realm could enlighten me if I’m just ignorant…And lastly, the last line you mention “before it’s too late” sounds very ominous. What do you mean by this? Before Lucid turns into Fisker? Before you walk away? Before the money runs dry? It’s been 72 days, not 72 months. As I mentioned I’m new to this space, so how is Tesla/Rivian doing in terms of pushing out updates? Is their frequency greater? Do they have more to offer with each update? This is a car manufacturer in it’s infancy, there WILL be growing pains just as there is for nearly anything in life…I hope you stay on board through this software hiccup

 

[sri]

Thank you for sharing this, I am new to both Lucid and the EV world as a whole. First, I’m glad you were able to maneuver through this issue and nothing bad happened. Second, while it seems like a long time 72 days is pretty quick to launch software updates paired with enhancement features and whatever else goes into the OTAs that I’m unaware of. Maybe someone who has a greater understanding/more experience in the Comp Sci or coding realm could enlighten me if I’m just ignorant…And lastly, the last line you mention “before it’s too late” sounds very ominous. What do you mean by this? Before Lucid turns into Fisker? Before you walk away? Before the money runs dry? It’s been 72 days, not 72 months. As I mentioned I’m new to this space, so how is Tesla/Rivian doing in terms of pushing out updates? Is their frequency greater? Do they have more to offer with each update? This is a car manufacturer in it’s infancy, there WILL be growing pains just as there is for nearly anything in life…I hope you stay on board through this software hiccup

What I mean by "too late" is that it could happen before the negatives outweigh Lucid's greatest positives.
As of today, I don’t want to drive any car other than a Lucid. That’s why I chose to drive my Lucid all the way from Florida to Minneapolis for a 10-day trip—because I didn’t want to rent anything other than a Lucid, and none were available in Minneapolis

 

[HC_79]

is Tesla/Rivian doing in terms of pushing out updates? Is their frequency greater? Do they have more to offer with each update?

Tesla has had years to perfect this so probably not a good argument to constantly compare Lucid against them when it comes to the software. Rivian however launched the same time as Lucid and are certainly more aggressive with OTA's compared to Lucid. They seem to be releasing one a month and usually come with a long list of features or fixes. Lucid released about 15 OTA's compared to Rivian's 20 last year but Rivian's updates seem to carry much more meat.

Vehicle Updates - RivianTrackr

The updates page offers a detailed history of Rivian's software updates, including version changes, new features, and improvements for Rivian vehicles.

riviantrackr.com

Lucid OTA Updates

www.lucidupdates.com

 

[momo3605]

Lucid released about 15 OTA's compared to Rivian's 20 last year but Rivian's updates seem to carry much more meat.

You're being generous by giving Lucid 15...really it's like 7 smallish feature updates with the rest being post-update bug fixes lol

 

[momo3605]

Most on this forum are older than I am, and I beg you to just sit in your Lucid and recall your childhood and how much technology has EXPLODED at such an exponential rate, hell even the past 25 years since Y2K!

We're not even talking about exploding technology! I just want simple things to work...like my doors to open, or my screen not to go black or become non-responsive. Or not being able to put my car in reverse because it's attempting to set up a profile for a minute. Cars from 25 years ago did all that stuff just fine...

 

[CoulombsCruiser]

We're not even talking about exploding technology! I just want simple things to work...like my doors to open, or my screen not to go black or become non-responsive. Or not being able to put my car in reverse because it's attempting to set up a profile for a minute. Cars from 25 years ago did all that stuff just fine...

This is the potential downside to all this tech…and again, those who drive a Lucid (or any other EV for that matter) SHOULD understand that tying up nearly every component from door handles to transmission to some sort of electronic system has the potential to fail (more so than the “analog” ICE vehicles). Maybe I’m on the outside in terms of how I think, and maybe that’s why I’m not seeing things eye to eye with those who complain about door handles and similar items, or maybe it’s because I dealt with communications/electronics for years in Special Operations but I ALWAYS have a contingency plan…and that goes for my vehicles as well.

 

[CoulombsCruiser]

Or not being able to put my car in reverse because it's attempting to set up a profile for a minute.

If we were to sit and nitpick every single mild inconvenience from other auto makers we’d be here for ages…every car manufacturer has it’s “warts” so to speak, and Lucid is no exception to this. Again, those of us driving this amazing vehicle CHOSE to do so at the earliest stages of manufacturing. I could think of worse things than waiting a few seconds to have my door handles exposed or to switch into reverse, such as the crazy things I’ve been reading about HA and the FSD from Tesla others have mentioned.

 

[Neuner89]

I've had my AGT since the beginning, almost 70k miles on it. Love, love, love the car, have always been hopeful the software would match. I think Lucid is making moves (SoundHoundAI, Nvidia partnerships), but yes, they need to improve. Peter Rawlinson has publicly spoken about it, and says they are addressing, but the system needs to be best in class, and it hasn't been close. Having a new app that is only available to IOS and not Android is just the most recent example of the silliness. I just use my Samsung phone mounted on the dash, much the way I would if I had a 1995 Dodge Dart, which is sort of unfortunate. (But works) Again, hope springs eternal, but think of what the sales could have been over the past few years if they had a bespoke system. Peter essentially said they didn't have a team of coders to do the job properly, but Tesla Model S P75 V1 back in 2012 was better than this current system and they were on a shoestring. Haven't received an update in a while. Just give a good Chinese or Israeli software development team one month and you'll see what they could do.

"Hey Lucid....... What are your plans for an updated software system and when would this be released?.........Thinking.........." hehehe. Good luck Lucid- rooting for you!

 

[HC_79]

You're being generous by giving Lucid 15...really it's like 7 smallish feature updates with the rest being post-update bug fixes lol

Hence why I said Rivian has more meat in its updates. lol

 

[Batteryman]

SW has been the Archies's Heel for Lucid. And yes, Rawlinson admitted that much. He says he is going to take personal charge to correct. That was more than 4 month ago.

To date, there has not been updates, roadmaps, and schedule to address these issues. The "radio-silence" is the issue.

Some SW issues are much more important than others. For example, "I can't get into my car" is important. "I don't like color of an icon on my display" is not.

If SW quality is indeed important enough to deserve the CEO's personal attention, Lucid should communicate a list of the key SW issues, plans to address these issues, including items they simply don't deem important to address, and provide regular updates.

As many owners have noted, there has been no communications from Lucid, period!

To those who say Rivian does it better …it always look green on the other side until you walk on it…

Check out 2.50 to 3.55- Rivian has software and audio issues as well.

Lucid deserves more credit. It’s only a 3 year old company. They revamped UX 1.0 to 2.0, introducing a new UX for Gravity with improvements to come to the Air. Software is not ease peasy…..it’s takes time, unless you throw all your money at software and don’t engineer a good car mechanically. Software can be fixed easily, mechanical engineering cannot. Give Lucid the time it deserves.

 

[HC_79]

Software can be fixed easily

Clearly it can't given the persistent issues Lucid is seeing in its software.....

 

[borski]

Clearly it can't given the persistent issues Lucid is seeing in its software.....

Fair. It can definitely be fixed easier than hardware though.

 

[Justmurr]

Hey…who knows maybe the next OTA is actually full of meat, and then maybe the one after that too. Anything can happen.

 

[HC_79]

Hey…who knows maybe the next OTA is actually full of meat, and then maybe the one after that too. Anything can happen.

True. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see if we get a slice of salami or a full on steak soon