Years of Persistent Software Failures - Lucid Air Software Team’s Incompetence is Unacceptable

[sansonoma]

I think the variability in experiences is the genuine problem. It shouldn't be that some cars are problematic and others are trouble-free. That suggests an inconsistency that is normally not tolerable and has hurt Lucid's image when a press reviewer gets a bad one.

For mine, I've owned it for 4 years, and it's been almost completely trouble-free. I've experienced almost none of the problems above. I only get irritated when the media goes to zero volume until I reset it. But that is only once or twice a year. I say this to highlight, not argue with, the extreme variability that is a real problem. My worry is that Lucid may not have the financial wherewithal to correct this.

It makes me sad. My car is magnificent - it should be the same for everyone.

 

[thepolock]

It's interesting to see these complaints. There are always one-ups for problems. And if you wait long enough, they do seem to mount up. I for one, with a 2023 Air Touring, I have had far fewer problems with a new generation (or even old generation) new automobile. I have been very satisfied with my Lucid. There has been a single glitch that has required major service (main battery), but Lucid stepped up and fixed it all. It took about 3 weeks from start to finish, but I have been very pleased with Lucid. Sh!t happens.

As a counter example, I had a 1978 Olds Toronado. From day one it presented itself with an engine pinging problem (probably related to pre-detination). Was in the shop tens if not a hundred times for repair. A terrible auto. Oldsmobile stood up and eventually bought it back. It was replaced with brand spanking new Toronado Diesel, built off a Olds 350 gas engine transformation. You know what happened? Upon delivery, within literally minutes, we went for a test drive and parked it at the dealership and paint was peeling off the right front fender. They were astonished and more than embarrassed. Once again they stepped up the plate and resolved all issues (BTW, the diesel engine in that vehicle was truly rock solid).

My background is with mechanical, electrical, service, computers and computer support,and software development. I've been behind numerous software development efforts to include final testing. Lucid's vehicles are highly complex vehicles with a myriad of permutations in design, assemble, environmental, international laws, and much much more.

Lucid is a startup. Exposed to all the business trials and tribulations. On top of that it is pricey. But if you went in to this so blind to all of these exposures, you were very naive and perhaps you shouldn't have gone in this direction. I am very satisfied with their efforts.

I am very pleased with my vehicle and the efforts displayed by Lucid..

 

[Professor Y Cars]

From the OP's list, the only thing I've experienced after nearly 50K miles of driving my Air is the intermittent bluetooth connectivity. But that happens once every 4 or 5 weeks, which really is no different than what I've experienced with my Teslas, or really any other car with bluetooth.

My car has been generally very reliable from both hardware and software perspective.

 

[donfenn]

Almost three years of ownership with no major issues.

Yes, I’ve had the usual odd software glitches and some CarPlay annoyances, but I dealt with plenty of CarPlay nonsense in Porsche and BMW products too. It does seem to be getting better, and I still love the way the car drives. I did have a repeated frunk issue early on, but Lucid was very responsive to handing the matter, and it was resolved

Most importantly, I haven’t had any meaningful mechanical issues in nearly three years. No engine/transmission-type drama, no ICE maintenance headaches, and no major failures.

That doesn’t mean others haven’t had problems, but my own experience has been far better than the forum narrative sometimes suggests.

 

[Pragmatic]

Regen was fine for mine winter of 23/24 (and maybe 24/25). But some OTA update changed it. When skiing I park outside at 1800 feet. It is Level 1 charged (limit set to 80% but many times I'm leaving at less than 75%). My drive home is uphill another 200 ft (over a mile of road) then down ~1600 ft (over 10 miles of road). The road is somewhat steep (5% to 13% grades) and windy. Speed needed to negotiate the turns varies between 15 and 30 mph. After the update (not sure which one) I went from having standard regen available throughout the drive to losing all regen after the second or third switchback. Its not very pleasant repeatedly slowing the car from 45 to 20 over an 8 mile stretch of road with only the friction brakes. It happens in temperatures as high as 50F.

 

[borski]

10 times a day every day

I’m pretty sure between the two of us you post more often about your experience than I do about mine.

Just saying.

 

[marqie]

As a Lucid Air owner for over two years, I expected a premium electric vehicle from a company positioning itself as a technology leader. Instead, the software experience has been a relentless parade of frustration, unreliability, and now genuine safety concerns. The software team’s inability to deliver stable, functional updates is not just disappointing - it’s outright incompetent and reflects a dangerous disregard for owners who have invested heavily in this vehicle.

From day one, intermittent issues have plagued the car and remain unresolved despite multiple over-the-air updates:
- It routinely takes up to 30 seconds to shift from Park to Drive after the car has been sitting unlocked.
- Volume controls freeze randomly, rendering audio adjustments impossible.
- Bluetooth and other connectivity is unreliable at best. Devices frequently go unrecognized, preventing music streaming. SiriusXM channels are unable to connect daily.
- A random subset of speakers will intermittently stop producing sound
- Air vent controls become unresponsive, leaving cabin climate management inconsistent and irritating.

Most of these problems temporarily disappear after I pull over and reboot the car’s computer, yet they randomly reappear throughout the day. These problems are not edge cases - they recur with enough frequency to make every drive unpredictable. After two full years, the fact that Lucid has failed to address such basic functionality is a clear indictment of the software team’s competence fundamentally unstable software.

The latest software update, 2.10.0, has made matters far worse. It has fundamentally altered the vehicle’s driving dynamics in an unsafe manner. Regenerative braking now fails to engage consistently, particularly after the car has been parked for several hours. This is not a subtle change - it affects deceleration predictability and energy recapture, introducing hesitation and inconsistency that has real safety implications, especially in traffic or when precise control is needed. Introducing such a regression in a critical system like braking response demonstrates a shocking lack of rigorous testing and quality control.

This level of ongoing incompetence in a $100K luxury EV is inexcusable. Owners deserve better than a vehicle that feels like an unfinished beta project years after delivery.

Hi, @BAran. I am sorry to hear about your experience. I just sent you a DM.

 

[Pierre-CH]

As a Lucid Air owner for over two years, I expected a premium electric vehicle from a company positioning itself as a technology leader. Instead, the software experience has been a relentless parade of frustration, unreliability, and now genuine safety concerns. The software team’s inability to deliver stable, functional updates is not just disappointing - it’s outright incompetent and reflects a dangerous disregard for owners who have invested heavily in this vehicle.

From day one, intermittent issues have plagued the car and remain unresolved despite multiple over-the-air updates:
- It routinely takes up to 30 seconds to shift from Park to Drive after the car has been sitting unlocked.
- Volume controls freeze randomly, rendering audio adjustments impossible.
- Bluetooth and other connectivity is unreliable at best. Devices frequently go unrecognized, preventing music streaming. SiriusXM channels are unable to connect daily.
- A random subset of speakers will intermittently stop producing sound
- Air vent controls become unresponsive, leaving cabin climate management inconsistent and irritating.

Most of these problems temporarily disappear after I pull over and reboot the car’s computer, yet they randomly reappear throughout the day. These problems are not edge cases - they recur with enough frequency to make every drive unpredictable. After two full years, the fact that Lucid has failed to address such basic functionality is a clear indictment of the software team’s competence fundamentally unstable software.

The latest software update, 2.10.0, has made matters far worse. It has fundamentally altered the vehicle’s driving dynamics in an unsafe manner. Regenerative braking now fails to engage consistently, particularly after the car has been parked for several hours. This is not a subtle change - it affects deceleration predictability and energy recapture, introducing hesitation and inconsistency that has real safety implications, especially in traffic or when precise control is needed. Introducing such a regression in a critical system like braking response demonstrates a shocking lack of rigorous testing and quality control.

This level of ongoing incompetence in a $100K luxury EV is inexcusable. Owners deserve better than a vehicle that feels like an unfinished beta project years after delivery.

Hello Baram

Sorry to hear about your issues. I have been driving an Air for 2 years now and have logged 38000 km. Non issues like the ones you describe. I think the probable reason is that I always make sure the car is fully booted before I start driving. I suspect that a lot of the issues the people report have to do with the software not booting completely or correctly as people jump in the car and start driving. I also male sure the battery in my key is good (based on my usage I change it every 6 months roughly), never had an issue opening the car (although it cab take a little time if the car was in desp sleep). I am not saying everything is the best it can be, but I am saying that after 2 years and roughly driving around the earth, I have not faced any major issue. There are few cars like ours, fewer than Ferraries, so we have to expect so little quirks that you will no longer find when you have the car number 13594639186. At the same time we have the pleasure to drive the most exceptional electric vehicle on the planet (at least in that price range). So try to give your car that extra 20 seconds and I am convinced you will have the same experience as me

 

[socktucker]

I’m pretty sure between the two of us you post more often about your experience than I do about mine.

Just saying.

This isn’t about me!

 

[JPAir]

I would just say that if you are lucky enough to not have issues, just hope that once you do you can get it into service within a reasonable window.

My car has had repeat issues from the get go, but I largely avoided software issues but 2.9.0 bricked my TCU and now 2.10.0 has caused my blind spot cameras to stop working.

Add to the fact I am waiting on my 3rd service in a row to fix my frunk not closing completely which was a result of another service visit where they replaced a seal that leaked and caused my frunk to freeze shut. I am done with this car and company.

Guess I got a lemon, since December 2024 when I picked it up new to now I have 18 plus service visits many for repeat issues and shame on me for not lemoning this thing out in 25.

 

[gaskiller]

I would just say that if you are lucky enough to not have issues, just hope that once you do you can get it into service within a reasonable window.

My car has had repeat issues from the get go, but I largely avoided software issues but 2.9.0 bricked my TCU and now 2.10.0 has caused my blind spot cameras to stop working.

Add to the fact I am waiting on my 3rd service in a row to fix my frunk not closing completely which was a result of another service visit where they replaced a seal that leaked and caused my frunk to freeze shut. I am done with this car and company.

Guess I got a lemon, since December 2024 when I picked it up new to now I have 18 plus service visits many for repeat issues and shame on me for not lemoning this thing out in 25.

Unfortunate.

Not to brag but my car has absolutely no problems since updating the computer. Do you have the updated computer? I would recommend installing if you don’t.

 

[prgarg]

Unfortunate.

Not to brag but my car has absolutely no problems since updating the computer. Do you have the updated computer? I would recommend installing if you don’t.

You're absolutely right, if someone plans to lemon or sell the car, what a great idea to spend $1k on a new infotainment computer first.

 

[borski]

This isn’t about me!

Then stop making it about you.

 

[borski]

You're absolutely right, if someone plans to lemon or sell the car, what a great idea to spend $1k on a new infotainment computer first.

This has been my least favorite meme of gaskiller’s of late.

@gaskiller please stop recommend everyone get the CCC on non-infotainment related threads. It doesn’t help, is a red herring, and is approximately the definition of completely irrelevant. A new CCC is not going to fix a frunk that won’t close.

I have asked you to stop before, but this is me no longer asking nicely. If it is not related to infotainment (and frankly, even if it is), please stop.

Any vehicle with current software should be working fine on the old CCC anyway. If it isn’t, that is in and of itself a problem.

 

[borski]

I would just say that if you are lucky enough to not have issues, just hope that once you do you can get it into service within a reasonable window.

My car has had repeat issues from the get go, but I largely avoided software issues but 2.9.0 bricked my TCU and now 2.10.0 has caused my blind spot cameras to stop working.

Add to the fact I am waiting on my 3rd service in a row to fix my frunk not closing completely which was a result of another service visit where they replaced a seal that leaked and caused my frunk to freeze shut. I am done with this car and company.

Guess I got a lemon, since December 2024 when I picked it up new to now I have 18 plus service visits many for repeat issues and shame on me for not lemoning this thing out in 25.

This sucks. I’m really sorry to hear it.

What do you mean by “bricked your TCU”? Did it just need a reset or full replacement? A reset can happen, and if it needed one they may have replaced it with v2 of the TCU which is much more reliable and much more rarely needs a reset. (This is now SOP for an old TCU that needs resets, as I understand it).

The cameras, if not fixed by a reset/sleep, is almost certainly a long-standing issue that 2.10 raised, but I sincerely doubt it caused it. (I don’t doubt you’re telling the truth, I’m just trying to do some root cause analysis)

What’s the frunk issue, aside from the leak (which obviously sucks)? Does it catch? Have you tried adjusting the rubber stoppers?

 

[WildRide47]

Unfortunate.

Not to brag but my car has absolutely no problems since updating the computer. Do you have the updated computer? I would recommend installing if you don’t.

I have not upgraded my computer and plan not too, as I am not having any problems. [2022 AGT]. Don't see the reason why I should upgrade if I am satisfied with how the car presently works. What would I be getting for the extra grand on a car that works fine as is.

 

[borski]

I have not upgraded my computer and plan not too, as I am not having any problems. [2022 AGT]. Don't see the reason why I should upgrade if I am satisfied with how the car presently works. What would I be getting for the extra grand on a car that works fine as is.

For now, not much other than stability and speed / lack of lag.

In the future, some updates may be gated on it (some features recently released are already gated on it; you can find these in the release notes)

 

[chazglenn3]

This forum is an echo chamber for negativity.

ALL automotive forums are echo chambers for negativity. MOST people only go to a forum to post about problems or complain about something. Those that are happily driving their vehicles without problems never even visit a forum UNLESS they are enthusiasts. My last 8 cars were all Cadillacs until the Polestar 2 I drive now. Same thing on those forums. I consider myself an enthusist so I love participating in the various fora.

 

[borski]

ALL automotive forums are echo chambers for negativity. MOST people only go to a forum to post about problems or complain about something. Those that are happily driving their vehicles without problems never even visit a forum UNLESS they are enthusiasts. My last 8 cars were all Cadillacs until the Polestar 2 I drive now. Same thing on those forums. I consider myself an enthusist so I love participating in the various fora.

Preach

 

[Pragmatic]

I guess the forums I've hung around have been the exception. Other than this one. The others were mostly posts asking easiest way to fix a vehicle or sharing repair tricks or supplying alternative parts from other OEMs that would work. Very little compaining about reliability.