Out Of Spec Lucid Air ADAS Review--Not great, Bob.

[Bobby]

Yeah, it’s a fair review of the system, even though it’s not 100% positive. The general message I’m seeing in many reviews lately is that people genuinely love the car, but the software comments persist.

Lucid needs to get more aggressive with its software updates. You can’t have more hardware in a car that then underperforms competitors with less.

We’ve been saying that for well over two years now. It is definitely the weakness in an otherwise amazing package.

 

[Bobby]

Look at the Tesla crash data…guess why Musk wants Trump to force NHTSA to trash requirement for crash data reporting. It’s quite obvious. But agree, if someone who doesn’t mind putting their life at risk, that is their business. But again if that Tesla crashes and kills someone who didn’t sign up for being in an experiment , who is responsible? Tesla and that person who ignorantly put everyone’s life at risk is responsible. Tesla has clauses that makes sure they are not liable.

The last split second, FSD disengaged, so it’s the drivers fault- is what Tesla will hide behind.

It’s premature technology, not ready for prime time. There is a lot of ignorance out there.

Just drive, it’s safer. Don’t believe Musk.

I can’t say I disagree with you. I don’t like using the HA at all. Maybe it’s because I enjoy driving, maybe it’s because I don’t fully trust it. I really do like the ACC, though.

 

[momo3605]

I can’t say I disagree with you. I don’t like using the HA at all. Maybe it’s because I enjoy driving, maybe it’s because I don’t fully trust it. I really do like the ACC, though.

I think it’s just a matter of getting used to it. I LOVE lane keeping systems. It’s such a convenience for long drives. But I’ve used many of them. Some great, some bad. But something is better than nothing. Even if it’s not safer than a human, you’re still in control. Even in the worst cases, it can handle 80%+ of freeway driving and occasionally you have to intervene and hit the brakes if it gets into a tricky situation. Just don’t fall asleep

 

[hmp10]

I do wonder if this all had to do with testing the Hankook tires for the smaller Gravity wheels on Hankook's home soil.

Maybe, but wouldn’t it have been a lot easier to ship the tires here than the car there, especially a hugely expensive test mule? Even if the tires were still prototypes and Hankook had to send a rep along.

 

[DeaneG]

...Just drive, it’s safer. Don’t believe Musk.

On a long road trip on a boring highway, ADAS significantly reduces my fatigue factor.
Also, we're driving Lucid vehicles, not Teslas. No need to throw all ADAS implementations under the bus. Waymo, for example, has about 1/6 the accident rate of human drivers. Level 3 ADAS is possible with current technology.

 

[AirTom]

It's definitely the most disappointing aspect of the car. It doesn't really change my opinion of the company or me really wanting to see the company make it. But it does annoy me and doesn't give me much hope. Staring down my likely second lease of this car and makes me wonder whether I get burned again by paying for PRO. Our 22 BMW system is still ahead of Lucid and that wasn't even new for 2022. Again, I want the company to make it. But as it sits right now, Lucid IS a tech compromise. It's just the other aspects of the car outweigh it.

 

[borski]

Look at the Tesla crash data…guess why Musk wants Trump to force NHTSA to trash requirement for crash data reporting. It’s quite obvious. But agree, if someone who doesn’t mind putting their life at risk, that is their business. But again if that Tesla crashes and kills someone who didn’t sign up for being in an experiment , who is responsible? Tesla and that person who ignorantly put everyone’s life at risk is responsible. Tesla has clauses that makes sure they are not liable.

The last split second, FSD disengaged, so it’s the drivers fault- is what Tesla will hide behind.

It’s premature technology, not ready for prime time. There is a lot of ignorance out there.

Just drive, it’s safer. Don’t believe Musk.

You’re missing the point entirely. Nobody here is talking about FSD, and most would not disagree that FSD is nowhere near good yet. This is not a Tesla forum.

I love HA. I dare anyone to argue I don’t also love driving my car. I love HA on long road trips because for long stretches of traffic or highway it makes boring drives easier, *particularly* if I’m trying to eke out efficiency and my lead foot would otherwise get the better of me.

I get you don’t care. Please stop mentioning it on this thread, as we are discussing a feature many *do* care about.

We have heard you. If your future posts on this thread are only to restate that you don’t want it (and, apparently, that nobody should), please consider simply refraining.

“You don’t want this thing you want” is not additive to this discussion.

 

[borski]

I can’t say I disagree with you. I don’t like using the HA at all. Maybe it’s because I enjoy driving, maybe it’s because I don’t fully trust it. I really do like the ACC, though.

I’m honestly surprised to read this. In recent months, HA has disengaged on me precisely once. I use it almost daily, for random stretches of road that are boring.

That was not the case six months ago or a year ago, so if you haven’t tried it in a while, consider trying it again.

It may also just be a location thing; in the Bay Area, I haven’t had very many issues, but it’s also Lucid’s backyard. Over time, it will obviously continue to improve significantly.

 

[xponents]

Look at the Tesla crash data…guess why Musk wants Trump to force NHTSA to trash requirement for crash data reporting. It’s quite obvious. But agree, if someone who doesn’t mind putting their life at risk, that is their business. But again if that Tesla crashes and kills someone who didn’t sign up for being in an experiment , who is responsible? Tesla and that person who ignorantly put everyone’s life at risk is responsible. Tesla has clauses that makes sure they are not liable.

The last split second, FSD disengaged, so it’s the drivers fault- is what Tesla will hide behind.

It’s premature technology, not ready for prime time. There is a lot of ignorance out there.

Just drive, it’s safer. Don’t believe Musk.

Okay, but… who TF asked about Tesla? We were talking about Lucid here.

How ironic that you say this, but you bought up Tesla even though it had nothing to do with the current conversation.

 

[borski]

Watching the video: the lane change issue they experienced is a UX issue. When, during the lane change, it says “keep hands on wheel” that is actually precisely the same as the nag to keep hands on the wheel when you’re not lane changing, but it doesn’t look the same. This confused me at first too, but that’s why it yells at them. If he had kept his hands on the wheel, or given it the tiniest torque during the lane change, that issue would not have occurred.

I have given Lucid that feedback too - it needs to look the same or be more obvious that that is the same as “torque the wheel, kid.”

Once they have the hands free option with the camera, that won’t be an issue either.

But for now: if it says “keep hands on wheel,” it *means* it.

Since you’re connected to them @Shane_SLC, perhaps you could let them know about that? I’ll tag @outofspeckyle too but I’m not sure he frequents this forum very frequently.

 

[borski]

More notes: the reason it keeps dropping on that stretch of road is that the HD maps they need are currently cloud-based, and thus HA only works when you have cell service. I, too, think this sucks, because cell service is often spotty.

Sure enough, if you zoom in on the video, the HA drops when cell service has no bars.

They mention this, but come to the wrong conclusion. It does *not* currently download the HD maps to the car, and that *is* indeed the problem.

I’ll be very excited when they download the HD maps to the car (which I hope they’re working on).

 

[DeaneG]

...I’ll be very excited when they download the HD maps to the car (which I hope they’re working on).

As long as we don't have to stop the car and switch to offline mode, as we do now for navigation. Not sure why HERE can't figure out auto-switching as mainstream navigation providers have.

 

[hmp10]

I have a more down-the-middle take on ADAS. I love driving even on long, monotonous trips and the feel of being in control of the car. Even years ago when simple, non-adaptive cruise control arrived on the scene, I never used it. And I don't even remember how to engage ADAS in our three current cars, all of which have at least some level of ACC and lane keep assist.

On the other hand, the day in which I cannot safely drive myself is on the (I hope still distant) horizon, and I am following and rooting avidly for developments in the technology. I take everything Tesla claims about FSD (and anything else) with a big bag of salt, even despite growing reports that Version 13.2 is getting closer than many doubters imagined. But, even if it's Tesla, I hope someone gets there by the time I need it to stay independent on the mobility front.

Meanwhile, as many of these systems have learning abilities that work off data from driver usage, I'm all for as many people using it as find it useful or intriguing.

 

[borski]

Finished the video. Daaaaamn that’s a tough road and a great test. I would never drive that with HA; I’d drive it myself. (It also looks like a fun road to drive, so that would make more sense to me)

That said, aside from the misunderstandings I mentioned, it was a good test.

 

[SaaSManKS]

Completely agree with the thoughts above about HA, I originally wasn’t going to get it, but in order for me to take delivery when I did they kinda forced it on me so I obliged (I’m confident future drivers will want it at least) and sharing sentiment about using it, I truly do love driving, I think I missed my calling as a race car driver haha, but I have noticed on roadtrips it exponentially helps with driver fatigue upon arrival which is something I hadn’t thought about before…but I rarely do road trips, and rarely even get on the highway where I am.

 

[Halodde]

I have the same issue with HA and LKA. Obviously I'm no expert. But it seems like the cameras are so sensitive that they interpret things on the road surface (cracks, lines of tar etc...) as lane lines/markers at times. So it jerks the car one way or the other to try to get between whatever it is interpreting as lane lines. There's a bunch of that here in the northeast.

It's not as common when using HA because the roads on which HA is available generally don't have as many things on the road surface to misinterpret and the lane centering works pretty well. But, when not using HA, I have LKA set to warning only so it just beeps and doesn't make the car swerve when it misreads something on the road surface.

 

[gavram]

I like the incremental improvements they've made to HA for longer stretches of highway that aren't too curvy.

On the other hand I continue to be surprised at how poorly it handles when there are smaller dotted lines on one side of the road for an exit as the car will start to steer towards the exit then snap back. Our other much older cars do just fine on the same roads when using lane centering. It does this for me regularly on a frequently traveled highway and does so regardless which side the exit is on. It causes me to switch to adaptive cruise due to my wife freaking out. Between this issue and some awkward handling on high speed curves, there's definitely work to be done.

I'm intrigued that Lucid has hands free HA as a published priority roadmap item, although I'm guessing that will be at low speeds for traffic. If it's actually hands free for regular highway speed HA that would be amazing. If they can at least focus on improving basic lane centering to be more reliable I'll be a happy camper...I don't have a need/want for FSD, but do enjoy steering assistance on boring highways.

 

[victoryroad]

I just finished an 850-mile two-day road trip and used HA for most of the trip with no problems. It functioned very well where the road markings were faint or worn nearly completely on RT 95. The rain for most of the second day reduced visibility but there was no problem with the center of lane tacking. The easiest part was the frequent stoppages for construction on RT 95. HA allowed me to monitor the stop-and-go conditions flawlessly without actually driving (I never took my hands off the wheel), as it came easily to a full stop and gently resumed as the traffic began moving. Much of the trip was in narrowed lanes bordered by Jersey barriers. Lots of 18-wheelers throwing up spray but the Air is stable and always felt safe. Yes, the set distance, even at one bar on adaptive cruise control, allowed some folks to cut in front of me for no apparent benefit to them, but the car slowed safely and gradually.

I love to drive the AGT, but it is good to get relief safely from the tedium of highway driving. I do not find fault with the lane change function in HA, as some have reported. If I were to review the AGT I could find trivial flaws, but they mostly involve subjective judgments. The HVAC did not clear the fogging when the dampness increased at about 35-40 degrees outside, requiring me to start the front and rear window defrosters for a few minutes. That was a inconvient, but tolerable. I find the seating position, support and comfort far better than the Porsche 18-way seats either in the newer 911s or the Panamera. Entry and exit for my 5'11"' frame is not as easy as an SUV, but hey, this car is more like a sports car than a large sedan. The view through the rear window is a bit restricted and the exterior rearview mirrors are a bit small, but otherwise, the driving position is extremely good for highway, local, or canyon driving. I never expected FSD. As we have seen with software improvements to HA since it was introduced, I expect further refinements to it and other functions in time. The Air, including ease of charging, is by far the best car that I have owned and is a pleasure to drive.

 

[Alex]

I'm intrigued that Lucid has hands free HA as a published priority roadmap item, although I'm guessing that will be at low speeds for traffic. If it's actually hands free for regular highway speed HA that would be amazing. If they can at least focus on improving basic lane centering to be more reliable I'll be a happy camper...I don't have a need/want for FSD, but do enjoy steering assistance on boring highways.

Hands free would be great for highways, although if it has a hard time, like now, keeping centered in the lane while negotiating sharp turns, it could be a disaster.

I often drive one way about 200 miles through the mountains from Tucson to Pinetop, and HA works pretty well. The major issue I have is that I need to jiggle the steering wheel too much: because DDP allows you to make some lane adjustments by moving the steering wheel slightly, it's annoying to have to give it a proper tug. Four hours of that gets old quickly.

I've been using one of my Teslas with FSD more often now to make the trip. I can go from door to door without touching the wheel once, including negotiating all the curves and city driving. Hands-free DDP, along with Street and Highway Pilot, would go a long way in allowing me to make the drive while resting my hands and enjoying the scenery stress-free.

 

[gavram]

Hands free would be great for highways, although if it has a hard time, like now, keeping centered in the lane while negotiating sharp turns, it could be a disaster.

I often drive one way about 200 miles through the mountains from Tucson to Pinetop, and HA works pretty well. The major issue I have is that I need to jiggle the steering wheel too much: because DDP allows you to make some lane adjustments by moving the steering wheel slightly, it's annoying to have to give it a proper tug. Four hours of that gets old quickly.

I've been using one of my Teslas with FSD more often now to make the trip. I can go from door to door without touching the wheel once, including negotiating all the curves and city driving. Hands-free DDP, along with Street and Highway Pilot, would go a long way in allowing me to make the drive while resting my hands and enjoying the scenery stress-free.

Yeah, not having to jiggle the wheel would be a game changer. I've gotten really good at lightly hanging a few fingers off the bottom right or left corner which can keep the nag from coming on for a long period of time without also causing the car to drift into another lane, but it's still not ideal.

I had 100% expected Lucid to include an actual capacitive touch steering wheel (not just the wheel controls) in the Gravity to eliminate the need for the nag without having to rely on HA improvements, but the fact that they didn't (if I understood correctly) gives me hope that they may have a more refined HA experience near release.