Lucid Motors Recalls Air Sedans for Defroster Failures.

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Lucid Motors (NASDAQ: LCID) is recalling 2042 model year 2022 – 23 Lucid Air sedans that may have High Voltage Coolant Heaters (HVCH) manufactured by suppler Webasto AG before July 2022 (Suspect HVCH), the startup EV company said in the required National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) safety defect filing (23V-011) that is now publicly available on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. Lucid dealers were notified last Friday. The pure electric sedans start at $77,400 in the US. (AutoInformed: EV Tech-aches 2023 – More Problems than ICE Vehicles; Saudi’s to Finance Lucid EV)

The HVCH supplies warm air for both cabin heat and defrosting capability in Lucid Air vehicles. If an HVCH fails, coolant cannot be heated and the windshield cannot be defrosted. Loss of adequate windshield defrost capability could lead to restricted driver field of vision and an increased risk of a crash.

Lucid estimates that approximately 1% of Suspect HVCH will experience a delamination failure, which means the heater and defroster won’t work. The recall remedy includes a software update to identify any HVCH failure when it occurs, and in the event of a failure, to provide a warning on the glass cockpit panel about the lack of defrost capability, and advise the owner to contact Lucid for an HVCH replacement, at no cost.

Lucid is monitoring vehicle telemetry for HVCH failure and Lucid will proactively contact customers who experience a failure. Lucid has analyzed failures in early versions of HVCH supplied by Webasto AG, the supplier of the part. In addition to the required recall notifications by first-class mail, Lucid will also notify affected customers via email and the Lucid mobile app to update their vehicle software.

Chronology

• Lucid has been investigating complaints about loss of cabin heat with Supplier due to HVCH failures since March 2022. As part of the cabin heat investigation, Webasto notified Lucid of HVCH delamination issues in January 2023. Lucid had removed all HVCH manufactured prior to July 2022 from its inventory before 18 November 2022, and removed all HVCH manufactured prior to February 2023 before 14 October 2023.
• On 13 November 2023, NHTSA notified Lucid of a Jaguar Land Rover recall submitted on 27 July 2023, which cited a risk of loss of defrost capability upon failure of the same HVCH used in Lucid Airs. Members of Lucid’s Product Safety Working Group (PSWG) met with relevant company employees about NHTSA’s inquiry on 31 November and started a formal investigation on 15 November.
• Lucid briefed NHTSA on the status of its investigation on 6 December 2023.
• The PSWG elevated the issue to Lucid’s Product Safety Executive Council (PSEC) on 3 January 2024. The PSEC determined the risk of a loss of defrost capability without a warning caused by an HVCH failure in a vehicle with an HVCH manufactured prior to July 2022 poses an unreasonable risk to safety.
• The remedy for this recall involves a software update to identify and warn of failed HVCH, plus replacement of failed HVCH. The software update will identify any HVCH failure when it occurs, and in the event of a failure, provide a warning on the glass cockpit panel to owners about the lack of defrost capability. The warning will also advise the owner to contact Lucid Customer Care for an HVCH replacement. Software updates are provided at no cost to Lucid owners. Any failed HVCH identified as part of this recall will be replaced by a Lucid Service Center at no cost to the owner as required by US law.
• The Suspect HVCHs were manufactured prior to July 2022 and were not subject to either increased screening that started in July 2022 or a redesign in February 2023. All remedy components will be the redesigned HVCH, which were manufactured starting in February 2023.
• Lucid removed all Suspect HVCHs from its inventory by 17 November 2022, and removed all HVCH manufactured prior to February 2023 by 23 October 2023. Since then, only HVCH manufactured beginning in February 2023, which are of a design not subject to delamination, have been used in production.
• The software update for this recall will be made available to owners via over-the-air update by approximately mid-January 2024. Owners of vehicles in the recall population will be notified by email, mobile app, and first-class mail with instructions to update their software to the latest version and to contact Lucid Customer Care if they receive a warning that their defroster is not working due to heater failure. Owners may contact Lucid Customer Care or a Lucid Service Center if they need assistance with software updates or to schedule a heater replacement if failed. There will be no cost for these services.