Lucid has hit another bump in the road, issuing a new recall on Friday over concerns a critical software flaw could unexpectedly result in a loss of drive power in the Air sedan.
According to the recall documents posted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website, the issue affects 189 vehicles, and was traced back to an issue with software versions 2.1.2 to 2.1.26, which were found to contain a defect in the torque monitor logic.
This flaw could trigger a sudden loss of drive power under certain conditions, notably when the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system is engaged and encounters an unexpected obstacle or vehicle, leading to a complex interaction of driver inputs and system responses that results in the fault. The potential for such an event, without any prior warning to the driver, significantly increases the risk of an accident, prompting swift action from Lucid Motors.
Fortunately, an over-the-air (OTA) software update, version 2.1.30, corrected the issue. Lucid says in the recall document the OTA update has been available since October 8, 2023. Despite being available since then, another owner reported a loss of drive power on December 2, 2023.
As a result Lucid escalated the issue internally, deciding that there was “unreasonable risk to safety due to the possibility of unwarned loss of drive power,” leading to the recall being issued to encourage 189 owners to download and install the latest software version.
Just last month Lucid recalled over 2,000 Air sedans because of potentially faulty cabin heaters. In that instance Lucid decided a software update to monitor for this issue was enough, but the NHTSA apparently disagreed and is currently investigating whether the automaker should issue another recall and replace all of the affected parts.
You can read the full recall notice below.
