Lucid USA has issued a safety recall affecting 1,267 of its 2022-2023 Lucid Air vehicles, according to a Part 573 Safety Recall Report submitted on October 19, 2023. The recall is designated under the numbers 23V-708 and SR-23-05-0.
The affected vehicles are operating on software versions between 2.1.0 and 2.1.20. A software change in version 2.1.0 removed active temperature monitoring for the rear seat heaters in certain non-driving modes. If a rear seat heater is left on under these conditions, the seat could overheat, leading to discoloration or charring of the seat surface. “The rear seat could overheat to a high enough temperature to cause a risk of burn if touched,” the report stated.
Four customer vehicles have experienced seat charring or discoloration due to the seat heater overheating the leather seats. One customer reported a burned finger after touching the discolored rear seat surface.
Lucid has developed software updates, versions 2.1.26 and later, that monitor and control rear seat temperature in all vehicle modes. These updates are provided at no cost to customers. Lucid advises that customers with vehicles on affected software versions update their software as soon as possible.
“Software upgrades are provided to customers at no cost,” the report confirmed. While this is a bad situation, an over-the-air software fix is one good thing.
Owners of affected vehicles will be notified by first-class mail with instructions to upgrade their software or contact Lucid Customer Care for assistance, also at no cost. The planned owner notification date is December 11, 2023.
