Software and Tech Opinions

[emoylv]

I did not realize there were going to a variety of early adopter issues. I went thru this forum and checked out road trip because I’m going to drive from ca to az and it’s almost like the car or az wants to fail me. The drive is definitely very comfortable and 10/10. Here’s where my mental state goes on overdrive and not enough vodka to make me forget.

- have to do homework on charging stations for a long road trip. Dl’d ABRP and plug share, they both reccomend I stop at quartzite and will be at my destination with 10%. Cool, problem is I can see the mileage vs miles since last charge changing at a different rate. For example, screen shows charge 180 miles but start to drive, and it changes to 150, when I’ve only driven 10 miles from last charge. I just can’t rely on this.
- get to destination with 6 miles and now try to find a charger. There’s one 2 miles away. Need to find it and that’s a big gripe I have in areas I don’t know, I’m circling to find these small stations. They’re not clearly marked like Tesla. Find a blink station dl the app, it charges 10 miles per hour 6 or 8 kw. I hang out to get back to 12 miles so I can drive to a fast charging station. Literally drive out the lot, the miles goes to 8. I get nervous find the next crap station that is damaged with someone cutting off the cables. Stressed to find the next one that is another 2 miles. This one charges a little faster but 13kw still a time suck. I hang out at target until the car gets to 22 miles. Back on track to the fast station. Circle around 3 times and finally ask someone nearby and they say drive thru the gates, like how tf am I supposed to know. My miles are back at 5, I’ve driven in 105 az heat with no air cause I’m so low on miles. Get there, says blink but doesn’t take my card, QR code tells me to dl the app I already have. I call the number, miserable, I have to dl another app, enter my card info and then it worked. Charged up to 150 miles. That was 3 hours later.
- next am, my car has a flat tire. I had to uber and then call aaa to help determine if it’s just air, repair or replace. Turns out leak in tire, lucid was no help, ending up keeping the car at tire center overnight cause they don’t have the tire size. 600$ later waiting for the tire.
- I learned from this experience but I wish I didn’t have to. I want my Tesla back because it was something I knew and the times I had issues, Tesla towing came to the rescue.

I know a lot of people here will likely discount this sentiment but it’s frustrating and I don’t have the leisure of time trying to balance everything and figure out the car too. I would wait until they at least get the Tesla charging adapter.

I'm interested to know what your route was. I drove from San Diego to Tucson earlier this month. First time with an EV so I was a little nervous. Charged to 95% in SD so the Touring (20" wheels) told me to skip El Centro and charge in Yuma, AZ, Dateland, AZ and Casa Grande, AZ. The route planner told me how much charge to put in at each stop. The fluctuation in miles upon arrival while I was driving was a little disconcerting. In the heat, my calculations was about 3 miles/kWh so nowhere near my lifetime average. I decided to place my trust in the Lucid computer, charged to the level recommended before continuing and all went well. I did have a couple of trepidations: There is only one Electrify America charge station in Tucson. If it was down, I would have had an extended stay there but I checked before the trip and it was up and running. I did the same before I left SD and confirmed that the stations at Yuma and Dateland are operational as well. Until the EVSE charging network gets more robust, that's my planning scenario for all out-of-town EV trips. I take 2-3 trips/year so not a big deal. The joy of driving the Touring more than compensates the planning exercise but I sort of knew that when I made the purchase. I used EA exclusively since I have another half year of free charging. With EA, the Touring will practically take you to the charge station, not just the general vicinity. I haven't used EVGo or others so I can't comment on them.

 

[Mislucid]

Hey, thanks for your reply and I can but don’t want to get into an excel sheet situation, I used 3 different app including the internal air to map me out. The problem was post making trip. I had so little juice or mileage left and I had to scramble. The next couple of days in phoenix was the same. I was surprised they didn’t have fast charging stations and the ones I found was hit or miss (broken cables, can’t fit the car, not working, charging 6-8kw). No problem for our lucid fan club but it’s quite a trek and I have a bit of ptsd. For all the lucid fans here, car is beautiful and runs great. That’s not the issue. It’s the day to day convenience when your a busy mf. Dm me separately and if it’s helpful I can give you my exact route plan and dig around for details.

 

[Mislucid]

*you’re a busy

 

[emoylv]

Hey, thanks for your reply and I can but don’t want to get into an excel sheet situation, I used 3 different app including the internal air to map me out. The problem was post making trip. I had so little juice or mileage left and I had to scramble. The next couple of days in phoenix was the same. I was surprised they didn’t have fast charging stations and the ones I found was hit or miss (broken cables, can’t fit the car, not working, charging 6-8kw). No problem for our lucid fan club but it’s quite a trek and I have a bit of ptsd. For all the lucid fans here, car is beautiful and runs great. That’s not the issue. It’s the day to day convenience when your a busy mf. Dm me separately and if it’s helpful I can give you my exact route plan and dig around for details.

I've done the LA route to Phoenix. I stopped at the Cabazon Outlet Mall. That was the quickest charge I've ever received, over 250kW. Two years ago, those chargers were only functional when the mall was open; I don't know if that's changed or not. From there to Quartzite, AZ is 159 miles, easily doable, then another 129 miles to Phoenix, way doable, but I would not skip Quartzite, especially in the summer. I've learned to trust the Lucid route planner, it's fairly conservative so I don't think you'll be stranded. If it tells you to charge to X%, I'd do it. Made my 1,200-mile trip from Vegas to San Diego to Tucson and back home uneventful. If you count Buckeye, there are 11 EA chargers in the Phoenix "Metro" area. If you're not wedded to EA, there are more. I haven't lived in the Phoenix area since the mid-90's. There are a few folks on this forum who do. I'm sure they would be glad to give you better pointers than me. Phoenix to Vegas is the sticky wicket for me. I make sure Kingman is functional before I depart either location.

 

[DeaneG]

Hey, thanks for your reply and I can but don’t want to get into an excel sheet situation, I used 3 different app including the internal air to map me out. The problem was post making trip. I had so little juice or mileage left and I had to scramble. The next couple of days in phoenix was the same. I was surprised they didn’t have fast charging stations and the ones I found was hit or miss (broken cables, can’t fit the car, not working, charging 6-8kw). No problem for our lucid fan club but it’s quite a trek and I have a bit of ptsd. For all the lucid fans here, car is beautiful and runs great. That’s not the issue. It’s the day to day convenience when your a busy mf. Dm me separately and if it’s helpful I can give you my exact route plan and dig around for details.

The Plugshare app and Plugshare.com are your best bet for finding and vetting charging stations on the road. Look for high-scoring locations:

 

[Mislucid]

I've done the LA route to Phoenix. I stopped at the Cabazon Outlet Mall. That was the quickest charge I've ever received, over 250kW. Two years ago, those chargers were only functional when the mall was open; I don't know if that's changed or not. From there to Quartzite, AZ is 159 miles, easily doable, then another 129 miles to Phoenix, way doable, but I would not skip Quartzite, especially in the summer. I've learned to trust the Lucid route planner, it's fairly conservative so I don't think you'll be stranded. If it tells you to charge to X%, I'd do it. Made my 1,200-mile trip from Vegas to San Diego to Tucson and back home uneventful. If you count Buckeye, there are 11 EA chargers in the Phoenix "Metro" area. If you're not wedded to EA, there are more. I haven't lived in the Phoenix area since the mid-90's. There are a few folks on this forum who do. I'm sure they would be glad to give you better pointers than me. Phoenix to Vegas is the sticky wicket for me. I make sure Kingman is functional before I depart either location.

Thanks. Lots of stations in phoenix dt are slow charging stations. I found some fast charging ones and all of them were tricky to find because it’s not clearly marked. I’m a bi traumatized here but will be making all the stops plus some. Going from ca to az was good but arrived with such low battery and had super slow stations to work with. Appreciate your feedback!

 

[DeaneG]

Thanks. Lots of stations in phoenix dt are slow charging stations. I found some fast charging ones and all of them were tricky to find because it’s not clearly marked..

Set a filter in Plugshare for a minimum power level of 50kW, or 150kW. The locations in the screenshot I posted above all had a minimum power level of 50kW.

 

[EVCar]

Anyone heard anything recently about Air's access to Tesla SC?
I hope this is not dragging out like Android phones.

 

[HC_79]

Anyone heard anything recently about Air's access to Tesla SC?
I hope this is not dragging out like Android phones.

Nope but seems like another promised timeline missed when Lucid said it was coming to the Air Q2.

To be fair, the Air really doesn’t benefit for the SC network in its current form. V3’s will only give you 50kW and be extremely difficult to get the cable to reach to the port. V4’s are still running on V3 cabinets.

Not sure if this is on Lucid or Tesla but I really wish Lucid got better with its announced timings or if something has changed then just simply say something.

 

[JoshG]

Yep, I almost pulled the trigger last week because Lucid had an offer I almost couldn't refuse: $60,000 up front ($21k in lease incentives + 39k for 2021 Model S) BUT in going to the showroom for one last look at test drive before signing, I got spooked by admittedly some minor issues. I had to press the door handle 2x to open (not a big deal but I noticed it), my phone wouldn't charge in the charging slot (after the salesperson assured me there were no issues charging phones wirelessly anymore) and the native nav for some reason locked up on us as we were driving.

Since my Model S works fine (more the only issue being politics), I decided not to play Russian Roulette now and will see what Lucid does with the Air in 2026 or 2027 (hopefully get a v2). Love the car but don't want to deal with early adopter headaches.

BIG MISTAKE View attachment 29976

If @californiaboy935 is referring to putting a large amount like that down on a lease, yes, that's a huge mistake. I posted more about the dangers of big-downpayment leasing here.

shorter version: NEVER wise to put down big money upfront on a lase. If you total your car or it gets stolen, that big upfront lease-buydown is just gone. YOU (not the lease company) lose all that money. Your insurance company will be thrilled with your unwise decision... they just have to pay the Lease company balance left on the lease, and YOU get nothing for paying that much up front.

If you don't believe me, just google or better yet ask ChatGPT about the risks in big upfront lease capital-cost reduction payments. It will explain it better.

 

[californiaboy935]

If @californiaboy935 is referring to putting a large amount like that down on a lease, yes, that's a huge mistake. I posted more about the dangers of big-downpayment leasing here.

shorter version: NEVER wise to put down big money upfront on a lase. If you total your car or it gets stolen, that big upfront lease-buydown is just gone. YOU (not the lease company) lose all that money. Your insurance company will be thrilled with your unwise decision... they just have to pay the Lease company balance left on the lease, and YOU get nothing for paying that much up front.

If you don't believe me, just google or better yet ask ChatGPT about the risks in big upfront lease capital-cost reduction payments. It will explain it better.

Yep, exactly. That and he needs to just buy a Lucid already…

Huge lease down payment:

 

[DeaneG]

Anyone heard anything recently about Air's access to Tesla SC?

Only that Lucid has recently said Q3 rather than Q2.

 

[tarator]

Nope but seems like another promised timeline missed when Lucid said it was coming to the Air Q2.

To be fair, the Air really doesn’t benefit for the SC network in its current form. V3’s will only give you 50kW and be extremely difficult to get the cable to reach to the port. V4’s are still running on V3 cabinets.

Not sure if this is on Lucid or Tesla but I really wish Lucid got better with its announced timings or if something has changed then just simply say something.

There is still one whole day in Q2. You never know...