Specs for Our Car
Yes it does say 819 horsepower and 512 mile range. That's pretty well every option Lucid Motors makes available. 20" and 21" wheels are available but range is reduced. 500 was the number I was waiting for before jumping in to EVs. We'll see what happens in the real world!
Ready to Go For it? Save Big $
Lucid Referral Code
If you actually review my content below you will see that I have a lot of ‘constructive criticism’ for Lucid Motors, especially regarding the quality of their software. I am not just a fan boy trying to rationalize to myself all the money I spent. I honestly detail the good, the bad, and the ugly as I see it. The good news is that the hardware foundations of the car are very strong (and lovely to look at) and software is just software. It’s fixable. So far, I am confident that Lucid will continue to accelerate the rate of software improvement and justify my ongoing love for my 2025 Lucid Air GT! If a friend needed a referral code I would gladly give it, along with the caveat to be prepared to live at the leading (sometimes bleeding) edge of car technology. So here is the link (or us the QR code):
https://lucidmotors.com/configure?referralCode=XGJL9C7J
And here is info on the latest Lucid referral program showing what you will save. You are just throwing money away to buy one without a code (like I did, dummy). My goal of this site is not to make money - I don't even know what good these 'referral points' will do me. But you will definitely save some money.
QR Code for Lucid Referral Discount
Let's Settle Some Scores
Guide to Ratings
I find that a LOT of the Lucid Air reviews out there focus mostly on the good looks and insane acceleration of the EV - and not the entire, end-to-end, ownership experience. To address that, I have compiled a list of factors that I will use to review and rate our experience with Lucid Motors as a company and our 2025 Lucid Air Grand Touring electric vehicle, specifically. These are purely impressions - no advanced analytics involved. All factors and rating scores are subject to change over time. See my profile below to learn more about the background that I bring to these assessments.
Let me clarify something upfront: I really like this car! That is why I am so direct and honest below. I want Lucid Motors to get better. As quickly as possible. If this site helps you make a car buying decision, that's great. But you will probably weigh these factors differently than I do, which is why I do not have an 'overall' rating. For example, Lucid's Driving Automation features (or lack of them) matter a lot to me, but my wife couldn't care less. Therefore, my score on that factors weighs heavily on my overall perspective, but not on hers. Enjoy!
Pre-Purchase Experience: A+
Like most tech-savvy folks, enjoying a day haggling at a car dealership is not high on my life list. I bought my last 3 cars entirely online, mostly via email. This was by far the smoothest process I have ever had as Lucid Motors makes online/virtual channels a priority. Our rep, Aaron Cuenca, was highly responsive and knew his stuff. Before we knew it, we were coming in for a test drive. (If this was just another white Tesla running around I might have bought it sight-unseen, but these cars are still fairly rare and I had never actually been close to one.) As we live in the SF Bay Area it turns out the closest dealership was actually at the Lucid Motors HQ in Newark, so we came in, did the drive, and told him we were ready to buy on the spot. (819 horsepower is a good convincer.) A small caveat: The Lucid EV model we purchased was pretty well loaded with every feature and upgrade available, so there really was not much chance for a hard upsell. But I got no impression that this is how their process works - the dealership is more like a high-end spa than a sales boiler room. Kudos!
Purchase Process: B
Okay so we made the decision! Now what? We decided to go for a 3 year lease as I am pretty convinced EV technology will continue to advance so quickly that I don't want to get stuck with old tech. Getting the 'paperwork' done is another area where Lucid Motors excels. If it wasn't for a small snafu with my PO Box confusing the online lease form, I probably could have done the entire process from site registration to final approval in 15 minutes myself (and not while sitting in the back office of some pushy auto finance manager trying to sell me the extended warranty). And Aaron quickly worked out the PO Box snafu with Lucid Finance.
Update 1: Unhappily, Lucid Finance called today to inform me that I missed my first payment (which no info was ever sent to me about) and my account has now been sent to collections and I am also now paying a past-due penalty. Issue was probably related to the PO Box snafu above which obviously was not resolved after all. Nice! All resolved now but not what you would call first-class treatment.
Pick Up and Onboarding: D-
Okay this has turned into a longer story than expected so I will only summarize here. Bottom line: as smooth as the process has been up to this point, it has mostly broken down. You wouldn't think it would take a week to actually take possession of a local car that I am buying stock? Yes it did. It took most of the week to even confirm when the pickup could be! After all that, when I finally got the car and got it home, I discovered that the right passenger door was not functioning properly. You would hope a final check (that they had a week to do) would have picked this up. So back across the Bay Area and half a day gone for my first service. Overall, this part of the process would have been handled better at a regular car dealership. After all that, you might think you get a free Lucid baseball cap or t-shirt for buying a $125k car? Nope. (But I was informed that you get a nice jacket if you buy the $250k Sapphire ;-(. On the positive side, Matt Giannattasio did a great job onboarding me to the many technical systems in the car - A+ for him and he saved this factor from getting an even worse score. Let's hope (and I am assuming) that the rest of my Lucid experience will be a lot better! (The good news is, this score has nothing to do with the car itself but it does reflect on the overall ownership experience.)
Update 1: No sooner do I start driving after the door handle issue is fixed and now the door rattles. Back to the dealership! A full day of my time now blown. I have to admit to feeling a teeny bit of buyer's remorse at this point. 2 more hours in the shop and hopefully it is now solved. On the positive side, Lucid did offer to do a remote service call if this happens again. I will update as things progress.
Update 2: Taking a nice drive in the mountains with my wife today. I hear some rattling and my wife says, "It's not coming from the door this time - it's coming from the roof!" Sure enough, when I stop I see that the arm that spans the glass canopy from back to front is coming loose - not snapped into place. You can see a photo of it in the gallery. I applied a lot of pressure to get it back into place but no luck. Back to the dealership - to fix the second issue that should have been caught before I picked up the car.
Fit and Finish: B
[To clarify: this category is NOT about my opinions on how the car looks. That is totally in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I think the Lucid Air is the best looking sedan on the market! That - along with the crazy power and range - are the main reasons I bought one. But this category is not about that.]
So keep in mind that I am not comparing this car to a Ford or Buick (which are actually pretty damn good these days). I'm comparing it to another $125k luxury car brand. The reality is that the Lucid Air build quality still has the feel of a car that is hand-assembled on a low-volume production line. Right off the line, issues included the creaking/misplaced canopy issue I list above; fingerprints under the front glass in front of the main cameras; a deep scratch on the front chrome fender (that I noticed and made them buff out before I drove away); and 2 small blemishes (cracks/chips) in the moonroof and rear windshield. I have also noticed that various body parts just have a 'loose' feel that you would not get in a higher-volume, production-level luxury car.
Perhaps the confusing pickup experience I detail above is part of the reason that more of these issues were not caught ahead of time. You can decide for yourself if that is a good reason or just an excuse.
At the end of the day, none of these are deal-breakers for me. Lucid will fix the canopy issue (see the Service section below) and the other issues are only noticeable by me. But these issues would never be found in a Lexus, BMW, or Mercedes. It will be really interesting to see what the build quality is on the brand new Lucid Gravity SUV but these issues are somewhat surprising on a car that has been in production for years now.
One issue that did surprise me a lot is the wind noise at highway speeds. Below 60 MPH the car is silent like a mouse. Above 65 the noise becomes very noticeable. And Lord help you if you are doing 80 on the freeway driving next to a truck! $125k luxury cars tend to be nearly silent and my son's new Mazda CX90 SUV is far quieter at highway speeds. Now I have not compared it directly to similar EVs with large moon roofs so perhaps that is just the price of admission. If so, then how about using the stereo system to send out sound waves that cancel the wind noise? If I had wanted another convertible I would have bought one :-).
Electronic Systems: A-
[This section covers everything except the entertainment systems - see below for that.]
Let's face it: these vehicles are now software-driven computers that happen to have a motor, seats, and wheels. Totally different experience than most current vehicles that are still fundamentally mechanical systems aided by software. As a software guy myself, I'm totally comfortable with this revolution but not everyone will be.
Overall, the Lucid makes good use of the ample screen space that is available, and in a way that has a much more 'luxury' feel than the approach of some EV builders which could be summarized as "slap an Android tablet in the middle of the dash." The UX (user experience) of the software systems is quite intuitive and retaining physical controls for basic climate system and volume are a godsend (especially when accelerating using 819 horsepower).
That brings me to Apple CarPlay integration. Thank goodness that Lucid at least has CarPlay integration as I would not have bought the car otherwise. And it does function as expected. But shuffling the CarPlay screen off to a small rectangle in the upper-middle panel is almost comical. Smallest CarPlay experience I have had in my last 3 vehicles. Lucid has to bring CarPlay to the larger, lower screen or find some way to more gracefully integrate this experience into the vehicles. This is the main genesis of my 'minus' in this rating.
Finally, a word on the car access systems (which include a key fob, smart phone integration, and a physical key card - each of them for my wife and I). Honestly, I have not figured all this out yet. When I approach the car, it is never clear to me what is actually causing the car to (usually) unlock, nor what is causing the car to (usually) lock itself when I walk away. This uncertainty creates some uneasiness as I can never totally trust that the car will lock itself. My current routine is to walk 20 yards away and then look back to see if it locks. Then I proceed at 5 yard increments until something happens. My wife calls this "The Lucid Shuffle." It also means that the car is constantly activating itself whenever I enter my garage for one reason or another (with my phone in my pocket as it always is). I'll provide future updates as I figure this out more fully.
[See the section at the bottom of this website that deals with my rolling list of bugs/issues. Almost all of them are software-related.]
Entertainment System: A
For most of us, our car stereo is the best listening experience we have easy and frequent access to. I would not consider myself to be an avid audiophile but I've had a lot of nice car stereos over the years, some of them I custom built (in the old days when you could do such a thing). I basically bought my Volve T5 because the reviewer at Car and Driver said the stereo brought tears to his eyes (and I concurred). The 'Surreal Surround Pro' system that comes with this car supposedly has 21 speakers powered by an 800 watt amp. It hasn't made me cry yet but my general take is that the sound is clear, even at higher volumes, but you are definitely not going to blow your eardrums out with the power of the system. That's okay for me - my days of rattling the windows are over. [But see my updates below: my ears are in more danger now!]
I cover Apple CarPlay integration in the Electronic Systems section. But one issue that I wish I had understood earlier was with the Sirius Satellite (?) Radio. I spend a lot of time at my place in the country and rely on satellite radio for news, music, etc. Much to my surprise, I could not get Sirius to work outside of my garage (where it usually doesn't work at all). It soon dawned on me that this car does NOT have satellite reception - the Sirius only works if the car is internet connected! I'm sort of glad I didn't figure this out until after I bought the car, as it might been a deal killer. This issue may or may not matter to you, depending on where you mostly drive - therefore, I won't ding Lucid a point for this one because it is my fault for not researching this better beforehand. (On the positive side: the sound quality of Sirius is dramatically better when it is streaming off the internet vs. satellite. Finally, no more Sirius AM radio!)
Update 1: I recently discovered something else: in most cars, the car connects to the internet based on the phone that is connected to it. But the Lucid Air helpfully has its own cellular connection via AT&T. Nice! Except if you live in an area (like I do) that only has Verizon service. Argh. But I didn't deduct a point for something I could have looked into ahead of time.
Update 2: Funny story: earlier today Lucid Service remotely activated my software upgrade to the sound system that was part of the 2.5 software release. Before the upgrade, I had the stereo volume at about 85% which is not overly loud for this system. Little did I know that the upgrade would make the system 50% louder! I just about jumped out of my shorts when the stereo next turned on. Definitely a huge upgrade!
Update 3: Okay the system finally made me cry. Was listening to Supertramp's Goodbye Stranger via Sirius and the sound was so balanced and pure, I started to choke up. Lucid, you have achieved your goal!
Driving Performance: A
Okay, it's hard to complain about a car with 819 horsepower! The first time I went to pass someone on a 2-lane highway I almost rammed into the back of him as I closed the space between me and the car I was trying to pass much more quickly than I am used to. Wow!
Having said that: this is a 5200 pound car after all. Yes my 370Z only had 350 horsepower, but it also only weighed 3300 pounds. Accelerating is insane but you will not be throwing this car around tight, curly road sections in the mountains like a smaller sports car. At the end of the day, this is a fairly large luxury car and rides like one - just be happy that it has the acceleration of a Corvette but don't drive it like one unless you are going in a straight line!
Pro tip: I found it made a big difference to my driving experience to take full advantage of the 20-way adjustable seats. Adjustments that many cars do not have, such as seat width, can make a huge difference in how connected you feel to the car. Don't stick to the defaults!
Driving Automation: C-
I knew this was not going to be a Tesla with Full Self Driving (which is a marketing fallacy) but I have been more than a bit disappointed, so far, with the state of Lucid's driving automation capabilities. The car is replete with cameras, ultrasonic sensors, short and long-range radars, and LiDAR (which even Tesla doesn't have) and yet its upgraded "DreamDrive Pro" is really not much different than the capabilities that my previous $45k 2017 Prius Prime or my 2023 $35k Hyundai Elantra had. The only significant feature this car has that those didn't is Lane Change Assist. This is the one where you hit the turn signal and the car automatically changes lanes when appropriate. Cool idea but I've found the conditions have to be absolutely perfect. Using it is like playing 'lane change roulette' - you never know what will happen - basically not worth the hassle to bother. I truly hope that Lucid intends to provide Over The Air (OTA) updates in the future that take better advantage of all these sensors and systems that I clearly paid for but the car isn't doing much with (yet)- and that they don't try to upsell me a subscription in the process!
Update 1: We just finished a 150 mile drive to the Sierra Nevada Mountains on highways that are not 'recognized' by DreamDrive Pro. Unfortunately the result is pretty sad. The car does not have the ability to stay centered in the lanes on such roads without driver input, which significantly increases the mental load on the driver. Both my 2017 Prius and my 2023 Elantra were able to sense the lanes and basically steer themselves on all roads- not that I would trust my life on it but it definitely allowed a slightly more relaxed level of driver attention. On top of that, I found numerous issues with the 'smart cruise control' function: shutting off randomly, jerky stops, and once on the drive - in slow stop-and-go traffic - it didn't appear that it was going to even stop at all! Lucky I was paying close attention and hit the brakes before I hit the car in front. I almost never experienced these issues in 5 years with similar Toyota or Hyundai systems. Lucid seems to realize this because the car is WAY more paranoid than my other cars about ensuring I am always gripping the wheel and looking straight ahead. Constant, annoying warnings on the dashboard. What the heck are we doing with all these sensors, guys, if not making the driving experience easier?
Update 2: Took a beautiful drive through the 'curlies' on some smooth pavement in the mountains today. Unfortunately, DreamDrive Pro let me down again. The 'Lane Departure Protection' is so high-strung that it was constantly vibrating my steering wheel as I was driving around (but not over) the tight corners. It wasn't consistent, however, as there were many corners that I cut close where it didn't warn me at all. This is on perfectly smooth, brand new pavement with brightly-painted lines. Finally I had to shut it off before it drove me and my wife crazy. I realize I should stop comparing this car to my Hyundai and Toyota (at 1/3 the price), but I have been on this drive numerous times with both cars and never had anywhere near these kinds of issues. Plus they did a decent job of keeping me in the lanes all by themselves. Lucid, PLEASE get your software engineers in gear. These issues cannot be due to a lack of sensors - which are far more numerous than any previous car I have had.
[See my further updates on the Freaky Highway Assist in the Rolling List of Issues below.]
Mobile App: A
The user interface of the mobile app is very similar to the car itself, which is nice and many of the important car functions are available remotely. Notifications regarding car status (charging, doors/trunks, etc.) are clear and appropriate.
The only source of concern is the sporadic nature of its connectivity to the car. Sometimes connectivity is instant. Sometimes it can take 30 seconds or longer. This issue is frequently commented on in Lucid forums. Overall I have not found it to be anything more than a minor annoyance as I have always been able to connect eventually.
Service and Support: A+
If you have read the other sections here, you won't be surprised that I have gotten somewhat familiar with Lucid Service. The great news is: they are truly excellent. It's the kind of service you would expect from a luxury brand - and then some. The "then some" is the fact that most service comes to you, instead of you wasting your time at a dealership.
My latest experience was with the glass canopy roof bracket that I mentioned previously. To fix the issue, Lucid sent a tech on a 1.5 hour drive to my place in the country. Sam (from the Rocklin, CA location) was prompt and professional and helped with a few other issues while he was at it. The service I previously received at the dealership was equally professional.
Another contributor to the A+ is the phone-based support. Imagine paying for premium phone support for a high-end enterprise software package. That's what Lucid provides (free) for all its owners. Support is also available via email. Nice!
Charging Experience: A
[Lucid Charging Station now installed - see the Update below.]
Unfortunately Lucid Motors was initially out of stock with their 80 Amp Home Charging Station. (How does an EV company not have its own chargers available?). This gave me my first experience with the Electrify America public charging system. Lucid provides it free for 2 years with the cars. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the process was. Drive up, plug in, and that's it. The charger recognized the car and electricity started to flow! No app signup or payment system necessary. On the other hand: although the chargers say "up to 350 kW" the most I could get out of it was about 45 kW which could have meant a fairly lengthy wait (multiple hours for a drained battery). But this is just a sample of one charger - I will update as I get more experience with these charging systems.
Not far from the stand with three Electrify America chargepoints I used (all full, with people waiting), there was a set of 20 Tesla chargers (mostly empty). In 2023, Lucid Motors announced that the Tesla standard will be adopted by its vehicles in 2025. (I guess my 2025 vehicle didn't count as being 'in 2025'.) They also stated that adapters will be available. No adapters yet but at least some Tesla charging stations do have Magic Dock adapters that are compatible with Lucid.
Update 1: Speaking of which: I used a Tesla charging station with the Magic Dock adapter for the first time today since there are no Electrify America chargers anywhere near my place in the country. Overall it worked fine after I figured out a few confusing messages in the Tesla app. Of course, charging at these stations is far from free - going from 20% to 95% charge cost me about $50 - but still less than a fill-up of premium unleaded would have cost on a luxury vehicle. And, at only 45kW, it took a good couple of hours - I can't wait until I can find my first, true high speed charging session! [I recently read somewhere that Magic Dock adapters will never allow charging above 50kW. We'll see.]
Update 2: As luck would have it, a brand new Costco just opened not far from my place in the Bay Area and it turns out that Costco has a deal with Electrify America. 10 shiny, new EA stations are now installed and running. I went by one evening and plugged in. Got 160kW, which is the fastest charge yet. Yay!
Update 3: Finally got my new Lucid Charging Station installed! Install was relatively easy except for getting the cover off. After a tech support call that wasn't helpful, finally the electrician and I managed to get it off through brute force and only cracked the casing a little bit. Hopefully a one-off production flaw. Once we got it installed, everything was heavenly. This 80 amp chargepoint charges at a rate of 18kW or so which puts about 80 miles of range per hour to the car. Thank goodness I no longer have to rely only on public charging stations!!!
Rolling List of Issues/Updates
What is this?
Rather than clutter up my ratings above with too many updates, I though it would be useful to see a rolling list of (software) bugs and other issues I encounter with the car, along with my journey to fix them if possible.
1/9/25 - Locked fob in car
Most luxury cars won't let you lock the key fob inside but it happened to me today. I did not have my phone with me so I opened the car with the fob and accidentally left it in the car and walked away. When I realized what I had done and returned to the car, the car had locked itself with the fob inside it. Luckily I had my phone nearby.
12/7/24 - Driver door and Sirius
For no known reasons, the driver door has stopped auto-closing. And Sirius radio no long picks up stations. I will try the usual system reboots to see what happens. [Update: a reboot of the system fixed the Sirius issue. Door closing will likely require a service call.]
11/17/24 - 2.5 Software Update
Returned from a trip to Cabo to see that the car was ready to download a significant update v 2.5. Major features are supposed to include a significant upgrade to the sound system, as well as "Curb Rash Alert" which uses the cameras to directly warn the driver if driving into a parking spot could rub the wheels. I will update the appropriate categories, above, depending on how this update works. (But at least the process of downloading and installing the update was super easy.)
11/16/24 - Freaky Highway Assist
The Highway Assist feature continues to inspire low confidence, particularly when two highways merge or split apart. The systems appears to 'freak out' at these lane situations and attempts to rapidly correct the vehicle steering. This has happened to me multiple times now and is quite scary for passengers. Yikes.
Update 12/7/24: I (and my passengers) continue to experience this and it is honestly scary. I have tried a few times to video the issue but haven't been successful yet because a) you definitely have to hang on to the wheel and b) it's intermittent and hard to predict when it will happen. Double yikes.
11/1/24 - No sound
Started a drive and my passenger asked about the stereo, so I turned Sirius on. Connected but no sound. Tried a few different sources (CarPlay and direct), no difference. When I arrived at my destination I rebooted the car and it fixed it.
10/25/24 - Muddy sound
At random internals it's almost like half the speakers would cut out. A few minutes later, back to normal. Hard to recreate or pin down but has happened a few times. Will keep you posted. [This issue has been fixed, so far, via the sound system upgrades of v2.5.]