2023 Lucid Air Problems & Defect Complaints

In a Part 573 Report dated July 27, 2023, Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (JLR) notified NHTSA of a safety-related defect in 2021-2022 Jaguar I-Pace vehicles. This filing was assigned Recall No. 23V-518. JLR noted that the subject vehicles are equipped with High Voltage Coolant Heaters (HVCH), supplied by Webasto Group (Webasto), that can develop cracking and delamination of the heating element, leading to an inability to defrost the front windshield, which may increase the risk of a crash. In a Part 573 Report dated January 11, 2024, Lucid USA, Inc. (Lucid) notified NHTSA of a safety-related defect in 2022-2023 Lucid Air vehicles. This filing was assigned Recall No. 24V-011. Lucid noted the subject vehicles are equipped with HVCH, supplied by Webasto, that can delaminate, leading to an inability to defrost the front windshield, which may increase the risk of a crash. The purpose of this Audit Query (AQ) is to: 1. Obtain a complete list of purchasers and the quantities for which the same or similar HVCH were supplied; 2. Obtain copies of all written communications initiated by Webasto and sent to its purchasers regarding the subject equipment; and 3. Request Webasto, per 49 CFR 573.3(f), submit a requisite Part 573 Recall Report for defective HVCH installed into motor vehicles of multiple vehicle manufacturers.

On January 11, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received Recall 24V-011 that identified a safety defect in the High Voltage Coolant Heater (HVCH) installed in certain Model Year (MY) 2022-2023 Lucid Air vehicles manufactured prior to July 2022.  The HVCH may experience an internal delamination failure, which poses a risk of the vehicle losing defrost capability.  If the HVCH fails, coolant cannot be heated, and the windshield cannot be defrosted.  Loss of adequate windshield defrost capability could lead to restricted driver field of vision and an increased risk of a crash. The remedy outlined in this recall is a software update that identifies any HVCH failure when it occurs, which then provides a notification on the glass cockpit panel about the lack of defrost capability and advises the owner to contact Lucid for an HVCH replacement.Lucid will then replace the HVCH at no cost to the owner. On July 27th, 2023, Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC filed Recall 23V-518 which affects Jaguar Land Rover vehicles equipped with the same HVCH as the Lucid Vehicles that were supplied by the same supplier (Webasto AG).  Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC’s remedy is to replace the HVCH in the affected vehicles. ODI was concerned that by only providing a notification to drivers that their windshield defroster is not working, Lucid puts the driver in a situation where they could experience the failure during the same drive cycle as they receive the notification.  In this scenario, the driver is not aware they have a failed HVCH until they are operating the vehicle and need the defrost function prior to being able to have the vehicle serviced. ODI opened Recall Query (RQ24002) on February 8, 2024, to assess the adequacy, including the safety consequences, of the remedy described in Lucid’s Recall 24V-011.  ODI received Lucid’s Information Request Response (IRR) to this investigation on April 29, 2024. To date, ODI has not received any complaints regarding the recall remedy outlined in 24V-011. In reviewing Lucid’s IRR data, the percentage of failures after the recall remedy has been implemented on the vehicles is 0.14%.  Of the failures identified by Lucid, none of them described a loss of visibility out the front window.  There was one claim of property damage allegedly due to the recall remedy.  ODI's review of information related to this claim does not indicate a need for further action under this investigation. During the investigation, Lucid clarified that upon the driver receiving the notification their defrost was unavailable, the dashboard message alerts them to use caution if their view is obstructed and to contact customer care.  Upon contacting customer care regarding the dashboard message, a Lucid service member will create a service appointment to have the HVCH replaced.  In instances where the consumer had expressed they do not feel comfortable taking the vehicle into the service center themselves, the service center has offered for the vehicle to be towed. ODI also met with Jaguar Land Rover on November 20, 2024 to review their recall (23V-518) and their reasoning for replacing the HVCH.  Jaguar Land Rover informed ODI that their affected vehicle systems were incapable of detecting an HVCH failure and are unable to warn the driver that the HVCH was starting to fail.This differs from Lucid, which was able to implement a software update to detect and identify a failure to the driver. After analyzing the data submitted in Lucid’s IRR response and reviewing Jaguar Land Rover’s reasoning for its recall remedy, ODI is closing RQ24002 without action. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist.  The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances.