Tesla Killer? Not for This Owner
Lucid burst onto the scene in 2021 and was instantly labeled a “Tesla killer” thanks to its class-leading range, luxury, and engineering claims. But one owner had a very different experience. Jason Fenske, known for his entertaining Engineering Explained YouTube channel, described his first six months with his 2025 Lucid Air Touring as “super disappointing.”
Fenske, who has 4.1 million subscribers and a reputation for breaking down complex automotive tech, originally believed Lucid built some of the best-engineered EVs on the market. Instead, the long list of issues he described makes the Air Touring come across like a prototype still working through beta problems. He reported issues in three key areas: hardware failures, software glitches, and software design limitations.
High Hopes Collide With Real-World Ownership
On the hardware side, his Lucid Air's frunk refused to open unless pressed twice, two coolant pumps failed and had to be replaced, and even simple tasks – like opening the charge port or removing a drink from the center cupholder – require excessive force.
The software problems were just as frustrating. His infotainment system once showed “Unable to Install Update” while simultaneously claiming it was fully up to date. Audio would randomly cut out, including turn-signal sounds, and Apple CarPlay sometimes switched devices on its own. One of the most alarming glitches? The instrument cluster showed an 85 mph limit when actually, it was 55 mph, a mistake that could easily lead to tickets or worse, safety issues.
Then there are the design limitations. Navigation disappears when switching driver profiles. Voice recognition is unintuitive enough to return results in the wrong state. Cross-traffic alerts trigger while sitting at a stoplight. He even said a basic USB CarPlay dongle in his Ford Maverick is easier to use.
Here’s the Deal-Breaker
His biggest frustration, however, was the driver-profile system. The biometric scanner meant to identify the driver repeatedly told him to remove objects blocking his face, when the “object” was the steering wheel. And Lucid doesn’t let users switch profiles on the move – something the company says is a safety precaution in case a shorter driver accidentally switches to a taller person’s profile and can’t reach the pedals.
To be fair, this is one owner’s experience, and other Lucid drivers may have smoother ownership stories, so consider that when weighing his complaints. For reference, the Air Touring starts around $79,000, while the Gravity SUV is the only other model in Lucid’s lineup.
from Autoblog News https://ift.tt/75RFvGw
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