It’s not uncommon for electric vehicles to appear on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) recall list. With the technology being new and heavily dependent on software, automakers are still undergoing a profound phase of learning. Sadly, some of this includes major safety recalls.
NHTSA’s latest recall has put the Lucid Air under the spotlight. Certain models of the electric sedan manufactured between 2022 and 2024 reportedly have serious safety issues. According to the NHTSA report, Lucid observed at least 10 instances of abrupt loss of drive due to a fault in the vehicle’s high voltage system.
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Software issues with EVs.
Most new electric cars are software-defined. That means most of the vehicle's critical functions, like the battery management, power electronics and driver assistance systems among others are overseen by software. Early production models often face software glitches, some of which pose safety risks, prompting the NHTSA to step in and issue recalls.
A report submitted by Lucid to the NHTSA on July 1 states: “Lucid has determined that in 5,251 model year 2022 and 2023 U.S. vehicles manufactured prior to December 2022, the possibility of intermittent hardware connections leading to loss of drive power while in Drive or Reverse due to HVIL logic poses an unreasonable risk to safety. The 10 occurrences in 5,251 Affected Vehicles are a 0.2% rate.”
The recall also includes another major safety concern. Lucid identified at least 74 Air sedans manufactured before February 2023 that failed to defrost their windshield, potentially hampering the drivers’ field of vision and dangerously increasing the risk of a crash. The report explains that this was due to a malfunctioning “High Voltage Coolant Heater” or HVCH.
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Here’s what the report states: “Prior to the software remedy, there was no visual warning indicator for an HVCH failure. A vehicle with a failed HVCH will not produce warm air for the windshield defroster. Drivers would also experience a loss of cabin heat when an HVCH fails. Vehicles with the software remedy will receive a warning that defrost is unavailable upon an HVCH failure, even if the driver has not tried to enable cabin heat or defrost."
The power loss and defrost failure issues may concern thousands of Air sedans, but the estimated rate of defect is just 1% or less. To remedy these potentially dangerous defects, Lucid said all owners need to do is update the software. They will be notified by email on how to do that or seek help from dealerships at no cost.
