Lucid Air Gen1
Weaknesses, engine ratings and buying advice
The Air is Lucid's first production sedan — Lucid being a California start-up founded by a former chief engineer of the electric luxury class. And you can tell straight away that these aren't beginners: in efficiency and range the Air sits right at the very top. At its heart is an in-house, extremely compact drive unit on a 900-volt architecture. The motors are tiny, light and still deliver ludicrous power — from the frugal single-motor rear-wheel-drive through the dual-motor with over 800 hp to the tri-motor Sapphire with 1,234 hp that leaves any supercar standing at the lights. The efficiency is a benchmark: no EV extracts more miles from a kilowatt-hour.
Technically the drivetrain is the big strength. The electric machines themselves are considered robust and durable; the documented front or rear drive unit failures are isolated cases and are handled under the 8-year powertrain warranty. Anyone looking at a used Air should still specifically ask about completed recalls — as a young maker Lucid has issued several: the high-voltage interlock that in the worst case can disconnect drive while moving (fixed via software), the Webasto coolant heater whose failure kills windshield defrost and cabin heat, and on the Air Pure a wiring harness to the drive unit made too short. All were addressed via OTA update or workshop action — a current software state is mandatory.
The real weak spots lie less in the drivetrain than in the maturity around it. The biggest annoyance is the two 12-volt batteries, which can drain without warning — then the car sits dead, won't unlock and needs a flatbed tow. The cause is usually corroded or loose connectors, rarely the DC-DC converter. Add a charging quirk: constant fast-charging leads the battery software to throttle charging speed, sometimes persistently and significantly — officially to protect the cells. And the service network is thin: if the Air breaks down, repairs can take weeks due to missing parts and few workshops.
Bottom line, the Air is a technically fascinating car with the best electric drivetrain in its class and yet the typical start-up risk: brilliant hardware, still-maturing software and a young service network. For a used purchase that means: drivetrain excellent, but check recall status, software state, 12-volt history and charging behaviour carefully. Do that and you get one of the most efficient and fastest sedans there is.
1234 PS
Air Sapphire · Elektro
Three motors. 1.88 seconds. Rawlinson's rematch.
Legendary!1251 PS
Electric Motor (Tri, Sapphire) Elektro
3 weaknesses
Good ChoiceEngine Overview
The Lucid Air Gen1 is available with 5 engine variants — from 430 to 1234 hp.
The dual-motor all-wheel-drive combines two compact, highly integrated drive units for over 800 hp of system power with outstanding efficiency. The front unit is deliberately less sound-insulated, so a turbine-like whine below roughly 40 km/h is normal and not a defect. The motors are fundamentally durable, but there are documented isolated cases of front or rear drive unit failure, sometimes repeatedly on the same car. The 8-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty covers replacement.
- !! Front drive unit failure from 30,000 km
Documented cases of front drive unit failure on dual-motor models, sometimes repeatedly on the same car (one case three times at around 24,000 miles). The vehicle drops into limp mode. Repair under powertrain warranty, but downtimes of several weeks occur.
Symptoms: Vehicle only crawls at a few mph, drive warning on display, sudden loss of power even during highway driving. - !! Rear drive unit failure from 8,000 km
Individual dual-motor models with sudden rear drive unit failure, some under 2,500 miles, in one case with simultaneous battery replacement. Owners are left without the car for several weeks. Replacement under the 8-year powertrain warranty.
Symptoms: Sudden standstill or severe power reduction, drive warning, sometimes unusual noise from the rear beforehand. - !! Recall: loss of drive from high-voltage interlock fault
Recall 24V497: A hardware communication fault can cause the HVIL software to disconnect the high-voltage contactors while driving, causing loss of drive. Ten documented cases. Affects 2022–2023 Air (built before December 2022), 5,251 vehicles. Fixed via OTA update.
+ 2 more engine weaknesses + vehicle weaknesses
The dual-motor all-wheel-drive combines two compact, highly integrated drive units for over 800 hp of system power with outstanding efficiency. The front unit is deliberately less sound-insulated, so a turbine-like whine below roughly 40 km/h is normal and not a defect. The motors are fundamentally durable, but there are documented isolated cases of front or rear drive unit failure, sometimes repeatedly on the same car. The 8-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty covers replacement.
- !! Front drive unit failure from 30,000 km
Documented cases of front drive unit failure on dual-motor models, sometimes repeatedly on the same car (one case three times at around 24,000 miles). The vehicle drops into limp mode. Repair under powertrain warranty, but downtimes of several weeks occur.
Symptoms: Vehicle only crawls at a few mph, drive warning on display, sudden loss of power even during highway driving. - !! Rear drive unit failure from 8,000 km
Individual dual-motor models with sudden rear drive unit failure, some under 2,500 miles, in one case with simultaneous battery replacement. Owners are left without the car for several weeks. Replacement under the 8-year powertrain warranty.
Symptoms: Sudden standstill or severe power reduction, drive warning, sometimes unusual noise from the rear beforehand. - !! Recall: loss of drive from high-voltage interlock fault
Recall 24V497: A hardware communication fault can cause the HVIL software to disconnect the high-voltage contactors while driving, causing loss of drive. Ten documented cases. Affects 2022–2023 Air (built before December 2022), 5,251 vehicles. Fixed via OTA update.
+ 2 more engine weaknesses + vehicle weaknesses
The single-motor rear-wheel-drive uses Lucid's own highly integrated drive unit with a permanent-magnet synchronous motor, known for exceptional efficiency and power density. Its efficiency is among the best on the market, which explains the strong range figures. The unit is fundamentally robust, but on early Gen 4 inverters motor vibration can fret the gate-driver contacts and trigger an unwarned loss of drive power. Checking completed recalls and current software state is mandatory before purchase.
- !! Gen 4 inverter: contact wear from motor vibration
Motor vibration transmits into the Gen 4 inverter and frets the gate-driver board contacts. This can damage the switching module and cause an unwarned loss of drive power. Affects only the single-motor Air Pure (RDU).
Symptoms: Sudden loss of drive power without warning, "Drive System Fault, Schedule Service Immediately" message, reduced power. Steering and brakes remain functional. - !! Recall: too-short wiring harness to rear drive unit
Recall 24V836: The rear subframe wiring harness was made too short, stressing the connector to the drive unit. Result: intermittent or lost communication with the sole drive unit and loss of power. Affects 2024–2025 Air Pure.
- !! Rear drive unit failure from 15,000 km
Isolated cases of sudden rear drive unit failure, sometimes at very low mileage, in single cases with accompanying battery replacement. Drive power is severely reduced. Covered under the 8-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.
Symptoms: Vehicle only limps at severely reduced speed or stops, drive warning on display, sometimes unusual noise beforehand.
+ 1 more engine weaknesses + vehicle weaknesses
The Sapphire is the uncompromising high-performance variant: a single front plus a newly developed twin-motor rear drive unit, together 1,234 hp. Its launch thrust is brutal yet nearly drama-free off the line, accompanied by a characteristic, technically precise whine rather than engine roar. As a limited series the data is thin and NHTSA cases few, so Sapphire-specific drivetrain defects can barely be isolated. Air-wide recalls (high voltage, 12V) affect it too depending on build year. Thermally durable, but sustained track full-load stresses any EV drive cooling.
- !! Recall: loss of drive from high-voltage interlock fault
Recall 24V497: A hardware communication fault can cause the HVIL software to disconnect the high-voltage contactors while driving, causing loss of drive. Affects early 2022–2023 Air (built before December 2022). Fixed via OTA update. Relevant only for earliest Sapphire build years.
- !! 12V system drain from 20,000 km
As on other Air variants, the two 12V batteries can drain completely and immobilize the vehicle without warning. Causes per service: corroded or loose connectors, rarely a faulty DC-DC converter. No early-warning system before total failure.
Symptoms: Vehicle won't start or unlock, goes offline at random locations, 12V warning messages, flatbed tow required. - ! Thermal power derate under sustained track load
As with all high-performance EVs, cooling of the three drive units and the high-voltage battery can reach its limit under repeated full-throttle launches or track use, temporarily derating system power. Data is thin given the limited-series volume.
Symptoms: Noticeably reduced power after several launches or track laps, temperature-protection notice on display, recovery after a cool-down period.
The dual-motor all-wheel-drive combines two compact, highly integrated drive units for over 800 hp of system power with outstanding efficiency. The front unit is deliberately less sound-insulated, so a turbine-like whine below roughly 40 km/h is normal and not a defect. The motors are fundamentally durable, but there are documented isolated cases of front or rear drive unit failure, sometimes repeatedly on the same car. The 8-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty covers replacement.
- !! Front drive unit failure from 30,000 km
Documented cases of front drive unit failure on dual-motor models, sometimes repeatedly on the same car (one case three times at around 24,000 miles). The vehicle drops into limp mode. Repair under powertrain warranty, but downtimes of several weeks occur.
Symptoms: Vehicle only crawls at a few mph, drive warning on display, sudden loss of power even during highway driving. - !! Rear drive unit failure from 8,000 km
Individual dual-motor models with sudden rear drive unit failure, some under 2,500 miles, in one case with simultaneous battery replacement. Owners are left without the car for several weeks. Replacement under the 8-year powertrain warranty.
Symptoms: Sudden standstill or severe power reduction, drive warning, sometimes unusual noise from the rear beforehand. - !! Recall: loss of drive from high-voltage interlock fault
Recall 24V497: A hardware communication fault can cause the HVIL software to disconnect the high-voltage contactors while driving, causing loss of drive. Ten documented cases. Affects 2022–2023 Air (built before December 2022), 5,251 vehicles. Fixed via OTA update.
+ 2 more engine weaknesses + vehicle weaknesses
Vehicle Weaknesses
| Weakness | Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Rear seat heaters overheat — recall 22V/23V Software version 2.1.0 accidentally removed temperature monitoring for rear seat heaters in certain modes. Four documented cases of charring or discoloration of seat fabric, one owner suffered a burned finger. Lucid issues OTA fix and reimburses related costs. Symptoms: Overheated rear seat, smoke odor, seat fabric discoloration, burn risk to occupants during extended heating | Low | |
| DreamDrive phantom braking DreamDrive triggers unexpected braking interventions — primarily when passing trucks, approaching overpasses, or driving next to large vehicles in adjacent lanes. The system misreads shadows or radar reflections as obstacles. Not aggressive stops, but noticeable deceleration that disrupts highway flow. Symptoms: Unexpected light to moderate deceleration with no obstacle visible, triggered most often when passing trucks or large vehicles, display alert may appear | Low | |
| Infotainment frozen — OTA brick risk Display freezes, audio dropouts, rearview camera black screen — routine annoyances. More seriously: at least one OTA update (version 1.2.6) fully bricked a vehicle, leaving the owner unable to exit for over an hour until the system recovered. Lucid could not resolve it remotely in real time. Symptoms: Black screen or frozen display, no audio, backup camera shows nothing, vehicle unresponsive after failed OTA update | Low | |
| Flush door handles — water ingress and mechanism failure Flush-mount handles like Tesla — same underlying problem. Water enters through a misaligned main power connector inside the door, which sits female-up allowing water to pool. Symptoms: handle won't present, door won't open from inside. Service replaces the mechanism, but recurrence has been reported by multiple owners. Symptoms: Door handle doesn't extend, door cannot be opened from outside, grinding or clicking when handle is triggered, manual interior release required from 30,000 km | Medium | |
| Wiper arm nuts loose — recall SR-23-02 Wiper arm nuts can loosen and separate the wiper from its drive shaft — visibility impaired in rain. 5,523 vehicles affected (2022-2023). Lucid service centers inspect, retighten, or replace at no charge. Symptoms: Wiper arm slipping during operation, wipers not returning to rest position, wiper function lost in rain | Low | |
| Rearview camera fails while reversing Known software and hardware issue: backup camera image missing when reverse is selected. Software versions 2.0.15–2.0.50 particularly affected (covered by recall SR-23-02-0). Even on current software: delayed display, black screen, or frozen frame possible. Symptoms: Black screen when reversing, delayed camera activation, frozen image, incomplete camera view | Low |
Alternatives
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Known Problems and Issues +
A total of 23 weaknesses have been documented for the Lucid Air Gen1 (2022–2025) — 12 engine-related and 11 vehicle-related. Typical issues affect Electronics, Body, HVAC, Suspension. Considered reliable: L-Tri-Sapphire (Electric Motor (Tri, Sapphire)).
Air (L-Dual-AWD, 2022–2025) — Be Careful: Front drive unit failure, Rear drive unit failure, Recall: loss of drive from high-voltage interlock fault. Power: 620 PS.
Air (L-Dual-AWD, 2022–2025) — Be Careful: Front drive unit failure, Rear drive unit failure, Recall: loss of drive from high-voltage interlock fault. Power: 819 PS.
Air (L-Single-RWD, 2024–2025) — Be Careful: Gen 4 inverter: contact wear from motor vibration, Recall: too-short wiring harness to rear drive unit, Rear drive unit failure. Power: 430 PS.
Air (L-Dual-AWD, 2024–2025) — Be Careful: Front drive unit failure, Rear drive unit failure, Recall: loss of drive from high-voltage interlock fault. Power: 480 PS.
What to watch out for with the Lucid Air? See the detailed listing of all engine and vehicle weaknesses in the sections above.
Frequently Asked Questions
What problems and weaknesses does the Lucid Air Gen1 have? +
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Last updated: February 2026 · All information without guarantee