Following a recent over-the-air (OTA) software update, which appeared to be having trouble starting, a Lucid Air owner received a warning message that the update failed and the car could not possibly be not be driven. The warning message appeared to be on target, as the car was clearly dead.
While receiving warning messages in your new car can be very concerning, it’s not uncommon for devices to experience issues during software updates. Cars are quickly becoming the next “screens” in our lives. They apparently look a lot more like smartphones or computers on wheels than they ever have in the past, and that’s especially true for electric cars.
Airline owner alexander report the problem on the Lucid Owners Forum. This was software update version 1.2.6, which began rolling out on Friday, June 10, 2022. Alex’s Air electric sedan provided the following warning message after initiating the update, then went waited three or four hours:
Alex notes that the situation caused the complete death of the Lucid EV. He couldn’t unlock the doors and unfortunately the OTA update seems never to have downloaded. Air reported 0% complete. Additionally, Lucid’s owner had to access the car through the trunk to be able to enter and physically open the doors.
Alex says he contacted Lucid customer service, although they weren’t able to help him immediately other than alerting the Lucid team to what happened with the OTA update. Interestingly, the car came back to life about an hour after the call. Teslarati writes that the Air alarms went off and the key fob managed to silence the alarms and unlock the doors. However, the error message was still present on the EV screen.
The Air owner got in the car and checked Drive and Reverse, which seemed to work. Lucid called and explained that he was going to try another software update. However, that also failed, and Alex was informed that a Lucid Mobile Technician would contact him and make an appointment to come and check the car.
The problem eventually solved itself. After the two failed Ota Software update attempts, the car charged overnight and seemed to be back to normal by morning. The messages above remained in Air’s mobile app, but not on his car screen.
Again, this type of problem is becoming more and more common among newer cars. It’s definitely not something you want to see, and it might leave you temporarily stuck somewhere. However, being aware that there is a chance of it happening will at least have you prepared.
If and when more details about the situation are revealed, we will update this article or provide another one. In the meantime, we’ve reached out to Lucid for an official comment.
