- Jason Fenske’s 2025 Lucid Air began showing faults almost immediately.
- Lucid failed to source a matching replacement Air for the YouTuber.
- The automaker instead agreed to buy back the troubled EV outright.
On paper, the Lucid Air is one of the most accomplished electric sedans on sale, a technological tour de force wrapped in clean bodywork with class-leading efficiency. For one prominent YouTuber, the past eleven months of actually living with one have been a study in attrition.
Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained signed a three-year lease on a 2025 Lucid Air Touring last year. The problems started almost immediately. Door handles, phone-as-key functionality, the cupholder, the list grew quickly. Lucid reached out and promised to sort it.
Watch: Popular YouTuber Got Critical With Lucid, And Things Didn’t End With A Shrug
Fast forward a few months, and the YouTuber has reached his breaking point. During a recent four-day road trip, the Air kept suffering problems. For example, there was a time when the rear doors couldn’t be opened, even though they were unlocked. The HVAC system threw its own curveball.
As his dog sat in the rear, he noticed it was getting too hot. He checked the air vents and realized that while both were set to 65°F, one side was blowing much hotter than the other. He also experienced an issue where the reversing lines on the screen with the reversing camera would randomly disappear, and, most annoyingly, a number of Apple CarPlay issues, including it completely failing to load.
Then There’s A Big Safety Issue
His biggest issue is particularly concerning. Fenske also drives his Lucid Air with the vehicle’s Stop Mode set to hold. This essentially means that when it comes to a stop, it will automatically hold without applying the brake. It can also be set to roll, as a traditional automatic car would if you let off the brake while stopped. One time, when the YouTuber turned on the EV, put it into reverse, and lifted off the brake pedal, the car randomly started rolling forward. If this had happened on a steep hill, it could have caused an accident.
After contacting Lucid, the company first suggested it could take back Fenske’s Air and replace it with a like-for-like example, allowing him to continue his lease. That plan fell apart when Lucid couldn’t source a matching Air, so the automaker instead agreed to buy back the EV outright and reimburse him for every payment he’s made. It works out well for Fenske, though owners dealing with the same issue, minus the 4.2 million YouTube subscribers, probably shouldn’t expect identical treatment.
