Please, would you jump in with my baggage?

[SteveF]

I sincerely appreciate all of your thoughtful responses. I feel that my decision to jump in really rests now with only one of my original concerns: Can two elderly people, 35 miles from service, have as their only car a wonderful, fun to drive, but somewhat troubled vehicle. Decision time!

 

[LucidfanAZ]

YES!

 

[joec]

I sincerely appreciate all of your thoughtful responses. I feel that my decision to jump in really rests now with only one of my original concerns: Can two elderly people, 35 miles from service, have as their only car a wonderful, fun to drive, but somewhat troubled vehicle. Decision time!

The decision is yours, of course. Weigh it carefully.

But I'll add my anecdotal two-cents by saying my Air has been a joy. Very few issues. Almost all of my problems were things that happened to me through bad luck. (Drove over a nail, minor fender bender, rock hitting the windshield, etc.)

And service has been wonderful in every one of those instances.

My wife rolls her eyes at me and likes to dig when this or that minor software glitch crops up. She is less tolerant of little things than I am.

But at the end of the day, she doesn't complain about being driven around in an amazing luxury sedan.

I don't post here too much anymore, because every time I do I get attacked by people who think anyone having a positive experience is a "fan boy" whose experience doesn't matter. It is true that any car forum has a strong negativity bias.

I wish you all the best in your decision. Do let us know what you decide, either way.

 

[coma24]

I sincerely appreciate all of your thoughtful responses. I feel that my decision to jump in really rests now with only one of my original concerns: Can two elderly people, 35 miles from service, have as their only car a wonderful, fun to drive, but somewhat troubled vehicle. Decision time!

Data point for you, my service center is 100+ miles away. When coolant started leaking onto the garage floor, they had a flatbed here two days later with a loaner, same year and model. They would've had an empty flatbed up here the next day if I wanted, with an option to rent from Enterprise. I've been driving the loaner and they've been emailing me daily with updates (coolant hose from drive pump has a leak). I am not in a huge rush, I'm driving around in the same car while they fix mine. albeit with 19" wheels instead of 21", but I don't mind, it's interesting to feel the different steering wheel weight and see the difference in efficiency.

Don't let the service center distance worry you one bit. IMO, the driving experience and pax experience (separately) are too good to pass up.

 

[Ktw13]

I live in Dubai and ordered my Air Grand Touring Dec last year, since then I have been rehearsing how to break the news to my wife.
Two weeks ago Lucid sales advisor informed me the car is nearly here and gave a loaner to familiarized with the car, my wife took the key
drove it around and asked when I am going to order one, phew~~~ Now our MBZ AMG is just resting in the garage.

The essence of the story is, if you love Airy ride of American car, precision steering of a German car and roller coaster acceleration of an EV (with Lucid smoothness) I would say YOLO go for it!

 

[Ktw13]

The decision is yours, of course. Weigh it carefully.

But I'll add my anecdotal two-cents by saying my Air has been a joy. Very few issues. Almost all of my problems were things that happened to me through bad luck. (Drove over a nail, minor fender bender, rock hitting the windshield, etc.)

And service has been wonderful in every one of those instances.

My wife rolls her eyes at me and likes to dig when this or that minor software glitch crops up. She is less tolerant of little things than I am.

But at the end of the day, she doesn't complain about being driven around in an amazing luxury sedan.

I don't post here too much anymore, because every time I do I get attacked by people who think anyone having a positive experience is a "fan boy" whose experience doesn't matter. It is true that any car forum has a strong negativity bias.

I wish you all the best in your decision. Do let us know what you decide, either way.

My wife hates Lucid cos I started buying the stock since 2021, after I drove her to airport which was an hour ride, she said it was the best ride to airport ever, and yes, she is a picky one too.

 

[DeaneG]

I sincerely appreciate all of your thoughtful responses. I feel that my decision to jump in really rests now with only one of my original concerns: Can two elderly people, 35 miles from service, have as their only car a wonderful, fun to drive, but somewhat troubled vehicle. Decision time!

We're not young either, and are looking forward to our second Lucid late this year. My wife, not a car person at all, loves its comfort and elegance. We've only made two trips to service in almost three years - just for the two scheduled maintenance visits, plus fixing a few minor items that could wait.

 

[EVCar]

I don't post here too much anymore, because every time I do I get attacked by people who think anyone having a positive experience is a "fan boy" whose experience doesn't matter. It is true that any car forum has a strong negativity bias.

Your posts have always been good for me, informative, balanced, and well written.
So please don’t let the “attacks” drive you away from the forum.

 

[Drew46]

I would have no worries about the distance to the service center. But, as much as I love this car, I would not own any EV as my only car. The charging infrastructure in the NorthEast is woefully inadequate. I have a charger and one at my second home. There is 1 single fast charger on my route between my two homes. I have only relied on public charging for one trip to Boston and the charger I used stated it was 350Mhz but charged at 140 so it took 80 minutes to top off from 250 miles of remaining range. My wife went to MD last week and took another car to avoid having to deal with public charging. If you are set on an EV, Lucid is the winner hands down for range and other considerations. But if patience is not your virtue, I would think very hard about having an EV as your only car.

 

[thyname]

trip to Boston and the charger I used stated it was 350Mhz but charged at 140 so it took 80 minutes to top off from 250 miles of remaining range.

Mhz as in MegaHertz ??

Assuming you meant kWh (kilowatt-hour), at your stated 140 kWh speed, you could charge a Lucid Air Touring (92 kWh battery) in full (Zero to One Hundred Percent) in roughly 39.43 minutes. And 20-80% in 24 minutes. So not sure how 80 minutes came about.

 

[Drew46]

Mhz as in MegaHertz ??

Assuming you meant kWh (kilowatt-hour), at your stated 140 kWh speed, you could charge a Lucid Air Touring (92 kWh battery) in full (Zero to One Hundred Percent) in roughly 39.43 minutes. And 20-80% in 24 minutes. So not sure how 80 minutes came about.

Yeah, those things. Whatever it was,, it took 80 minutes to charge from 250 to 490.

Don't get me wrong, I love this car and find myself taking it over my Targa GTS once in a while. Just not a fan of the lack of infrastructure. Its a great car for local use or if you have another option for a longer haul. Probably not so much for an impatient person's only option.

 

[Pragmatic]

I travel throughout NJ, NY, CT, MA and VT and find it hard to believe that there is any trip of 250 miles which would limit the driver to a single DCFC in the NE. Some may be 5-10 miles off the interstate and NH and Maine are somewhat sparse but even there I believe stations over 150kw are available.
Of course without the particulars I could be wrong.

 

[Drew46]

Southern Westchester to Souther VT via the Taconic Parkway. The only fast charger within 5 mules of the route is in Bennington.

 

[Pragmatic]

Last time I was on the Taconic I was going from Catermount Ski area to Brooklyn then home to Tuxedo. Only 175 miles so my level 2 fill up at Catermount did it (even though it was below 0F).

Only 190 miles, shouldn't need a DCFC if you have access to a level 2iat either end and can start at 80%. If you do need one - on the Taconic there is a charger at LaGranville NY (150 kw EV Go). There is also a Mercedes hub in Lee MA (not too far off 22N after the Taconic ends its 350Kw).

 

[johnse]

Whatever it was,, it took 80 minutes to charge from 250 to 490.

Charging from 80% to 100% will take roughly the same time (or longer) as charging from 10%-80%.

I'm curious where you were that there wasn't a charger in 400+ miles?

You will spend much less time charging on the road if you plan charging stops at closer to 10-20%. (No matter what EV you drive). And only charge enough to get to the next stop with a similar buffer. The car will tell you how much it needs for the next leg of the trip.

 

[Drew46]

Last time I was on the Taconic I was going from Catermount Ski area to Brooklyn then home to Tuxedo. Only 175 miles so my level 2 fill up at Catermount did it (even though it was below 0F).

Only 190 miles, shouldn't need a DCFC if you have access to a level 2iat either end and can start at 80%. If you do need one - on the Taconic there is a charger at LaGranville NY (150 kw EV Go). There is also a Mercedes hub in Lee MA (not too far off 22N after the Taconic ends its 350Kw).

OK, You win.

Keyboard Warrior/EV Fanboi: 1
Member simply posting real world experience: 0

Your straw man argument actually restates exactly what I posted originally: I do not need a DCFC because I have a level 2 at both ends. Having access to a DCFC 50 miles from the origin point (LaGranville) doesn't really help much. Nor does a charger in Lee which is 30 minutes and 22 miles off route each way - so about 1:20 detour to charge the car. Having a level 2 charger at both ends, combined with the range of the AGT makes the Lucid an excellent choice for me. However, if you do not have a level 2 charger at both ends and you are not a patient man, you might want to give it some thought before buying an EV as your only car.

It may be time to give your parents their laptop back.

 

[borski]

OK, You win.

Keyboard Warrior/EV Fanboi: 1
Member simply posting real world experience: 0

Your straw man argument actually restates exactly what I posted originally: I do not need a DCFC because I have a level 2 at both ends. Having access to a DCFC 50 miles from the origin point (LaGranville) doesn't really help much. Nor does a charger in Lee which is 30 minutes and 22 miles off route each way - so about 1:20 detour to charge the car. Having a level 2 charger at both ends, combined with the range of the AGT makes the Lucid an excellent choice for me. However, if you do not have a level 2 charger at both ends and you are not a patient man, you might want to give it some thought before buying an EV as your only car.

It may be time to give your parents their laptop back.

Please refrain from personal attacks. I’m leaving this post here for now, because it contains other data, but personal attacks are not tolerated in this forum.

 

[Drew46]

Apologies. I do get frustrated when someone hijacks a thread into an argument and it detracts from the OP getting good information to digest.

 

[coma24]

Yeah, those things. Whatever it was,, it took 80 minutes to charge from 250 to 490.

Don't get me wrong, I love this car and find myself taking it over my Targa GTS once in a while. Just not a fan of the lack of infrastructure. Its a great car for local use or if you have another option for a longer haul. Probably not so much for an impatient person's only option.

Zero to 100 is not the common use case, it's the worst case scenario. You're writing off charging on road trips, but it appears you're doing it wrong, especially if you're in a hurry. Learn what a charging curve is.

 

[Drew46]

Zero to 100 is not the common use case, it's the worst case scenario. You're writing off charging on road trips, but it appears you're doing it wrong, especially if you're in a hurry. Learn what a charging curve is.

I am not writing it off; I was just giving the OP some data points given his self-recognition that he is not a patient man. Having to manage the charging curve is counter to patience. And while I appreciate your input, there are times (as this was for me) when you need the full range for the next leg of your trip so charging to 100% becomes the use case for that use. I am not sure why everyone is so defensive. EVs are not the panacea and they are not for everyone. Helping the OP make a fully informed decision should be the goal of this forum. I am not suggesting he pass on the Lucid, I am just sharing my personal experiences. Somehow I fell like some of you think I called your baby ugly.