2 wrongs don't make a right, or why Lucid is no better: "Owning A Lucid Has Been Super Disappointing" (Engineering Explained)

[robrain]

When you're feeling down about Porsche's software, or annoyed at their interior fitting standards, spare a thought for Lucid customers:

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[Awaz]

A newbie in car manufacturing is always likely to encounter many issues.
If Saudi deep pockets weren't behind this company, it would probably have become another Fisker.

 

[Overton Park]

Filing this under “It could always be worse”

 

[PrudentOcean]

A newbie in car manufacturing is always likely to encounter many issues.
If Saudi deep pockets weren't behind this company, it would probably have become another Fisker.

Yes. Just like Rivian, they lose money on every car they sell. Without the deep pockets of the Saudis (who are also buying thousands of cars through the government every year) the company would have folded a long time ago.

 

[dbsb3233]

I watched that this morning. Sounds familiar. Some of the same problems as our Macan.

I'm a glutton for punishment. My Lucid Gravity shows up in a few weeks (replacing our mostly problem-free Mach-E).

Been questioning my life choices lately.

 

[PrudentOcean]

Rivian just took the #1 spot in Consumer Reports' list of least reliable car brands for 2026:

 

[alxman]

Haha, I’ve only had a few glitches on my Macan that went away after getting out and locking the car.
Tesla works because Musk makes the whole software department vanish if they don’t get it right! Heard their families are still trying to locate some of the software engineers…

 

[racerjim]

They are building a factory in Saudi Arabia. I think the Saudis are playing the long game here

New Saudi Lucid Factory

 

[PrudentOcean]

That’s going to further hamper their US operations from being profitable since their plant is going to be even more underutilized. And I don’t see them saving much by producing the cars in Saudi Arabia instead of shipping them there. Setting up a production plant is hugely expensive and unlikely to pay for itself for many years.

But the Saudi money is keeping the lights on at Lucid, so…

 

[racerjim]

That plant was likely a condition for receiving more Saudi money. Though I bet they are planning on selling into the middle east and europe, not exporting to North America.

 

[dbsb3233]

That’s going to further hamper their US operations from being profitable since their plant is going to be even more underutilized. And I don’t see them saving much by producing the cars in Saudi Arabia instead of shipping them there. Setting up a production plant is hugely expensive and unlikely to pay for itself for many years.

But the Saudi money is keeping the lights on at Lucid, so…

Perhaps, but the bigger concern is just keeping the company as a whole going long enough to cross the profitability threshold. If Saudi operations can help do that, I'm OK with it, even if the US operations lag.

AFTER they become a profitable company and secure their long-term survival, I'll be more discriminating about my tastes for wanting US operational success, but the higher priority for now is the company I just bought a $108k car from simply being around in 5 years.

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