Lucid Air owners might want to check their car’s software before choosing a cozy garage spot tonight. The EV maker is recalling 27,185 examples of its luxury sedan because a flaw in the electrical protection for exterior lighting circuits can let models running older software get hot enough to produce smoke or even a fire.

The recall covers 2022 through 2026 model-year Lucid Airs built from October 2021 to July 2026, and the culprit isn’t a bad bulb or some particularly enthusiastic LED. Lucid says the software controlling an electronic fuse, or eFuse, can allow an exterior lighting circuit to remain powered while drawing too much current.

Related: Ex-Manager Claims Lucid Dismissed His Warnings About Defect Before Large Recall

The same overheating problem that presents a fire risk  can also knock out the center brake light or front lighting, reducing visibility and raising the chance of a crash. So just because your Air hasn’t cooked you yet doesn’t mean you’re not in danger.

There were warning signs before the recall arrived. Lucid’s filing describes three fire events involving front lighting over three years, plus four reports of smoke linked to overheating in the center high-mounted stop lamp circuit. It also found 33 warranty reports involving damage to that lamp’s wiring harness that might be connected.

The Fix Already Exists

Thankfully, the repair doesn’t involve service-center surgery. Lucid released software version 2.10.0 over the air in July. It lowers the eFuse protection threshold and stops a faulted circuit from being repeatedly re-energized during the same key cycle. Lucid says 20,719 affected EVs had already received version 2.10.0 or newer when the report was prepared, leaving 6,466 still needing it.

Owners who haven’t updated will receive mailed instructions, with remedy notices scheduled for October 16. And until that update is installed, those owners are being told to park outside and away from structures. Which is kind of difficult when you’re talking about a car that needs to be plugged into a charger regularly.

Lucid hasn’t had the best luck with reliability and safety lately. It was forced to buy back a fault-riddled Air from YouTuber Jason Fenske, recalled cars for unsecured half-shaft bolts, and then hauled back a couple of thousand sedans over concerns they could lose power while driving.

Lucid

If you like geeking out on performance stats you’ll love Car and Driver’s latest 0-150-0 mph (0-241-0 kmh) feature, a test it first ran almost 30 years ago. But cars – and not just supercars – have become so ridiculously fast since then that this year the magazine found it had enough runway, and enough horses, to try 200 mph (322 kmh) and back. And some serious scalps were removed in the process.

The venue had a 2.2-mile taxiway, and four cars theoretically had enough firepower to crack the double century. They were the 1,234 hp (1,251 PS / 920 kW) Lucid Air Sapphire, 1,250 hp (1,267 PS) Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X, 740 hp (750 PS) McLaren 750S, and 701 hp (711 PS) Porsche 911 Turbo S.

Related: No American Road Car Has Ever Reached 60 Faster Than This Lucid

The Porsche, it turned out didn’t quite make the grade. Despite an official 200 mph (322 kmh) maximum, C/D recorded 199.3 mph (321 kmh) before the limiter intervened. Close, but no celebratory cigar.

The other three got there, and the results were pretty epic. Lucid’s enormous electric sedan completed 0-200-0 mph in just 25.7 seconds. The Corvette needed another 6.1 seconds, recording 31.8 seconds, while the McLaren finished in 37.7 seconds. Yes, a luxury four-door EV just annihilated two purpose-built sports cars.

Low Drag Equals Low Times

The Lucid’s secret isn’t complicated. It has monumental power and relatively slippery bodywork, both becoming increasingly important as speeds climb and aerodynamic drag starts demanding absurd amounts of energy. Car and Driver found the Sapphire reached 200 mph (322 km/h) more than seven seconds before the ZR1X and over 13 seconds ahead of the McLaren.

Braking gave the sports cars an opportunity for revenge. Their lower mass meant they could shed 200 mph (322 kmh) more effectively than the hefty Lucid, which needed nearly a quarter-mile (402 m) to stop. Trouble is, they’d already lost so much ground accelerating that better braking couldn’t rescue them. For me, the most mind-blowing stat of the lot is that the Lucid completed the entire run in less than a mile (1.6 km). That’s bonkers.

Head over to Car and Driver for its complete 0-150-0 mph (0-241-0 kmh) test, where you’ll find figures for everything from the Dodge Charger Scat Pack to the BMW M2 CS and even the Hyundai Elantra N.

Lucid, GM

Lucid may have just delayed plans for a cheaper, mass-market model, but that doesn’t mean the EV manufacturer wants to let its current range go stale. Enter the Gravity GT-S, a new high-performance flagship SUV that follows in the footsteps of the Air Sapphire.

Premiering at Monterey Car Week, the perfect location for a high-end, high-priced vehicle like this, the Gravity GT-S doesn’t look much different than the standard model, retaining most of the SUV’s subtle and sophisticated lines, while introducing just a few design tweaks.

Read: After Less Than A Year, This Lucid Gravity Lost Over $30,000

Chief among the changes are several blue exterior accents, including the brake calipers. The blue touches continue into the cabin of the Gravity GT-S, with blue stitching and piping on the steering wheel, door armrests, and front center armrest, as well as blue seat belts. The Lucid Bear has also been embossed onto the front seat headrests.

Performance is what really sets the Gravity GT-S apart from lesser models in the line-up. Thanks to upgraded motors, it now delivers 1,070 hp, the type of power which was once reserved for million-dollar hypercars, but is now becoming far more accessible thanks to high-end EVs like this.

How Quick Is It?

Lucid hasn’t quoted any weight figures for the Gravity GT-S, but notes the all-wheel drive traction allows it to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in just 3.1 seconds. No quarter-mile time has been released, but given how quickly the Air Sapphire can power down the drag strip, expect to see the Gravity GT-S return times in the mid-9-second range, if not a little quicker.

Working alongside the upgraded powertrain is Lucid’s Dynamic Handling Package, now installed as standard. This upgrade includes independent rear-wheel drive and adaptive three-chamber air suspension, which automatically adjusts the ride height based on vehicle speed.

While Lucid says it’s opened orders for the Gravity GT-S, with prices starting from $125,900 excluding tax, title, license, options, and destination and delivery fees, it has failed to mention when customers can expect to take delivery. The only option will be a Tahoe leather interior, priced at $1,300.

“With Lucid Gravity GT-S, we’ve created a more expressive and exhilarating interpretation of the Gravity SUV,” Lucid chief creative officer Derek Jenkins said. “It combines extraordinary performance with the comfort, space, and versatility that define Gravity, delivering an exceptional experience for our customers that is uniquely Lucid.”

A lawsuit filed in California late last week alleges that Lucid retaliated against a former engineering manager who says he warned about issues with the Air EV’s half-shafts, months before the automaker issued two separate recalls for the car in late 2025 and in March 2026, Runtimewire reports.

In total, 3,852 Lucid Air models have been recalled in the United States. According to the most recent recall, the half-shaft bolts on Lucid Air Pure models may not be properly secured, meaning the half-shaft could disconnect from the drive unit, resulting in an immediate loss of power.

Read: Lucid’s Fix For Losing Drive Power Is A Notification That You’re About To Lose Drive Power

According to the lawsuit he filed, Neil Milne warned Lucid of “multiple failure modes” of the part in April 2025. He says he consistently challenged Lucid’s testing, validation, and documentation for safety-critical engineering work, alleging weak manufacturing controls, insufficient auditing, and missing records for important engineered decisions. The complaint states that just 225 vehicles were recalled last October, with an additional 3,627 named in a separate recall by March this year.

The lawsuit doesn’t specify whether the faults Milne reported were the same as those listed in the recalls, though he contends the timing and similarities point that way.

In an email the complaint says was sent to Lucid product-safety officer Rick Clementz on January 13, 2026, Milne wrote, “Will say what I said originally 9 months ago. Bad design, with multiple failure modes,” Runtimewire reports. Per the same report, Lucid initially relied on a “lash detection” algorithm to analyze the Air and identify vehicles with loose half-shaft bolts while investigating the half-shaft concerns, but determined that hundreds of vehicles had slipped through, which the report links to the second recall earlier this year.

Passed Over For A Promotion And Then Terminated

After Milne raised concerns about the half-shafts, he alleges Lucid progressively stripped him of his authority, allegedly starting by moving him out of his senior-manager role for power-electronics systems and onto thermal programs. In February this year, he was told his performance rating “does not meet expectations,” and he claims he was passed over for a charging leadership role because he had raised the half-shaft concerns.

Milne alleges Lucid retaliated against him for whistleblowing and has also accused the EV maker of wrongful termination. According to the complaint, he is demanding a jury trial and seeking lost pay, bonuses, equity, and benefits, along with punitive damages, legal fees, and damages for emotional distress.

Lucid Motors is struggling and the company only delivered 3,953 vehicles in the second quarter. That’s a drop in the bucket, but it was a 19% improvement from a year ago.

Since going from terrible to awful isn’t great, the company has announced an “operational reset.” It aims to slash costs, reduce cash burn, and simplify operations.

More: Lucid To Lay Off 18% Of Its US Workforce, Just Four Months After Cutting 12%

As CEO Silvio Napoli explained, “Lucid has leading technology, compelling products and deeply committed people, but potential is not performance.” As a result, the company is going “back to basics, with a clear focus on cash, customers, and culture.”

Lucid didn’t hold back as they admitted to “premature launches,” an ownership experience that fell short, and quality issues that were not addressed in a timely fashion. To solve the problems, the company has hired more service technicians, expanded their mobile service capability, and slashed wait times for service appointments.

As part of the revamp, Lucid promises “greater discipline” in regards to spending, investment, and capital allocation. The automaker has also deliberately reduced production to better align with anticipated demand. This frees up working capital, while also keeping inventory in check.

Speaking of being frugal, the company has identified $1.4 billion in savings for 2026. Reduced production plays a large part in this, but Lucid is also looking to cut approximately $500 million in capital expenditures. The company also expects to save around $158 million annually thanks to job cuts that were announced last month.

In other news, Lucid aims to accelerate decision-making by “simplifying the organization, reducing layers and clarifying accountability.” The automaker didn’t go into many specifics, but noted the “new structure halves the number of direct reports to the CEO and places experienced leaders in key roles across finance, technology, customer experience, transformation, digital and program execution.”

On the product side of things, Lucid said their robotaxi program with Uber and Nuro is a “top priority.” Nearly 100 vehicles are already being tested in the San Francisco Bay Area and the company has begun delivering production-validation Gravity SUVs to Nuro.

The ‘final’ robotaxi is slated to go into production in the fourth quarter and the company is eyeing a launch in late 2026. Lucid has high hopes for the model as estimates suggest automakers could make billions on robotaxi manufacturing in the years ahead.

Work on the company’s all-important midsize Cosmos is progressing as Lucid said Atlas drive units and prototypes are “advancing through validation, durability testing, crash certification, battery-pack manufacturing validation, and cold-weather testing in New Zealand.”

Interestingly, the press release didn’t mention the biggest news of all – the Cosmos is being delayed. During the related earnings call, officials said their AM2 plant in Saudi Arabia won’t be ready to build the model until the second half of 2027.

The Cosmos crossover will be the first vehicle fully built at the plant as well as their first midsize model. It’s essentially their version of the Rivian R2 and it’s a make or break vehicle for the company.

Its delay is a serious setback, but officials used the call to say they won’t repeat the mistakes of the past. In particular, they said the Cosmos will only launch when “every process and quality requirement” has been met. In effect, the company doesn’t want to release a half-baked product onto the market.

Back in late 2024, basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal commissioned West Coast Customs to build him a one-off Lucid Air Coupe roomy enough for his 7’1″ frame. Eighteen months on, Shaq’s bespoke EV has landed in a salvage lot after a crash. If you back your own skills with a wrench, you could buy it, fix it up, and own a unique Lucid.

Just how far the modifications go isn’t fully clear, and nobody’s confirmed whether the wheelbase was stretched. According to Road & Track, West Coast Customs pushed the front seats back for extra legroom. The second-row seats survived the redesign, so the Air still seats five, or maybe four with Shaq at the wheel.

Read: Shaq’s New Ride Is This Stunning Lucid Air Coupe

Copart

Visually, the car also looks a little different, most notably thanks to the fact that it’s a two-door and sits on a set of aftermarket, tightly-spoked black wheels. Sadly, Shaq’s ride is now in desperate need of some repairs.

There’s no word on how the unique Lucid was crashed or whether Shaq was behind the wheel at the time, but with some TLC, the EV might be able to return to the roads. The front bumper has been removed, and one of the radiators is busted and will need to be replaced.

A Big Lucid For A Big Man

Copart

In addition, the headlights are missing, and the hood has been damaged, so it will need to be replaced as well. If there’s a shred of good news, it’s that the rear half of the EV appears unscathed, which should help to minimize repair costs.

As for what specific Lucid Air variant the car is based on, well, that isn’t known. What the Copart listing does confirm is that it’s an all-wheel-drive model. It’s also been driven just 2,898 miles (4,663 km), so it’d be a shame if someone didn’t try to repair it.

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The Lucid Gravity impresses on plenty of fronts, but it shares one weakness with a long list of other premium electric vehicles: it hemorrhages value. For some buyers that’s a dealbreaker, for others it’s the price of admission. Either way, the numbers are brutal.

Earlier this month, a 2026 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring went up for auction on Cars & Bids. Less than a year old, with an original sticker of $103,650, it sold for just $73,000. That’s less than a new entry-level Gravity, and this one happens to be the current range-topper.

Read: 0% For 72 Months Is How You Know Lucid’s Gravity Isn’t Selling

A look at the window sticker reveals this Gravity was optioned with the $2,900 Dynamic Handling Package, which adds titanium-painted brake calipers alongside rear-wheel steering and triple-chamber air suspension. It also rocks the Stealth Appearance Package and the $4,200 Tahoe Nappa Leather with Luxury Seating Package, adding plush upholstery, 18-way adjustable front seats with massage and ventilation functions, and seatback tray tables.

Cars&Bids

Almost new on paper, the Gravity has 12,100 miles (19,473 km) on the odometer. It’s also had a surprising number of parts replaced since delivery, including a new center console tray, hood struts, a left front wheel speed sensor, and a wheel bearing. Not the record you want to see on a nearly new premium SUV.

A Performance Beast

Cars&Bids

The Gravity’s resale value is shaky and probably has further to fall, but the SUV isn’t without its merits, chiefly performance and efficiency. A 123 kWh lithium-ion battery and a pair of electric motors send 828 hp and 828 lb-ft (1,122 Nm) of torque to the wheels. That’s enough to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in about 3.4 seconds, and it still manages up to 450 miles (724 km) on a single charge.

Part of what’s eating into values on used Gravity models like this one may be the aggressive incentives Lucid recently rolled out on new cars. This month the company said outgoing 2026 models could be financed over 84 months at $681 a month with a $20,000 down payment. Lease deals carrying a $10,000 discount run through July 31, alongside a $3,000 loyalty credit and a $3,000 trade-in allowance from rival vehicles.

Cars&Bids

Lucid has forcefully denied speculation that it could file for bankruptcy, going so far as to send a cease-and-desist letter to the publication that claimed the automaker was weighing Chapter 11 protection or a take-private deal. The company’s response has been unusually aggressive for a matter it insists carries no substance, escalating from a public rebuttal to legal action and a regulatory filing in a matter of days.

Read: Lucid To Lay Off 18% Of Its US Workforce, Just Four Months After Cutting 12%

It all started earlier this week, when media outlet @EV_carba (Electric-Vehicles.com) reported that it had heard from unnamed sources that Lucid had been in talks with advisor AlixPartners, which reportedly urged it to restructure in the US and Europe and to prioritize the Gravity SUV. That could mean filing for bankruptcy protection or going private, prompted by the company’s struggling share price and pressure from Saudi Arabian investors.

The CEO Responds

Lucid quickly responded to the report. Writing on LinkedIn, chief executive Silvio Napoli labeled the reports “false,” although he did not deny that the EV maker is working with outside advisors to improve.

“Lucid is not considering bankruptcy or a transaction to take the company private,” he said. “Those reports are false. The Board did not explore either scenario. Period. As disclosed in our most recent quarterly filing, Lucid has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations well into next year.”

$LCID has delivered a cease-and-desist letter to @EV_carba regarding reporting that falsely claimed the company was considering bankruptcy or a take-private transaction. Those claims have been publicly and unequivocally denied, including in an SEC filing. pic.twitter.com/9P0PocFdCl

— Nick Twork (@ntwork) July 15, 2026

“We work with outside advisors to improve operational performance and execution. They are not advising Lucid on a take-private transaction or bankruptcy, and any suggestion that they have recommended either course of action to management or the Board is false.”

Screenshots have since emerged online showing the cease-and-desist letter that Lucid sent to electric-vehicles, the website that published the report. It said that “publication of inaccurate factual statements concerning a publicly traded company is extraordinarily serious,” noting it “undermines investor confidence, creates unnecessary uncertainty, and can materially distort the market’s assessment of the company.”

Shares Plummet, Then Rebound

Lucid also directly blamed the report for prompting a sell-off of its shares, noting prices fell from $5.51 to as low as $2.37, causing “serious injury to a number of investors.” The stock shed more than half its value at Tuesday’s intraday lows and was halted several times for volatility before the denial pared the damage, leaving it down about 16 percent at the close.

However, the recovery came fast. As The Motley Fool reported, shares rocketed 28.8 percent on Wednesday to close at $5.95, slightly above where they traded before the report broke, on volume of 55.6 million shares, roughly 169 percent above the three-month average. The rebound stretched into a second day, with the stock climbing another 12 percent on Thursday to trade around $6.69, back above its 50-day moving average for the first time since the rumors surfaced.

Regardless of where the truth lies, it’s obvious that things are not going that well for Lucid. In June, it said it was laying off 18 percent of its US employees, just four months after a separate round of layoffs cut its local workforce by 12 percent.

Eager to offload surplus supplies of 2026 Gravity models, Lucid has announced an aggressive financing deal for the all-electric SUV. Whether it’ll be enough to sell the leftover inventory remains to be seen, but it certainly brings the Gravity within reach of more prospective shoppers.

According to a report from EV, the offer was first sent via email to customers in the US earlier this week, before being added to Lucid’s website. It notes the Gravity Touring and Grand Touring are available with zero percent financing for 72 months, but notes buyers must take delivery by July 31.

Read: Lucid Is Blaming Someone Else For The Gravity’s Second Recall In Four Months

The Lucid Gravity is also available to finance over 84 months with a monthly fee of $681, plus a $20,000 down payment. Those interested in leasing are in luck, too, as the 2026 Gravity is available with a $10,000 discount. Currently, it’s available to lease for $699 a month for the Touring and $949 a month for the Grand Touring, both over 24 months.

It’s unclear how many examples of the 2026 Gravity Lucid still holds in its inventory. It unveiled the tweaked 2027 model at the start of April, increasing the vehicle’s price tag by $4,000 but adding features as standard that were previously options, such as the DreamDrive 2 Premium advanced driver-assistance system.

Is Now The Time To Buy?

This is far from the first time that Lucid has tried to match Gravity’s sales. As of March, the financing rate had been cut to zero percent for 60 months and was available alongside up to $12,500 in lease incentives. As part of the existing deals, existing Lucid customers will be offered an additional $3,000 loyalty credit. A $3,000 trade-in allowance is also available for non-Lucid vehicles, excluding those from Ineos.

The drive to sell remaining 2026 Gravity models comes after a disappointing quarter for the American brand. Across the April-June period, it delivered 3,953 vehicles, below analyst expectations. During the quarter, it built 4,774 vehicles, fewer than the 5,500 that it built in the first quarter of this year.