- The Lucid Gravity SUV launched with a host of software issues, including faulty displays and a key fob that often became difficult to recognize and prevented driving.
- Lucid Motors interim CEO Mark Winterhoff said the company replaced much of its software team in the wake of the launch.
- Winterhof said he expects these final bugs to be fixed at the end of January, or “at the latest, the end of March.”
Mark Winterhoff said he recognizes this paradox. His company, Lucid Motors, is launching one of the most advanced electric cars the American market has ever seen. that vehicle, Obvious attractionhas class-leading range, efficiency and fast charging. Gravity is a good enough platform to be Used as a driverless taxi In the Uber network.
However, her master key did not work.
While the Gravity was Lucid’s most important launch to date — an SUV that could grow the brand in ways the Lucid Air sedan couldn’t — it debuted last year with a slew of technical issues. These problems included a faulty display and key fob that the car sometimes couldn’t recognize, preventing someone from driving away. We are in InsideEVs I faced both in testing last year, which prevented the impressive Gravity from taking top honors in InsideEVs Breakthrough Awards.
Lucid Gravity Uber Nuru Robotaxi CES 2026
Photography: Patrick George
So, at CES 2026 last week, Lucid’s interim CEO Winterhoff told InsideEVs that the automaker had made some big personnel changes in the wake of the Gravity launch. “I basically replaced the entire software leadership team,” Winterhoff said in a briefing with reporters. “We’re working on this, and we’re actually very close.”
A Lucid spokesperson confirmed the changes to InsideEV’s cars and couldn’t provide the total number of separations, but said it was “more than a handful.”
The automaker announced in November that Lucid’s chief engineer, Eric Bach, would leave the company after more than a decade; TechCrunch It was reported that Lucid’s vice president of engineering, James Hawkins, had also left. (Bach later filed a lawsuit against the automaker, On the grounds of a hostile work environment And slander about his German nationality. InsideEVs has reached out to both Bach and Hawkins for comment.) Imad Dalala, former senior vice president of powertrain at Lucid Motors, has been promoted to oversee all “engineering and digital.” It’s not clear which, if any, of these anomalies are directly related to Gravity’s programming challenges.
A defect in the clear gravity screen
Photography: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs
Since Gravity’s launch, Lucid has released a number of over-the-air (OTA) software updates. today, Motor direction I mentioned that the newest version, 3.3.20, fixed two of the car’s biggest issues: key fob detection and inconsistent unlocking and starting.
At CES, Winterhoff said that at least one more over-the-air update will be coming to Gravity at the end of January, followed by another in a couple of months. “So our expectation is that for Gravity, we’ll be over the hump by the end of January, or the end of January, or the end of March,” he said.
Winterhoff acknowledged the Gravity’s major fob issue, which has sometimes left owners unable to start their cars. But he said that this problem has been “almost completely resolved.” Another OTA update coming in the next few weeks will address how the key can continually “issue commands” to the car until its battery dies.
Photography: Patrick George
Software has been a pervasive challenge for almost every automaker in the modern era, from newcomers like Lucid to more experienced companies like Volvo and GM. EVs are often test beds for entirely new technologies, and as such, their software stacks carry complexities—and run components from many different suppliers—that can ruin the entire experience if something goes wrong.
For Lucid’s part, Winterhoff said the company is aware of the problem and has “made radical changes to change this.”
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Source: Patrick George
“It’s embarrassing sometimes. By the way, we have a great car,” he said. “Under the hood, in order to make that car run like it does, there’s a lot of software that all works. And then the key fob doesn’t work. I mean, I’m laughing at it now, but, believe me, I haven’t been laughing in a few months.”
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
