Sudden loss of power

[sdmattingly]

My car was just returned after being served for the tow eye repair. We then started a road trip. This is the first time the car has been driven after the service. We had pulled off the interstate onto a highway going 60-70 mph and without warning everything inside the vehicle went black, no power. The speed was dropping rapidly. I was lucky to have gotten to the shoulder as traffic was fast and thick, people zipping around me as I tried to pull off. I was unable to signal and could not use access hazards. Once I was on the shoulder, I tried the brakes which seemed to do nothing and the car came to a stop on its own. The car came to a stop just short of an exit ramp. Once we were stopped on the shoulder the headlights and taillights remained on, but nothing inside the car was on. With the lights on, we felt fairly safe staying with the vehicle as other drivers could easily see us. After about 10-15 minutes, the headlights and taillights went out. When this occurred, our battery was at 59%, I had both hands on the wheel and was looking for my exit. Sitting in a black car with no lights on the side of a busy highway was absolutely terrifying. After this experience, I am afraid to drive it around the block. As I write this, I am still waiting for a tow and have no idea what happened. How many others have had this problem? What was the cause? What did Lucid do about it? Is this common?

 

[hydbob]

Dang, I'm really sorry to hear about this. Sounds like a HV battery failure and there have been a few other instances of this happening. Lucid will most likely have to replace your HV battery and Wunderbox and that will probably take a few weeks. Please keep us updated as the situation progresses. I hope you do not have to wait long for a tow.

 

[EVCar]

Sorry to hear about this.
Hope you and the car will be safe.
I'm under the impression that anecdotally, HV battery failure tends to occur early. Is that correct?
Does anyone know the highest mileage for HV failure reported on the forum or elsewhere?

 

[Coltonw011]

I thought the tow eye recall was for DEs and very early GTs wasn’t it? I have an April build GT and didn’t get the recall. So if OP has a DE or early GT the HV battery failure could be at a higher mileage. @borski did you have HV failure, or was it a motor? I can’t remember but thought you had one of those issues outside of the typical low mileage failures we’ve seen

 

[sdmattingly]

This unfortunate saga started at 6:30 pm and it's now nearing midnight. When the exterior lights went dark, we knew that was a dangerous situation. We worked with Lucid for a ride to a hotel and ended up leaving the vehicle until a tow could deal with the car. We got our GT in April and it has about 3800 miles. We had no idea the car could put us in that sort of dangerous situation. This shook both of us pretty hard. We are wondering why something with that sort of catastrophic failure is even being sold. Dealing with service has been an additional frustration...20 min wait only to be told you need to talk to someone else, back on hold for 20 min...oy! We had a hiccup once the car was flat bedded. Me and the fella towing the vehicle could not get a person on the line to assist. That's another hour none of us will get back. But at the end of the day, the question remains why is this defect being sold.

 

[Balin]

Last Sunday I had just started driving the call when it displayed a battery issue warning (sorry do not recall the exact wording) and a notice that the vehicle would power down in two minutes. That warning transitioned to a drive system failure. Was able to return to where I was staying and, after a few attempts and a conversation with customer care, a valet card reset cleared the warnings and the car drive normally the rest of the day.
The following day, during a 300 mile drive home and at speed on a major highway the same thing happened - battery warning, 2 minutes until power down, drive system failure. Was able to pull off to a shoulder and again a valet reset eventually cleared the error and I was able to drive the last 40 miles home. Customer care decided to have the car towed from my home to Riviera and I await diagnosis.

 

[Keithmaj]

Last Sunday I had just started driving the call when it displayed a battery issue warning (sorry do not recall the exact wording) and a notice that the vehicle would power down in two minutes. That warning transitioned to a drive system failure. Was able to return to where I was staying and, after a few attempts and a conversation with customer care, a valet card reset cleared the warnings and the car drive normally the rest of the day.
The following day, during a 300 mile drive home and at speed on a major highway the same thing happened - battery warning, 2 minutes until power down, drive system failure. Was able to pull off to a shoulder and again a valet reset eventually cleared the error and I was able to drive the last 40 miles home. Customer care decided to have the car towed from my home to Riviera and I await diagnosis.

To be clear, did your symptoms progress to an amber Drive System Warning or a red Drive System Fault? I've been getting the DS Warning upon starting up but it clears itself after 20 seconds. I called CS and am waiting for my Service Center Advisor to call me back. The CS advisor had me do a valet card reset but that didn't help. He did confirm he thought the car was certainly still drivable (it was fine driving around town yesterday).

 

[Coltonw011]

I am pretty sure that the power downs are related to the HV battery issues. I can’t speak from experience, so I’m sorry you’re going through it @Balin, there was one issue for a member that turned out to be a bad Ethernet connection that kept throwing the code (I believe this was related to the front motor but still threw drive system faults) so hopefully yours is similar as you were able to reset and drive a few times. I hope they figure it out fast!

 

[Coltonw011]

I am pretty sure that the power downs are related to the HV battery issues. I can’t speak from experience, so I’m sorry you’re going through it @Balin, there was one issue for a member that turned out to be a bad Ethernet connection that kept throwing the code (I believe this was related to the front motor but still threw drive system faults) so hopefully yours is similar as you were able to reset and drive a few times. I hope they figure it out fast!

It was @zkhan2 who had the Ethernet issue.

 

[Balin]

To be clear, did your symptoms progress to an amber Drive System Warning or a red Drive System Fault? I've been getting the DS Warning upon starting up but it clears itself after 20 seconds. I called CS and am waiting for my Service Center Advisor to call me back. The CS advisor had me do a valet card reset but that didn't help. He did confirm he thought the car was certainly still drivable (it was fine driving around town yesterday).

The drive system fault was red, as was the initial battery warning, I believe. Given that that there was a 2 minute power cut warning (which I had not seen mentioned on this forum before and certainly got my attention at 80mph in the left lane of a major highway) I am pretty sure it was red throughout.

 

[borski]

The drive system fault was red, as was the initial battery warning, I believe. Given that that there was a 2 minute power cut warning (which I had not seen mentioned on this forum before and certainly got my attention at 80mph in the left lane of a major highway) I am pretty sure it was red throughout.

This was what happened to me, and I pulled off the highway and into a driveway - the two minutes were very accurate (and updated as I drove). Then I reset the car, and it drove fine - apparently a reset does “fix it” temporarily.

Service responded to my text within 60 seconds, offered a tow, but since the reset made it drive fine, I drove it straight to Millbrae. When I got there 30 minutes later, they had a rental waiting, and I was in and out quickly, and they had the car back to me around 7-10 days later (I don’t remember, tbh) after replacing the HV battery and Wunderbox. I’ve never heard of anyone having a problem after the replacement.

Totally painless service experience, which is what I’d hope for for everyone else.

 

[zkhan2]

It was @zkhan2 who had the Ethernet issue.

They unplugged and replugged the various harnesses and the problem had not come back. From the report:

Concern: Customer states he charged his car to 100% last night in order to go on a trip today 9/2/22. When he came out to his car this morning and
went to leave the drive system warning light was on as well as the turtle light
Cause: Engineers found that there was a loss of communication between the MPB and FDU. This was a one time occurrence.

 

[ElectricVA]

Sorry to report that I am joining the Drive System Fault club!

On the way to work on Jan 11th, I was on a main road going about 50MPH when the red Drive System Fault appeared in the middle of the dash. I immediately had no acceleration, but regen braking seemed off so I was able to change to the left lane. Then the entire dash went blank. I had enough speed to exit to entrance to a housing development before the car came to a complete stop. No power, no lights, no flashers. Total time of about 10 seconds and 0.2 miles from Fault to dead vehicle. I called Roadside Assistance and after 3-4 attempts, they were able to reboot the car. They said it was okay to drive and a SC would contact me.

After a week, the mobile technician checked the vehicle and took care of a few TB. He said he did not see any cause of the Drive System Fault, but had reseated a number of cables/harnesses that could have caused the issue. Said the vehicle was ready to go! (this past Friday)

Today, (second drive since Friday), I was on the way to work again. Going about 30 MPH when the red Drive System Fault appeared. This time it only lasted 2 seconds before the dash went blank. Again, no acceleration, but regen braking seemed off. Barely had time to pull into a shopping center entrance road. Total time of 4-5 seconds and 100 yards from Fault to dead vehicle. This time Roadside Assistance was not able to reboot the car. Interestingly, I was able to turn on the flashers after I stopped with the dash blank. (So, if you are in this situation, you may be able to turn on the flashers even without interior lights!).

In trying to reboot the car, I was asked to exit the car so it could be rebooted. It did not reboot, so I was stuck outside the car. Being a somewhat cold and windy day, it was a LONG wait for the tow truck! (Another tip - if you are asked to exit the car, so it can be rebooted, take everything with you that do not want stuck in the car!) The tow truck driver had to attach 12V booster to under the rear passenger wheel well to open the truck and then door to be able to put the car in Neutral to get it on the flatbed. It is being towed to the Richmond, VA SC. No word on the issue.

While I understand that Lucid is a new brand and new technology, I am quite upset about it happening the SECOND time after Lucid technician inspected the car. While both situations were dangerous, I feel the second time should not have ever occurred - especially reading these posts from other.

 

[zkhan2]

Sorry to report that I am joining the Drive System Fault club!

On the way to work on Jan 11th, I was on a main road going about 50MPH when the red Drive System Fault appeared in the middle of the dash. I immediately had no acceleration, but regen braking seemed off so I was able to change to the left lane. Then the entire dash went blank. I had enough speed to exit to entrance to a housing development before the car came to a complete stop. No power, no lights, no flashers. Total time of about 10 seconds and 0.2 miles from Fault to dead vehicle. I called Roadside Assistance and after 3-4 attempts, they were able to reboot the car. They said it was okay to drive and a SC would contact me.

After a week, the mobile technician checked the vehicle and took care of a few TB. He said he did not see any cause of the Drive System Fault, but had reseated a number of cables/harnesses that could have caused the issue. Said the vehicle was ready to go! (this past Friday)

Today, (second drive since Friday), I was on the way to work again. Going about 30 MPH when the red Drive System Fault appeared. This time it only lasted 2 seconds before the dash went blank. Again, no acceleration, but regen braking seemed off. Barely had time to pull into a shopping center entrance road. Total time of 4-5 seconds and 100 yards from Fault to dead vehicle. This time Roadside Assistance was not able to reboot the car. Interestingly, I was able to turn on the flashers after I stopped with the dash blank. (So, if you are in this situation, you may be able to turn on the flashers even without interior lights!).

In trying to reboot the car, I was asked to exit the car so it could be rebooted. It did not reboot, so I was stuck outside the car. Being a somewhat cold and windy day, it was a LONG wait for the tow truck! (Another tip - if you are asked to exit the car, so it can be rebooted, take everything with you that do not want stuck in the car!) The tow truck driver had to attach 12V booster to under the rear passenger wheel well to open the truck and then door to be able to put the car in Neutral to get it on the flatbed. It is being towed to the Richmond, VA SC. No word on the issue.

While I understand that Lucid is a new brand and new technology, I am quite upset about it happening the SECOND time after Lucid technician inspected the car. While both situations were dangerous, I feel the second time should not have ever occurred - especially reading these posts from other.

Sorry to hear this and I have gone through this with my car at the Richmond VA SC for 6 weeks. Under no circumstances would I have mobile service check this type of issue out, this should always be diagnosed at the SC. They should be able to tell you why it happened and what corrective steps they have taken.

 

[EVCar]

Sorry to report that I am joining the Drive System Fault club!

On the way to work on Jan 11th, I was on a main road going about 50MPH when the red Drive System Fault appeared in the middle of the dash. I immediately had no acceleration, but regen braking seemed off so I was able to change to the left lane. Then the entire dash went blank. I had enough speed to exit to entrance to a housing development before the car came to a complete stop. No power, no lights, no flashers. Total time of about 10 seconds and 0.2 miles from Fault to dead vehicle. I called Roadside Assistance and after 3-4 attempts, they were able to reboot the car. They said it was okay to drive and a SC would contact me.

Sorry to hear about this. Glad you're safe.
How long have you had the car and what mileage?

 

[ElectricVA]

Sorry to hear this and I have gone through this with my car at the Richmond VA SC for 6 weeks. Under no circumstances would I have mobile service check this type of issue out, this should always be diagnosed at the SC. They should be able to tell you why it happened and what corrective steps they have taken.

I agree with you 100% now. I should have insisted that it be towed after the first incident.
However, I should not have needed to make that decision, either! For safety reasons, Lucid should have towed.

 

[AbsoluteZenith]

This unfortunate saga started at 6:30 pm and it's now nearing midnight. When the exterior lights went dark, we knew that was a dangerous situation. We worked with Lucid for a ride to a hotel and ended up leaving the vehicle until a tow could deal with the car. We got our GT in April and it has about 3800 miles. We had no idea the car could put us in that sort of dangerous situation. This shook both of us pretty hard. We are wondering why something with that sort of catastrophic failure is even being sold. Dealing with service has been an additional frustration...20 min wait only to be told you need to talk to someone else, back on hold for 20 min...oy! We had a hiccup once the car was flat bedded. Me and the fella towing the vehicle could not get a person on the line to assist. That's another hour none of us will get back. But at the end of the day, the question remains why is this defect being sold.

How are you expected to trust the car after an event like this

 

[zkhan2]

I agree with you 100% now. I should have insisted that it be towed after the first incident.
However, I should not have needed to make that decision, either! For safety reasons, Lucid should have towed.

If you have not already, I would recommend that you speak to Richard Hudak. He is the service manager for this region and extremely professional, provides continuous communications, and goes out of his way to make sure you are satisfied. I cam DM his POC if you do not have it.

 

[zkhan2]

How are you expected to trust the car after an event like this

I went through this with my car and after a long while, they were able to identify the issue and correct it. No drive train issues since then. Where I would not trust the fix with these critical issues is if they asked me to do a reboot and call it a day.

 

[SDHacker]

How are you expected to trust the car after an event like this

It's like with any failure and repair, it's your faith in the repair and whether they addressed the failure. If the tech can explain the failure and how they addressed it, I'm very likely to think we're good.