When an Air died, Lucid failed to connect remotely, and with the mobile tech away, the ownership experience soured
1 hour ago
- The owner of this Lucid Air says the phone app, key fob, or key card can’t open the car.
- Some fellow owners suspect that the EV’s 12-volt battery may have been drained.
- What could have been a simple fix in most other cars is anything but in the complex EV.
The Lucid Air has earned its reputation as one of the best electric vehicles on the market, blending luxury, performance, and efficiency in a way that few EVs can match, especially outside of China. However, as is the case with most modern cars, the Air is basically a high-tech gadget on wheels, and like any laptop or smartphone these days, it comes with its fair share of tech troubles.
Read: Lucid Promised Luxury But All This Owner Got Was Regret And Nightmares
To make matters worse, getting a Lucid technician to fix a stranded Air seems to be more difficult than contacting tech support to help you troubleshoot your (much cheaper) phone.
A Familiar EV Saga
Recently, a member of the Lucid Owners Club on Facebook shared the saga of his Air GT, the flagship variant of the EV that starts at $110,000. According to the owner, “We have been locked out of our Lucid GT since Monday evening. Have tried phone, fob and Key Card”. And, of course, the issues don’t end there.
The owner pointed out that he’s been in contact with customer service from Lucid and they’ve tried, and failed, to get access to the car remotely. Apparently, they couldn’t connect to it or get it to wake up. That’s annoying, but it may not seem like the end of the world, right? Lucid should be able to get the car towed and fixed quickly, right? Wrong.
According to the owner, the local Minneapolis mobile service tech was on vacation until the following week, so they aren’t around to try and remedy the non-responsive Air. Not all hope is lost, however.
“Lucid has gotten in contact with me and we have tried everything but jumping 12v,” the owner added in the comments. “They are having towed to a partner collision center and it sounds like they will try to jump it. If that doesn’t work, we will see what happens.
If it doesn’t, the owner may be left without the golf clubs he so desperately needs by Saturday. What a predicament…
Are Modern Cars Too Complicated For Their Own Good?
Jokes aside, the issue does raise an interesting question: are cars too complicated nowadays? Do they feature too many fancy electronics that can go wrong, potentially leaving owners stranded like this? Without even a physical key slot for emergency cases, it appears this Air is useless if the 12-volt battery runs flat.
It’s not just Lucid, of course. Just earlier this week, Ford had to recall nearly 200,000 Mustang Mach-E EVs in the U.S. and another 100,000 overseas due to a problem where the doors could get stuck if the 12-volt battery fails.
More: Ford Pulls Mustang Mach-E From Sale Over Dangerous Door Lock Flaw
Call us old-fashioned, but this would never happen with a good ol’ internal combustion engine vehicle. In the past, you’d simply jump-start the car or swap out the battery, and off you’d go. Sure, every new technology has growing pains, and it’s only fair to give automakers time to work out the bugs. Electric vehicles are still relatively new, and there’s a learning curve. The truth is, the tech has made incredible strides in just a few short years.
Nevertheless, most end users expect everything to run smoothly and glitches to be fixed in heartbeat, especially if they’ve paid big money in the first place. Otherwise, they may lose their patience and steer clear of EVs until they’re damn good and ready.
