[Raj]

I got to test drive a grand touring after making a reservation for it. It was all great except the motor noise was excessive during both acceleration and deceleration which was a turn off. A lucid engineer later told me that I may have driven a prototype and advised me to test drive again in February. Is this a known issue in post production or not. Thanks for any feedback I can get on this topic.

 

[Hydbob]

It has that ev motor whine. All evs have it.

 

[hmp10]

It has that ev motor whine. All evs have it.

This motor whine is why Mercedes and Porsche have those ridiculous sound effects that mask it, apparently thinking their customers would rather have their cars emit cloying synthesized sounds than what I think are the enjoyable sounds of a refined piece of machinery doing its work.

I loved the roar of my Corvette's small-block V8 and my Audi R8's glorious Lamborghini V10 . . . and I was surprised to find how much I also enjoyed the soundtrack of our Teslas' electric motors spinning up.

 

[Raj]

I can only compare the motor noise to my Tesla s driven for eight years and the x for six years. The lucid nose was excessive even compared to the two drive units that made whirring noises before Tesla gave me new ones in s.

 

[SDHacker]

motor noise was excessive

You'd have to define what "excessive" is to you. I might think it's minimal while you might find it sounds like a jet taking off. If you had the sound system on normal volume levels, would you hear it? Do you need to raise your voice to be heard over it? Was it just louder than your expectation (virtually silent)? What made it excessive?

As others have stated, anything accelerating to and decelerating from 10,000 rpm is going to make noise. Whether you enjoy it, are neutral to it, or find it irritating would determine whether you go forward with a purchase. I've only been in a couple of EVs and I could hear the whine of the motor in both. Not having been in a running Lucid, I can't tell you what the perceived loudness of the whine was in reference to the others.

 

[Paladin732]

You'd have to define what "excessive" is to you. I might think it's minimal while you might find it sounds like a jet taking off. If you had the sound system on normal volume levels, would you hear it? Do you need to raise your voice to be heard over it? Was it just louder than your expectation (virtually silent)? What made it excessive?

As others have stated, anything accelerating to and decelerating from 10,000 rpm is going to make noise. Whether you enjoy it, are neutral to it, or find it irritating would determine whether you go forward with a purchase. I've only been in a couple of EVs and I could hear the whine of the motor in both. Not having been in a running Lucid, I can't tell you what the perceived loudness of the whine was in reference to the others.

When doing my test drive with music on low I couldn’t hear it

 

[adnillien]

I did a test drive yesterday in a GT and while I could hear the engine whine, it was not excessive and was not difficult to talk over it. I actually liked it from both the front and rear seats.

 

[Jrumm39033]

I have driven a Model 3 for over 4 years. The motor is as close to silent as I can imagine.
I test drove a Lucid today, and I am sorry to say that the excessive noise from the motor was the first thing I noticed. I immediately commented to the sales associate who was riding with me.
I'm not sure it's bad enough, alone, to keep me from getting the car, but it is definitely a big negative.
Not sure why Lucid compares so poorly to Tesla on this point, since Lucid's CEO, Peter Rawlinson, was the Vehicle Engineer for the Model S.