This Problem Across All Years
2022 Lucid Air suffered a total loss of power without any warning at approximately 10 PM on July 29, 2023, while driving 65+ mph on the Jersey Turnpike. The car’s dashboard suddenly flashed “System Failure” and immediately started to decelerate. I had approximately 30 seconds to weave across 2 lanes of high speed traffic as the car steadily lost speed and fortunately there was a shoulder just wide enough for the car before it totally stopped forward progress. We could not exit the car as the passenger side was up against a 3 foot cement barrier that separated the 3 car lanes from 3 truck lanes and the driver’s side was just a foot from the inside lane of cars speeding by at over 65+ mph, I called Lucid Customer Service 3 times over the next 30 minutes and received an automated response each time that they would call back when a rep was available. My wife called 911 and the operator said she would send the state police and a tow truck. It took approximately 40 minutes for the state police and tow truck to arrive. The car’s hazard lights worked for approximately 20 minutes and then stopped leaving us in total darkness for the next 20 minutes as cars whizzed by on the turnpike at high speeds just a foot or two away. The state policeman told us that it was a very dangerous situation that we all had to exit asap. Just then, the car suddenly came back to life. The tow truck driver was able to drive it up a ramp and onto the flat bed of his truck. We climbed into his cab and he drove us for about 10 minutes until he could exit the turnpike and dropped us and the car off into a shopping center parking lot. At this point, the Lucid service center called me back. We explained what happened. He told us to leave the car there with the keys inside and the company would pick it up and take it to its nearest service center. We then called an Uber and went to a nearby hotel. I cannot comment any further on what happened after this point in time.
2022 Lucid Air suffered a total loss of power without any warning at approximately 10 PM on July 29, 2023, while driving 65+ mph on the Jersey Turnpike. The car’s dashboard suddenly flashed “System Failure” and immediately started to decelerate. I had approximately 30 seconds to weave across 2 lanes of high speed traffic as the car steadily lost speed and fortunately there was a shoulder just wide enough for the car before it totally stopped forward progress. We could not exit the car as the passenger side was up against a 3 foot cement barrier that separated the 3 car lanes from 3 truck lanes and the driver’s side was just a foot from the inside lane of cars speeding by at over 65+ mph, I called Lucid Customer Service 3 times over the next 30 minutes and received an automated response each time that they would call back when a rep was available. My wife called 911 and the operator said she would send the state police and a tow truck. It took approximately 40 minutes for the state police and tow truck to arrive. The car’s hazard lights worked for approximately 20 minutes and then stopped leaving us in total darkness for the next 20 minutes as cars whizzed by on the turnpike at high speeds just a foot or two away. The state policeman told us that it was a very dangerous situation that we all had to exit asap. Just then, the car suddenly came back to life. The tow truck driver was able to drive it up a ramp and onto the flat bed of his truck. We climbed into his cab and he drove us for about 10 minutes until he could exit the turnpike and dropped us and the car off into a shopping center parking lot. At this point, the Lucid service center called me back. We explained what happened. He told us to leave the car there with the keys inside and the company would pick it up and take it to its nearest service center. We then called an Uber and went to a nearby hotel. I cannot comment any further on what happened after this point in time.
Incident 1: While driving to work, accelerated to pass a car on the right going approx 45 MPH. The dash showed a RED "Drive System Fault" and the car would no longer accelerate. The steering was fine and I changed to the left lane. After approximately 5 seconds, the dash and all internal screens when blank. I was able to pull off the main road to the entrance of a housing development and coasted to a stop about 20 feet off the main road. There was no power to turn on the flashers to warning other drivers existing the main road. Total time was approximately 10 seconds from warning light to stopped, dead car and approximately 0.2 of a mile. If this had occurred on a highway or a busy street, the car would have died on the main road WITHOUT any lights to signal other drivers. I called roadside assistance. After two attempts, they were able to "reboot" the car. They said I was able to drive it to work and would have a technician call to setup an inspection. The car was inspected and they said there were no issues found. INCIDENT 2: The next time I drove the car after the inspection, I was driving to work. Shortly after turning onto main street going approx 30 MPH, the RED "Drive System Fault" displayed on the dash. Again, I was not able to accelerate, but steering was fine. After approx 2 seconds, all internal screens went blank. I immediately turned into a Shopping Center entrance. The brakes seemed to apply as the car went from slow to complete stop. Total time was approximately 5 from warning light to stopped, dead car and less than 0.1 of a mile. Although all internal screens were blank, the flashers were able to be turned on. Although the flashers also turned off after 15 minutes. The car could not be "rebooted" and had to be towed. If I had not instantly recognized what was occurring, I would not have got the car off the main road. It is likely that if this occurred on the highway, it would have caused an accident.
Incident 1: While driving to work, accelerated to pass a car on the right going approx 45 MPH. The dash showed a RED "Drive System Fault" and the car would no longer accelerate. The steering was fine and I changed to the left lane. After approximately 5 seconds, the dash and all internal screens when blank. I was able to pull off the main road to the entrance of a housing development and coasted to a stop about 20 feet off the main road. There was no power to turn on the flashers to warning other drivers existing the main road. Total time was approximately 10 seconds from warning light to stopped, dead car and approximately 0.2 of a mile. If this had occurred on a highway or a busy street, the car would have died on the main road WITHOUT any lights to signal other drivers. I called roadside assistance. After two attempts, they were able to "reboot" the car. They said I was able to drive it to work and would have a technician call to setup an inspection. The car was inspected and they said there were no issues found. INCIDENT 2: The next time I drove the car after the inspection, I was driving to work. Shortly after turning onto main street going approx 30 MPH, the RED "Drive System Fault" displayed on the dash. Again, I was not able to accelerate, but steering was fine. After approx 2 seconds, all internal screens went blank. I immediately turned into a Shopping Center entrance. The brakes seemed to apply as the car went from slow to complete stop. Total time was approximately 5 from warning light to stopped, dead car and less than 0.1 of a mile. Although all internal screens were blank, the flashers were able to be turned on. Although the flashers also turned off after 15 minutes. The car could not be "rebooted" and had to be towed. If I had not instantly recognized what was occurring, I would not have got the car off the main road. It is likely that if this occurred on the highway, it would have caused an accident.
The contact owns a 2022 Lucid Air. The contact stated while reversing out of his driveway, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact stated that the “Drive System Fault” message was displayed. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted, and the system was reset. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was contacted again and stated that the vehicle needed to be diagnosed by one of their technicians. The failure mileage was 897.
The contact owns a 2022 Lucid Air. The contact stated while reversing out of his driveway, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact stated that the “Drive System Fault” message was displayed. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted, and the system was reset. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was contacted again and stated that the vehicle needed to be diagnosed by one of their technicians. The failure mileage was 897.
Summary: Vehicle sometimes drives in the OPPOSITE direction of selected Gear Detail: When changing drive direction in a very specific inclined position, the Lucid Air might drive in the opposite direction to what the driver has selected. Youtube video demonstrating this issue: https://youtu.be/xTdIdEG6aCk What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Drive system malfunctioned. Vehicle drives forward when in Reverse. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Blocked the sidewalk, 9 inches from a wall. Expected the car to move backwards when it moved forward instead. Despite being in the correct gear. We could have easily hit a pedestrian. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? I have reported it to Lucid on all available channels. Have not heard back from them. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? No. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No.
Summary: Vehicle sometimes drives in the OPPOSITE direction of selected Gear Detail: When changing drive direction in a very specific inclined position, the Lucid Air might drive in the opposite direction to what the driver has selected. Youtube video demonstrating this issue: https://youtu.be/xTdIdEG6aCk What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Drive system malfunctioned. Vehicle drives forward when in Reverse. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Blocked the sidewalk, 9 inches from a wall. Expected the car to move backwards when it moved forward instead. Despite being in the correct gear. We could have easily hit a pedestrian. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? I have reported it to Lucid on all available channels. Have not heard back from them. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? No. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No.
Q: What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? A: Car lost all ability to move forward except for a very weak crawl of 1 or 2 miles per hour. The car is with the manufacturer at this point. Q: How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? A: Car stopped in the middle of traffic with no warning. I had to slowly move the car to the shoulder across lanes of traffic while going 2 mph. Q: Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? A: Yes. The problem is a hard failure and was not fixed by rebooting the car while on the shoulder. The car was transported nearly 300 miles to the Chicago service center where it is being diagnosed. Several drivers have reported the same problem on the Lucid Owner’s Forum. Go to https://lucidowners.com/ and search for ‘turtle mode’. Q: Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? A: The car is at the Lucid service center in Chicago (the manufacturer). Q: Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? A: Car operated normally until the failure occurred. The speedometer was replaced with a red warning symbol and message: ‘Drive System Fault, Pull Over and Contact Customer Care’ .
Q: What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? A: Car lost all ability to move forward except for a very weak crawl of 1 or 2 miles per hour. The car is with the manufacturer at this point. Q: How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? A: Car stopped in the middle of traffic with no warning. I had to slowly move the car to the shoulder across lanes of traffic while going 2 mph. Q: Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? A: Yes. The problem is a hard failure and was not fixed by rebooting the car while on the shoulder. The car was transported nearly 300 miles to the Chicago service center where it is being diagnosed. Several drivers have reported the same problem on the Lucid Owner’s Forum. Go to https://lucidowners.com/ and search for ‘turtle mode’. Q: Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? A: The car is at the Lucid service center in Chicago (the manufacturer). Q: Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? A: Car operated normally until the failure occurred. The speedometer was replaced with a red warning symbol and message: ‘Drive System Fault, Pull Over and Contact Customer Care’ .
My vehicle was in the garage and the drive train failed. No other details were provided to me by the manufacturer. There have been at least four other reports, in which vehicles were on the road when this occurred and the vehicles shutdown with little to no time to find a safe spot to pull over. This seems to be an issue with either the main EV battery or the 12V accessory battery.
My vehicle was in the garage and the drive train failed. No other details were provided to me by the manufacturer. There have been at least four other reports, in which vehicles were on the road when this occurred and the vehicles shutdown with little to no time to find a safe spot to pull over. This seems to be an issue with either the main EV battery or the 12V accessory battery.