We Need an "Ask Lucid" Feature on the Lucid Website

[hmp10]

It's apparent from the two Lucid forums that sales and delivery advisors are getting peppered with technical questions about the car, and it's also clear that people are having difficulty getting prompt answers -- and sometimes difficulty getting answers at all.

This is a new car from a company with no history of prior models for reference. Buyers will inevitably have questions relating to things they are considering doing with their cars, such as applying protective coatings or films, tinting windows, installing radar and laser detectors, using aftermarket wheels and accessories, etc.

Wouldn't it be nice if Lucid would create an "Ask Lucid" feature on its website as a central clearing house for these types of questions and answers.

Lucid could make it accessible only to reservation holders with accounts and state clearly that they won't answer questions that involve disclosure of proprietary technology. But my guess is that it would considerably lighten the load of sales and delivery advisors who are the ones now getting these questions -- and apparently without easy access to the people in the organization who can answer them. Taking this burden off them would likely free up personnel to staff the "Ask Lucid" board, whose administrator should have streamlined access to the technical groups at Lucid who can provide answers.

 

[WildRide47]

It's apparent from the two Lucid forums that sales and delivery advisors are getting peppered with technical questions about the car, and it's also clear that people are having difficulty getting prompt answers -- and sometimes difficulty getting answers at all.

This is a new car from a company with no history of prior models for reference. Buyers will inevitably have questions relating to things they are considering doing with their cars, such as applying protective coatings or films, tinting windows, installing radar and laser detectors, using aftermarket wheels and accessories, etc.

Wouldn't it be nice if Lucid would create an "Ask Lucid" feature on its website as a central clearing house for these types of questions and answers.

Lucid could make it accessible only to reservation holders with accounts and state clearly that they won't answer questions that involve disclosure of proprietary technology. But my guess is that it would considerably lighten the load of sales and delivery advisors who are the ones now getting these questions -- and apparently without easy access to the people in the organization who can answer them. Taking this burden off them would likely free up personnel to staff the "Ask Lucid" board, whose administrator should have streamlined access to the technical groups at Lucid who can provide answers.

Well I can answer one question. My delivery advisor called me today to get info on my name, delivery address etc. I asked her if my Grand Touring Edition comes standard with the heated steering wheel that is included in the Dream Edition. She said she would get back to me. Received an e-mail from her just now that states yes it comes standard on the Grand Touring Trim as well.

 

[Lucken]

Is it just me or are others amazed that the presence or absence of a heated steering wheel is still not common knowledge among sales associates at this point?

Is it even more amazing that at this price point something as basic as a heated steering wheel, that’s present on $35,000 (and less) cars, might not be present on a Lucid…in any trim? We shouldn’t even have to ask this question if Lucid was more forthcoming in listing standard equipment.

I’m getting a bald spot from scratching my head so much lately.

 

[WildRide47]

Is it just me or are others amazed that the presence or absence of a heated steering wheel is still not common knowledge among sales associates at this point?

Is it even more amazing that at this price point something as basic as a heated steering wheel, that’s present on $35,000 (and less) cars, might not be present on a Lucid…in any trim? We shouldn’t even have to ask this question if Lucid was more forthcoming in listing standard equipment.

I’m getting a bald spot from scratching my head so much.

Actually a heated steering wheel is an extra cost option on even the most expensive Porsche.

 

[Lucken]

Actually a heated steering wheel is an extra cost option on even the most expensive Porsche.

That sure doesn’t make it any better. It simply illustrates that there are car companies that bilk their customers because they can.

 

[WildRide47]

Actually a heated steering wheel is an extra cost option on even the most expensive Porsche.

Since the heated steering wheel is standard on the Dream and Grand Touring Editions, I would think that it would either be standard on the Touring or an extra cost option that would not be too expensive to add.

 

[WildRide47]

That sure doesn’t make it any better. It simply illustrates that there are car companies that bilk their customers because they can.

I'm with you there. Porsche is notorious for charging extra for the simplest of options. However, comparing the Porsche Taycan Turbo to the Lucid Grand Touring the following are standard on the AGT Lucid while extra cost(sometimes a lot of extra cost) options on the Porsche.

Extra options on the $150K base Porsche Taycan turbo are 21" wheels, ventilated seats, massage seats, Adaptive Cruise, soft close doors, motorized charging door panel, power sunscreens for side and rearview windows, lane centering, mobile charger, top grade audio system, power folding mirrors, etc. etc. More than 25K in these Porsche options are standard on the AGT and Dream. Plus the Lucid has more horsepower and more range.

For what is included, I feel that the 140K price of the AGT is fair compared to Mercedes and Porsche. The 2 options I would have liked the Lucid to have (which it does not) are the air suspension to avoid curbs and steep driveways, and rear wheel steering which I paid extra for on my Panamera which makes the turning radius of such a large car seem like a small car. Once you have it you will never want to be without it.

I guess it is all relative. To me the Lucid is a fairly priced with what is included as standard equipment compared to the Porsche where everything is extra.

 

[hmp10]

Since the heated steering wheel is standard on the Dream and Grand Touring Editions, I would think that it would either be standard on the Touring or an extra cost option that would not be too expensive to add.

One of the things so much software control of cars has done is give manufacturers new ways to balance margins against manufacturing efficiency. A lot of cars are now manufactured with features installed but only activated when the customer pays an extra fee. Tesla had led the way in a lot of this, as information has dribbled out that some of its models are manufactured with battery capacity or motor output in all the units, but that additional capacity is only activated via software instructions when the feature is "purchased" by the customer. This is also the case with its mis-named Full Self Driving, whereby all the cars have the hardware required, but customers either have to pay $10,000 to activate it or pay a hefty monthly subscription fee. This was also the basis on which Mercedes floated the idea of building all the EQS' with an ability to steer the rear wheels by both 4.5 and 10 degrees, but activate the 10-degree steering on a subscription basis. There was enough outrage at the proposal that Mercedes dropped the approach . . . for now, anyway.

I suspect it would be more efficient, both in terms of supplier and inventory management, and assembly simplicity, to manufacture all Lucid's with a heated steering wheel, but then charge for it as an option on less-expensive models.

This is pure surmise, though. I have no idea whether Lucid will actually approach any options this way -- but much of the rest of the industry seems to be testing the waters with such stratagems.

 

[Lucken]

I'm with you there. Porsche is notorious for charging extra for the simplest of options. However, comparing the Porsche Taycan Turbo to the Lucid Grand Touring the following are standard on the AGT Lucid while extra cost(sometimes a lot of extra cost) options on the Porsche.

Extra options on the $150K base Porsche Taycan turbo are 21" wheels, ventilated seats, massage seats, Adaptive Cruise, soft close doors, motorized charging door panel, power sunscreens for side and rearview windows, lane centering, mobile charger, top grade audio system, power folding mirrors, etc. etc. More than 25K in these Porsche options are standard on the AGT and Dream. Plus the Lucid has more horsepower and more range.

For what is included, I feel that the 140K price of the AGT is fair compared to Mercedes and Porsche. The 2 options I would have liked the Lucid to have (which it does not) are the air suspension to avoid curbs and steep driveways, and rear wheel steering which I paid extra for on my Panamera which makes the turning radius of such a large car seem like a small car. Once you have it you will never want to be without it.

I guess it is all relative. To me the Lucid is a fairly priced with what is included as standard equipment compared to the Porsche where everything is extra.

I’m with you on the Porsche, they have a well deserved reputation for that kind of ‘option lunacy’. With that said, I still believe that we shouldn’t have to ask if a heated steering wheel is standard on the $140K AGT.

The Porsche and the Lucid are aimed at very different target audiences. The Porsche crowd may not put as much value in the creature comfort of a heated steering wheel, but I think most Lucid buyer do. I think comfort is part of the Lucid luxury formula.

But hey, I could be totally wrong.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

Is it just me or are others amazed that the presence or absence of a heated steering wheel is still not common knowledge among sales associates at this point?

Is it even more amazing that at this price point something as basic as a heated steering wheel, that’s present on $35,000 (and less) cars, might not be present on a Lucid…in any trim? We shouldn’t even have to ask this question if Lucid was more forthcoming in listing standard equipment.

I’m getting a bald spot from scratching my head so much lately.

Keep in mind heated steering wheels are only requested by people living in cold climates. A colleague of mine from Southern California never heard of Long John's...

 

[Lucken]

Keep in mind heated steering wheels are only requested by people living in cold climates. A colleague of mine from Southern California never heard of Long John's...

That’s true, but even those living in warm climates may travel to cold areas on occasion. As long as there’s an on-off switch tied to the heated steering wheel, everyone can be happy.

It reminds me of certain poor design decisions that Tesla made because enough thought wasn’t put into the highly unusual concept of ‘winter driving’. Even though a car is designed and built in a warm climate, designers must factor in that a very significant percentage of buyers will be driving in sub-freezing weather. Thus, on a couple of occasions, my MS’ motorized handles refused to pop out, once as we came out of a movie theater. Since we had friends along, it was a bit embarrassing.

Tesla didn’t learn their lesson even with the non-motorized handles on the M3. Due to the poor design, owners were frequently greeted with handles that were frozen shut. I believe I read somewhere that Lucid has designed their handles to be resistant to this kind of issue.

 

[hydbob]

From their pressers they did quite a bit of cold weather testing.

As for wrapping, the official Lucid response was don't do it yet...from my guy at least. I've been told by several wrap companies that if you wrap over the sensor then it may cause an issue with the distance reading, which is probably why Lucid doesn't want you to wrap it and mess up their sensor Suite.

I've decided to wait until XPEL can get a scan of the car and get a laser cut template before wrapping, especially because the front of the car has 3 different wrap materials which have to be used. Main reason though is the custom wraps all require them to knife the car and I don't want some careless person to screw my paint.

With regards to tinting, the back windshield I've been told is untintable due to the glass coming so close to the back deck and the proximity to sensitive electronics in the rear. Also the front windshield could potentially cause issues due to its size and the way the visors are mounted.

 

[hmp10]

With regards to tinting, the back windshield I've been told is untintable due to the glass coming so close to the back deck and the proximity to sensitive electronics in the rear. Also the front windshield could potentially cause issues due to its size and the way the visors are mounted.

I'm still waiting for an answer to my question about UV/IR filtering by the side windows, but I'm sure the front windshield filters out UV pretty effectively, as do the windshields in almost all modern cars. The plastic film used in laminated auto glass is a natural blocker of certain UV wavelengths even if not specifically formulated for the job. Given how sophisticated the UV and IR blocking is in the tinting on the top of the canopy, I'd be surprised if the same wasn't the case with the windshield, minus the heavy tinting.

 

[Paladin732]

From their pressers they did quite a bit of cold weather testing.

As for wrapping, the official Lucid response was don't do it yet...from my guy at least. I've been told by several wrap companies that if you wrap over the sensor then it may cause an issue with the distance reading, which is probably why Lucid doesn't want you to wrap it and mess up their sensor Suite.

I've decided to wait until XPEL can get a scan of the car and get a laser cut template before wrapping, especially because the front of the car has 3 different wrap materials which have to be used. Main reason though is the custom wraps all require them to knife the car and I don't want some careless person to screw my paint.

With regards to tinting, the back windshield I've been told is untintable due to the glass coming so close to the back deck and the proximity to sensitive electronics in the rear. Also the front windshield could potentially cause issues due to its size and the way the visors are mounted.

The problem with the templates are they leave a LOT of seems from what I’ve seen. A hand done wrap is infinitely better, if the shop is good.

my shop cuts out holes for the sensors and does it in such a way it looks totally seamless.

my last shop before that just covered over the sensors, it caused all sorts of problems and had to be redone.

 

[hydbob]

The XPEL templates supposedly add extra on the edges for wrapping under if possible otherwise it's cut. Just trying to minimize the blade work.

 

[Paladin732]

I’ve just never seen a great shop use templates. I’d check the work of the shop in person before bringing my vehicle to one that uses templates

 

[hydbob]

This is probably one of the most reputable shops in SoCal. They were doing a Pagani when I took the car down and had just finished 2 Ferraris and had a Model S Plaid dropping off to do work. I spoke with the owner and if I had chosen to get the car wrapped, they would have XPEL come out and scan my car to get the template done.

 

[Paladin732]

Got it.

The shop I go to in Norcal does everything by hand, the only one I have ever used that did templates did a horrendous job of it, hence being gunshy on them.