Road Trip Disaster

[whywar]

I was excited to drive my Lucid from Florida to NJ, as I would enjoy the ability to maneuver the car through trucks on the two lane portions of I 95. I was only concerned about the DCFC situation as my car has recently experienced charging errors at EA locations. The car would charge for 1 minute then stop and display " charging error reconnect and try again" message. I contacted Lucid and was told that this was an EA issue. It happened often and at 5 different EA locations. EA resolved the issue by rebooting the chargers and comping the charging session, so I assumed it was a billing issue. I left Boca Raton FL and traveled to Ormand Beach, where I had 3 charging errors on 3 different chargers before I was able to connect and charge normally. 200 miles later, in Pooler, Ga., the first charger I used worked properly and I was able to charge from 27% to 87%, for the final leg of the day. On arrival at the hotel in Florence SC, all seemed to be fine with the vehicle. We unloaded our bags and checked into the hotel. Went back to move the car into a parking space and the dreaded fatal "drive fault error" appeared on the screen. Contacted customer care and a tow was arranged, at least that was what I was told. 90 minutes later the tow truck arrived, but it did not have the ability to move the now 100% dead Lucid (the battery had a 34% charge on arrival). The tow truck did not have skates or dollies to put under the wheels, nor did the driver have any tools to open the rear passenger wheel wheel to access the 12 volt battery. I waited for another tow truck, with skates to take the car away so Lucid can haul it to the Virginia service center. It took a total of 4 hours from the initial call to customer care before it was loaded onto a flat bed tow truck. Tomorrow I need to rent a car to continue my trip to NJ. In short, I own an expensive car that I can no longer rely on to use as a mode of transportation. In the past, when people asked me about the Lucid, I responded with "it is the best car I have owned, an awesome car to drive". No more. I cannot recommend this vehicle to anyone as it is not worth the risk of being stranded on the side of an interstate, many miles from home. I was fortunate that I was 5 miles from the highway, at my hotel, when the car bricked. As bad as this experience was, it could have been much worse.

 

[xponents]

I was excited to drive my Lucid from Florida to NJ, as I would enjoy the ability to maneuver the car through trucks on the two lane portions of I 95. I was only concerned about the DCFC situation as my car has recently experienced charging errors at EA locations. The car would charge for 1 minute then stop and display " charging error reconnect and try again" message. I contacted Lucid and was told that this was an EA issue. It happened often and at 5 different EA locations. EA resolved the issue by rebooting the chargers and comping the charging session, so I assumed it was a billing issue. I left Boca Raton FL and traveled to Ormand Beach, where I had 3 charging errors on 3 different chargers before I was able to connect and charge normally. 200 miles later, in Pooler, Ga., the first charger I used worked properly and I was able to charge from 27% to 87%, for the final leg of the day. On arrival at the hotel in Florence SC, all seemed to be fine with the vehicle. We unloaded our bags and checked into the hotel. Went back to move the car into a parking space and the dreaded fatal "drive fault error" appeared on the screen. Contacted customer care and a tow was arranged, at least that was what I was told. 90 minutes later the tow truck arrived, but it did not have the ability to move the now 100% dead Lucid (the battery had a 34% charge on arrival). The tow truck did not have skates or dollies to put under the wheels, nor did the driver have any tools to open the rear passenger wheel wheel to access the 12 volt battery. I waited for another tow truck, with skates to take the car away so Lucid can haul it to the Virginia service center. It took a total of 4 hours from the initial call to customer care before it was loaded onto a flat bed tow truck. Tomorrow I need to rent a car to continue my trip to NJ. In short, I own an expensive car that I can no longer rely on to use as a mode of transportation. In the past, when people asked me about the Lucid, I responded with "it is the best car I have owned, an awesome car to drive". No more. I cannot recommend this vehicle to anyone as it is not worth the risk of being stranded on the side of an interstate, many miles from home. I was fortunate that I was 5 miles from the highway, at my hotel, when the car bricked. As bad as this experience was, it could have been much worse.

This is basically the same as what happened to @Halodde , I dont understand how the tow trucks keep messing up like that. Granted, on a forum issues are always amplified.

 

[Rogue]

I was excited to drive my Lucid from Florida to NJ, as I would enjoy the ability to maneuver the car through trucks on the two lane portions of I 95. I was only concerned about the DCFC situation as my car has recently experienced charging errors at EA locations. The car would charge for 1 minute then stop and display " charging error reconnect and try again" message. I contacted Lucid and was told that this was an EA issue. It happened often and at 5 different EA locations. EA resolved the issue by rebooting the chargers and comping the charging session, so I assumed it was a billing issue. I left Boca Raton FL and traveled to Ormand Beach, where I had 3 charging errors on 3 different chargers before I was able to connect and charge normally. 200 miles later, in Pooler, Ga., the first charger I used worked properly and I was able to charge from 27% to 87%, for the final leg of the day. On arrival at the hotel in Florence SC, all seemed to be fine with the vehicle. We unloaded our bags and checked into the hotel. Went back to move the car into a parking space and the dreaded fatal "drive fault error" appeared on the screen. Contacted customer care and a tow was arranged, at least that was what I was told. 90 minutes later the tow truck arrived, but it did not have the ability to move the now 100% dead Lucid (the battery had a 34% charge on arrival). The tow truck did not have skates or dollies to put under the wheels, nor did the driver have any tools to open the rear passenger wheel wheel to access the 12 volt battery. I waited for another tow truck, with skates to take the car away so Lucid can haul it to the Virginia service center. It took a total of 4 hours from the initial call to customer care before it was loaded onto a flat bed tow truck. Tomorrow I need to rent a car to continue my trip to NJ. In short, I own an expensive car that I can no longer rely on to use as a mode of transportation. In the past, when people asked me about the Lucid, I responded with "it is the best car I have owned, an awesome car to drive". No more. I cannot recommend this vehicle to anyone as it is not worth the risk of being stranded on the side of an interstate, many miles from home. I was fortunate that I was 5 miles from the highway, at my hotel, when the car bricked. As bad as this experience was, it could have been much worse.

A question of curiosity. When did you get the car? I feel like a handful of owners around the December timeframe have been experiencing issues with drive faults. However, I've not asked each individual and may be assuming as my delivery was in December.

 

[whywar]

A question of curiosity. When did you get the car? I feel like a handful of owners around the December timeframe have been experiencing issues with drive faults. However, I've not asked each individual and may be assuming as my delivery was in December.

October 5, 9137 miles on vehicle

 

[davidliu]

October 5, 9137 miles on vehicle

Really sorry and scared to hear story like that. I got my Air AT April last year. And put almost 17,000 miles on it now. Never experienced any major issues, charing has been flawless for the past 6 months+. I'm about to embark a 3000 miles road trip next week and will be going to some remote areas in Utah and Coronado. Fingers crossed, hope I can make it back without any incidences.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

That’s a real bummer. Will Lucid transport the vehicle back to you or do you need to go back to get it? Let us know what happens

 

[Steveinarizona]

As many have noted, a problem with forums is that they tend to be biased toward problems or successes. Auto forums such as this one are not even close to being statistically accurate.

The horror stories we read about here are pretty bad but I can't tell if they are 1/2 of 1% or 10% of the total universe. There isn't a car company extant that doesn't have at least some horror stories. I have always heard the line: "Rolls Royces don't stop; they fail to proceed".

 

[whywar]

That’s a real bummer. Will Lucid transport the vehicle back to you or do you need to go back to get it? Let us know what happens

Vehicle is on a truck right now, heading to the Virginia service center in Mechanicsville. Monday it will be sent through a series of diagnostic tests to determine the cause of the drive fault error. The plan is to provide me with a loaner, delivered to my home, by the end of the week. When repairs are completed, the car will be delivered to me. All of the people at Lucid have been very helpful and understanding, as they try and ease my pain in this unfortunate circumstance. I will update here when the diagnostics are completed and a repair plan is decided upon.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

https://dornsbodyandpaint.com/
Had a similar experience in first weeks of ownership. Car was trucked to Mechanicsville.
I was watching it's progress on my phone, which was cool. Saw where it was parked and when it was moved. Took about a week to diagnose and replace a faulty module, then update the software. Car has been flawless since (8months ~ 4k miles later).

If you do track your car remotely using the app, remember that the lights come on when you do this. The night my car was returned I was monitoring the trip home, so when the flatbed truck arrived at my house the Lucid headlights were shining directly into the rear window of the truck. Driver must have been pissed every time I checked to see where it was...because the lights blinded him. He didn't say anything so I guess he's trucked Lucids before. Also, if there is a night guard at Dorns he must have been surprised when I kept checking on my car in the wee hours (insomniac here)...that's gotta be weird to have a car suddenly 'wake up' and start flapping handles.

 

[GMan]

October 5, 9137 miles on vehicle

Did you receive a recall notice? Your vehicle may have been manufactured during the recall period. https://lucidowners.com/threads/contactor-recall-megathread.5186/post-126374

 

[whywar]

Did you receive a recall notice? Your vehicle may have been manufactured during the recall period. https://lucidowners.com/threads/contactor-recall-megathread.5186/post-126374

My car was inspected for the recall issue when it was in Riviera Beach for Frunk liner replacement 2 months ago. They determined it was not subject to a recall.

 

[Halodde]

Sorry man. Early adoption has its risks and benefits. As pissed off and frustrated as I was when it happened to me, I'm letting that one go. If anything else happens with my car, I'll cross that bridge if/when I come to it. Hopefully, we both will be problem free going forward and love the car the way we want to and the way many others already do.

 

[Halodde]

This is basically the same as what happened to @Halodde , I dont understand how the tow trucks keep messing up like that. Granted, on a forum issues are always amplified.

I feel like Lucid should do something to correct the problem of not being able to use external power for a reasonable amount of time when this happens. I'm not an engineer and understand that it has to be a very complicated process. But since this situation is obviously a thing based on the 4 issues in the last 6 weeks just among our membership, it is definitely happening with enough frequency to figure out some kind of patch.

 

[xponents]

I feel like Lucid should do something to correct the problem of not being able to use external power for a reasonable amount of time when this happens. I'm not an engineer and understand that it has to be a very complicated process. But since this situation is obviously a thing based on the 4 issues in the last 6 weeks just among our membership, it is definitely happening with enough frequency to figure out some kind of patch.

I mean, you did sayhigher management already knows. A fix should be soon then, i’d say.

 

[Vette2Lucid]

I was excited to drive my Lucid from Florida to NJ, as I would enjoy the ability to maneuver the car through trucks on the two lane portions of I 95. I was only concerned about the DCFC situation as my car has recently experienced charging errors at EA locations. The car would charge for 1 minute then stop and display " charging error reconnect and try again" message. I contacted Lucid and was told that this was an EA issue. It happened often and at 5 different EA locations. EA resolved the issue by rebooting the chargers and comping the charging session, so I assumed it was a billing issue. I left Boca Raton FL and traveled to Ormand Beach, where I had 3 charging errors on 3 different chargers before I was able to connect and charge normally. 200 miles later, in Pooler, Ga., the first charger I used worked properly and I was able to charge from 27% to 87%, for the final leg of the day. On arrival at the hotel in Florence SC, all seemed to be fine with the vehicle. We unloaded our bags and checked into the hotel. Went back to move the car into a parking space and the dreaded fatal "drive fault error" appeared on the screen. Contacted customer care and a tow was arranged, at least that was what I was told. 90 minutes later the tow truck arrived, but it did not have the ability to move the now 100% dead Lucid (the battery had a 34% charge on arrival). The tow truck did not have skates or dollies to put under the wheels, nor did the driver have any tools to open the rear passenger wheel wheel to access the 12 volt battery. I waited for another tow truck, with skates to take the car away so Lucid can haul it to the Virginia service center. It took a total of 4 hours from the initial call to customer care before it was loaded onto a flat bed tow truck. Tomorrow I need to rent a car to continue my trip to NJ. In short, I own an expensive car that I can no longer rely on to use as a mode of transportation. In the past, when people asked me about the Lucid, I responded with "it is the best car I have owned, an awesome car to drive". No more. I cannot recommend this vehicle to anyone as it is not worth the risk of being stranded on the side of an interstate, many miles from home. I was fortunate that I was 5 miles from the highway, at my hotel, when the car bricked. As bad as this experience was, it could have been much worse.

I can relate. My Touring at only 1200 miles basically bricked in my garage. Lucid did a really good job taking care of my car though, and after replacing two key modules in the car, it has performed flawlessly ever since. Even still, for our last road trip we passed on taking the Lucid because it hasn't had enough time to prove itself for the family to trust it. I'm confident it will prove itself, though. But at the same time, instead of outright recommending it based on the incredible driving experience, I also feel that I need to let people know that I had that experience. My hope is that a couple years down the road, I'll be able to chalk up that experience to an issue that likely no longer exists. Many of us are early adopters who believe in Lucid's mission and its potential to reshape the industry, and I bought my car knowing something could go wrong and deciding that if it did, hopefully it was going to make Lucid better. I hope that whatever they learn from your car, you'll never see again, nor will any of the rest of us.

 

[victoryroad]

October 5, 9137 miles on vehicle

Got my AGT the same day In Oct. 11,000 miles. Only major problem was pilot panel not responding at 10:30 PM at an EA station in a snowstorm in Syracuse NY on the first leg of a 2000 mile cross country trip. Temporary fix was the reboot procedure that my SM walked me through. SC replaced CCC, pilot panel and a wiring harness In Denver and no problems since. i attribute that and several other cosmetic build deficiencies to the assembly crew at the factory the day it was built were poorly trained and that QC did not do its job. Still love the car despite the inconveniences and heartily recommend it to anyone who asks me about it.

 

[whywar]

I hope that Lucid learns enough from these failures to prevent this from happening to cars yet to be produced.

 

[Neurio]

I hope that Lucid learns enough from these failures to prevent this from happening to cars yet to be produced.

You're assuming it's the same problem every time. There are many components that go into the battery packs and wunderbox. If it was always the same, there'd have to be a recall of some sort. Makes me think the causes are variable.

 

[whywar]

You're assuming it's the same problem every time. There are many components that go into the battery packs and wunderbox. If it was always the same, there'd have to be a recall of some sort. Makes me think the causes are variable.

Contactor Issue. Recall notice never received. Car was inspected in April at Riviera Beach for recall notices and passed

 

[whywar]

It turns out that my VIN was not part of the recall for the contactor issue. Yet that was exactly the problem my car had, faulty high voltage contactors as specified in the recall. The contactor issue for my car fell outside the parameters that Lucid set up to define the cars likely to have the issue with the faulty components. Which is unsettling because my car was in the Riviera Beach service center for 2 minor issues in April and inspected for known recall issues. My VIN only suggested the wiring harness issue to be investigated. Lucid will be looking into how this could have happened, according to Russell, the Mechanicsville service center manager. Car is being shipped to me tonight, due to arrive at 10 am tomorrow. Less than one week, from Florence, SC, to repairs in Mechanicsville, VA, and back to NJ, is pretty impressive. Excellent handling of a tough situation, which could have been much worse.