In the complaints submitted customers describe major and minor defects.
Many of the complaints have been submitted by some customers of Lucid and Reviano, both popular and emerging electric car companies. Customers describe glitches both big and small. Many say they love their cars but just want them to run properly.
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| Lucid and Rivian |
Owners of Lucid Motors and Rivian Electric have reported problems with their cars, both to NHTSA and online in owner forums.
Problems range from seats moving on their own to full construction.
Despite the problems, most owners express positive experiences with their cars - when they are working properly.
Lucid models problems
The owner of a San Diego-based luxury electric Lucid Air car described a problem in an October complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
“The car sometimes drives in the opposite direction, when reversing, the car moves forward and we could have easily hit a pedestrian,” he says, in a YouTube video documenting the case.
The owner stated that he reported the issue to Lucid through "all channels," but received no response — although the situation may have been resolved later.
Lucid parking
A Lucid Air customer in Wright City, Missouri, said the car seat "went into a full-reclining position and fully forward without warning, with my knee against the lower dashboard and my chest against the steering wheel."
The owner said that the malfunction occurred fortunately in the garage, adding that if it had occurred on the highway, "I would not have been able to control the car, the car is currently inoperable."
Another owner of a 2022 Lucid in Ambler, Pennsylvania told NHTSA his car “lost momentum and stalled” while backing out of his driveway, the message “Drive System Fault” popped up, and the customer was unable to restart the vehicle. The system was reset and the vehicle restarted after calling. Lucid, but it failed again, the car was 897 miles on the clock.
According to one of its owners in Rochester, Minnesota, Lucid has lost all ability to move forward, except for a very weak crawl of a mile or two per hour. The problem running, and the car was driven about 300 miles to the Chicago Service Center, prior to this problem, the car was running normally.
Lucid charging problems
More issues are being added to the Lucid Owners Forum. Lady V, the owner, claims to have encountered 17 charging problems, 14 of which occurred during long trips between 100 and 1,000 miles. She states that the vehicle has been serviced in Millbrae, Torrance, California, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Seattle.
Florida-based Caldwell Butler 2 president Chip Caldwell describes having to tow his "new Grand Touring" model twice to a service center in West Palm Beach, Florida. I've documented an average of 55% of the range the car says I have, because the battery is dead, if it says 350 miles, I only have about 200 miles."
Caldwell also claims that fast-charging his car took 2 hours and 35 minutes when according to Lucid data, it should have taken 9.3 minutes. Like many Lucid owners, Caldwell says he enjoys the car when it's working properly. "It's a beautiful car," he said. Maybe in two years, the company will have solved the problems."
Caldwell says Lucid's customer service representatives are excellent and helped him get a rental car, but the service is problematic — his Air has been in a service center for more than two months, and the company told him on Dec. 29 that nothing wrong had been detected.
Rivian, Lucid, and Tesla's competition
Many analysts believe that Lucid and Rivian, both based in California but with factories elsewhere, have the best chance to rival Tesla and become established players in the international market.
But it's a tall order since there haven't been successful launches for a major US automaker since Chrysler in the 1920s. Before Tesla, both Tesla and Rivian faced hurdles, including a slow rise stemming from supply chain issues that rocked the entire industry.
Rivian car problems
Customers have also reported glitches. The Rivian R1T has 10 complaints on the NHTSA website, but the R1S SUV has none. The R1S has been recalled twice, the R1T has had three recalls, and the Lucid Air has nine complaints.
Obviously, any visit to a forum that tracks new car ownership will reveal problems, and all new car manufacturers experience startup difficulties, however, some of the issues are much more serious.
Rivian is doing well in other ways, and according to Strategic Vision president Alexander Edwards, the R1T is "loved by buyers more than any other truck," and was ranked fourth in Consumer Reports' 2022 owner satisfaction survey as the fourth vehicle " more satisfying" to own, and was named 2022 Truck of the Year by Motor Trend.
But the Rivian also has some issues. A Seattle owner reported that the R1T started rolling backward down a moderate slope while in "Park." "I was able to replicate this effect on similar slopes the other day," said the owner. "I'd like to stop The truck, and it will be stable and stable for one to two minutes, and then the truck will start moving when the steering wheel starts to turn."
In Pacific Palisades, California, “The truck came to a sudden stop, and I was on one of the busiest streets in Los Angeles at an intersection, blocking a great deal of traffic and it was very dangerous to get out because cars were going so fast, I was at risk of rolling over,” according to the owner.
A San Jose, California resident complained to NHTSA about the "poor quality" of the roof glass, causing cracks, and the resident speculated, "The initial point of breakage may have been after I installed a bike rack with my elbow on the glass."
The owner of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, told NHTSA he finally found the source of the R1T's troublesome passenger seat — a missing bolt at one of its four attachment points.
Ford dumps Rivian for its problems
Ford announced on February 2 that it would lose $2.2 billion in 2022 and cut its investment in Rivian by $7.4 billion Ford has divested the majority of its stake in Rivian Rivian recently lost several key executives, including its vice president of body and interior engineering.
An R1T owner named battleles2a5 described being excited to try the snow mode but discovered that only the passenger door would open, and only with the physical key. Once inside, he received every warning message, including an unsafe electrical issue. "It was completely hacked and blocked," he said. Our other cars were in the driveway, leaving us stranded until the tow truck arrived."
On the Rivian forum, another owner reported that the car broke down on the first day, "I got a Rivian, and while driving the next day, I heard a rattling noise in the all-purpose setting."
Rivian spokeswoman Marina Hoffmann-Norville spoke to Autoweek about the company's voluntary recall of a loose lock in the front suspension of the vehicles last October, but not the NHTSA complaints, stating, "Rivian has the ability to inspect all affected vehicles and make any necessary repairs within 30 days, without notice." No cost to customers and no material financial impact to the company.”
"Lucid identifies and investigates concerns wherever they may be raised, and works with customers and regulators to take action where appropriate," a Lucid spokesperson said in a statement.