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Wife got an R1S. Software envy increased

Carbonzhp

Carbonzhp

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Air Pure
Coming from a Model 3 before, I’ve always told people I fully recommend Lucid for everything besides its software features. Now with a Rivian in the house, I’m even more saddened with Lucid software. The feature list and integration are so much more developed, and the features and persistent notifications of its app, along with energy reporting, really show me how much we’re missing.

I’ve spent a very small amount of time with UX3 on Gravity, but even that didn’t seem very comparable.

FWIW, she’s coming from a BMW iX which technically has much more developed software, but I had zero envy of it and actually pointed toward many things it did as examples of what not to do at my workplace.
 
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Cabonzhp said:
Coming from a Model 3 before, I’ve always told people I fully recommend Lucid for everything besides its software features. Now with a Rivian in the house, I’m even more saddened with Lucid software. The feature list and integration are so much more developed, and the features and persistent notifications of its app, along with energy reporting, really show me how much we’re missing.

I’ve spent a very small amount of time with UX3 on Gravity, but even that didn’t seem very comparable.
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Has it improved a lot recently? Only Turo'd one a year ago and wasn't anything special IIRC.

I guess we just hope Lucid SW can make bigger strides. At least SW is OTA-able, HW and drive train is not.
 
The rivian software isn’t necessarily moving mountains, but has many of the small things that really add up for me. Choices for passive lock/unlock at home, dash cam for drive and parked, a decent maps provider, far more customization of interior and exterior lighting plus charging indications, and as mentioned I find it’s charging data more transparent and seamless.
 
I had a Rivian R1T, if I remember right, I waited for roughly six months for Rivian to roll out the dashcam/drivecam. I don’t understand why the Air still doesn’t have a dashcam/drivecam. With all the cameras on DDP, 3 years and counting, and I’m still waiting for dashcam/drivecam.
 
even Tesla took 7 years to even include waypoints to the nav system- I think we will see big improvements over the next 2 years
 
Hope Lucid catches up as well. Software has been my (and many other who I speak to) hesitation on going Lucid. My wife has a Tesla and I currently drive an R1S. I can confirm that things do work mostly as expected on the Rivian and the Tesla software is hyped up for a reason. Not sure I want to risk swapping my Rivian for a Lucid given the stories that I hear on this forum and the Facebook groups, but will keep watching from the sidelines as the right strides are being made - albeit rather slowly.

No PAAK still for the Gravity is kind of crazy if you ask me.
 
Cabonzhp said:
The rivian software isn’t necessarily moving mountains, but has many of the small things that really add up for me. Choices for passive lock/unlock at home, dash cam for drive and parked, a decent maps provider, far more customization of interior and exterior lighting plus charging indications, and as mentioned I find it’s charging data more transparent and seamless.
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I think we mostly have what we are going to have. The Air is out 5 years basically, they moved on to the Gravity and mid size SUVs. With less resources and more to try and achieve.
 
Cabonzhp said:
A recent Lucid software interned joined my company. When I tried to get some dirt, he said he didn’t see any effort on Air, some effort on Gravity, and the most significant lift being done for midsize.
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So, the moral of the story is that if you buy a midsize, you'll be left rotting too, eventually. Not a good story.
 
Cabonzhp said:
A recent Lucid software interned joined my company. When I tried to get some dirt, he said he didn’t see any effort on Air, some effort on Gravity, and the most significant lift being done for midsize.
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I would surmise that an intern might not have a broad enough view of what was going on to have much useful insight.

That said, that does seem obvious, and not insightful. Midsize is clearly going to be the thing they have the most resources on, because it needs to land well. Gravity has more issues than Air, it seems, so that would be the second highest priority. Air, which mostly works well, would be lowest priority, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will never see updates or anything.
 
BrianBigNFun said:
even Tesla took 7 years to even include waypoints to the nav system- I think we will see big improvements over the next 2 years
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“Tesla took 7 years” isn’t relevant here. The right comparison is Rivian.

Both Rivian and Lucid:
  • launched within months of each other
  • both run AAOS
  • started from a clean slate
However, the execution couldn’t look more different.

Rivian has been aggressive with software, shipping features quickly, iterating often, and actually delivering on what they announce. It’s not perfect, but the pace and follow-through are clearly there. There’s a reason VW wrote them a $5B check for their software stack.

Meanwhile, Lucid continues to struggle with the basics of the ownership experience.

Something that should be relatively simple like Camp Mode, is still missing long after deliveries began. AR HUD? don't get me started, Apple Digital Key? Still no clear timeline. V2H? Another “coming soon” with no visibility. And “soon” from Lucid has already proven to be… flexible.

This isn’t about nitpicking features, it’s about execution. Lucid clearly prioritized engineering (which shows), but underestimated how critical the software experience is to owners. Now they’re playing catch-up, and the gap is visible.

The bigger issue is timing. Rivian’s R2 will hit the market before Lucid’s midsize vehicles. That segment is going to attract a wave of first-time EV buyers, people who aren’t loyal to any brand yet. At that point, software isn’t a bonus, it’s a deciding factor.

And here’s the uncomfortable reality:

The things Lucid absolutely excels at (range, efficiency, charging performance, driving dynamics) are the things only die-hards like us really obsess over. The broader market doesn’t shop that way.

They care about:
  • how intuitive the car feels
  • how polished the software is
  • whether features actually show up when promised
Lucid built an engineering masterpiece, in my opinion nothing competes with it, but if that experience doesn’t translate to something customers feel every day, it won’t resonate at scale.

So the question is simple:

When those buyers compare Rivian vs Lucid…
which company’s software reputation is going to help them win?
 
I don't care if their software makes the car fly.
It is butt ugly and rides like a boat.
My lower threshold with any car purchase is, it has to at least look good.

Envy Rivian owners for their software? I honestly have no issues about the Gravity software.
Envy Rivian owners for the look of their car? No, actual pity.
 
HC_79 said:
which company’s software reputation is going to help them win?
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If I'm being completely candid, I think Lucid built a car that Peter Rawlins would want to own. And all the people like him have bought it.

I think Tesla toyed with that idea and that was the CyberTruck disaster.
 
msaunders9430 said:
I don't care if their software makes the car fly.
It is butt ugly and rides like a boat.
My lower threshold with any car purchase is, it has to at least look good.

Envy Rivian owners for their software? I honestly have no issues about the Gravity software.
Envy Rivian owners for the look of their car? No, actual pity.
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I agree with @msaunders9430 - You can work on the software but you can't fix ugly. The usual caveat that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, blah, blah, blah 😂
 
scal_air said:
I agree with @msaunders9430 - You can work on the software but you can't fix ugly. The usual caveat that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, blah, blah, blah 😂
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Totally correct on eye of the beholder. My son and daughter, both in their 30’s, actually like the looks of the Rivian. My wife on the other hand does not like the Rivian looks. They all agree that both Rivian and Gravity look better than BMW IX.
 
It would appear from sales that approximately 3x the number of people like Rivian more than Lucid.
 
Leftlane said:
It would appear from sales that approximately 3x the number of people like Rivian more than Lucid.
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Different market; far smaller sedan market than SUV market, and pickups are an even different market.

So, you *might* be right, but Lucid outsold every sedan in its class, so you very well may be wrong as well. Time will tell when they have a direct competitor.
 
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