Lucid Air Experiencing Sudden Power Losses

Air’s 3rd Recall: 637 Examples

Lucid Motors has issued a recall for 637 examples of its Air sedan due to a potential malfunction in the electric motor. The National Highway Transportation Safety Agency (NHTSA) has identified the issue as a faulty contactor, which NHTSA defines as “an electrically activated switch that closes at vehicle startup to transfer energy to and from the drive units, and open at vehicle shut down.” If this switch is not functioning properly, it could lead to a loss of power.

In May of 2022, Lucid and Sensata Technologies, the provider of contactors, discovered that in a “small population of contactors, the spring force may overcome the magnetic holding force,” causing the switch to open and power to the electric motors to be cut off. This prompted an investigation by the automaker, who had a service center look into an Air sedan that had lost power. The technicians then had to manually monitor the contactor openings during startup.

Lucid Motors recently released an OTA update that was able to detect which vehicles had a defect based on the contactor’s opening. Upon analyzing the fleet data, the automaker found that 232 customer vehicles had what they referred to as a “double-dip signature” which occurred at least 5% of the time. This provides a confidence interval of greater than 99.999%, Lucid said, for identifying affected contactors.

In February, Lucid’s tech department declared that “an unreasonable risk to safety exists in vehicles with double-dip current signatures at least 5% of the time.” This is a grave concern as “if a contactor opens unexpectedly while driving, the vehicle’s electric motors will no longer be supplied power. This could result in a sudden loss of propulsion without warning and can raise the chances of an accident.”

New contactors boasting enhanced magnetic force are being designed in the hope of warding off defects down the road. Grammar checked: New contactors boasting enhanced magnetic force are being designed in the hopes of warding off future defects.

From the 637 vehicles being called back, 273 have been pinpointed due to the OTA update revealing faulty contactors. The other 336 automobiles are also going through a recall; however, since the owners failed to carry out the OTA update, it is inconceivable whether or not those contain flawed contactors.

Drivers should bring their vehicles to a Lucid facility for a complimentary replacement of the contactor switches. Certain proprietors have already been alerted, while the rest will get word from Lucid in the month of April.

The Lucid Air experienced its inaugural recall a year ago for an imperfect strut damper in the air suspension, impacting a few 203 vehicles. The next call back from May of last year, however, was for each and every Air existent – 1,117 as of last count – due to possible inner screen incapacitation. Though not a superabundance of it, three recalls in one year could be a concern for Lucid, being that they are a novice automaker with the Air being the first release of theirs, especially in a time where cultivating stability is vitally important; thus the brand will strive to evade any issues.

The new Gravity SUV is scheduled to be released during the upcoming year. Prior to this, Lucid must significantly boost manufacturing levels, attract further customers, and prove that their goods are of a reliable quality. Initially, issues sometimes happen with fresh products, yet fortunately, Lucid has responded capably to any incidents that have taken place up till now.