I Went From a 2014 Wrangler to a Lucid Air GT and Feel Like I Stepped Into the Future, But Public Charging Cost Me $40 for 200 Miles and I Can't Figure Out Auto-Park

There’s a moment in every car ownership story, somewhere around day six or seven, when the machine stops being a mystery and starts to make sense. It's when the decisions made by teams of engineers, buried under layers of interface design and safety protocols, finally surface through muscle memory and repetition. This isn't something you get from a weekend test drive. It comes from living with the thing, charging it, parking it, and muttering at it in the dark. For Reddit user NeurOctopod, that moment came after trading in a 2014 Jeep Wrangler for a fully loaded Lucid Air GT, and discovering that he had, quite literally, driven into the future.

“This thing rips! White stealth GT fully loaded, glass roof with 20”s. Went from driving a 2014 Wrangler to this, so I feel like I have stepped into the future. Feels incredible knowing that I am always the fastest thing on the road.

What I don’t like/haven't figured out:

Can’t get the autopark to work. I don’t think this is an issue with my car; I had trouble with the 24-hour rental, too. Following all directions (parking spot between 2 cars, driving forward very slowly)

Lane keeping is terrifying. haven’t found an open stretch of freeway to test it on yet, but I tried it briefly in light traffic, and I felt like it might’ve hit someone if I didn’t intervene.

Still waiting on my charging station and holy crap, public EV charging is expensive. The other day I filled up ~200 miles for $40! And the charging aborted prematurely (at around 66%) for some reason.

I can’t believe this car doesn’t come with a video-based security system/dash cam. I have 0 idea how I’m going to noninvasively wire a dash cam system with the glass roof.

How do I walk near the car with my phone without it turning on? The area I keep it parked outside, I walk by when working on my yard, playing with my dog. It consistently turns the car on.”

That kind of whiplash, going from a body-on-frame dinosaur to a silicon-powered spaceship, has to feel amazing. In the Wrangler, you twisted a key and pointed it like a compass. In the Lucid, you swipe screens, navigate predictive menus, and trust that machine learning is watching your blind spots. As Reddit commenter Revenge_of_the_Khaki noted, “Couldn’t imagine the whiplash of that experience. Lol.” 

Lucid Motors Q1 2025 Delivery Growth, Production Numbers & Revenue Breakdown

• Lucid delivered 3,109 vehicles in the first quarter of 2025, marking its fifth consecutive quarter of delivery growth, a 58% jump from Q1 2024’s 1,967 units
• The company produced 2,212 vehicles and an additional ~600 units were in transit to Saudi Arabia
• With $235 million in revenue from 3,109 deliveries, the implied average selling price per vehicle is roughly $75,600, boosted in part by sales to leasing and rental fleets 

Take auto-park. In theory, it’s one of those dream features of our self-driving future, a button that parks your $140,000 tech sedan better than any human. 

But as jojocorodon cut in bluntly: “Auto park is useless.” While that might be harsh, it’s clear that the system’s effectiveness is hit-or-miss depending on real-world geometry and the driver’s expectations. 

Still, NeurOctopod gave it multiple tries, even after a rocky 24-hour rental. That persistence tells you what matters here: it’s not just about whether a feature works. It’s about whether the ownership experience feels intuitive, or like a test of patience wrapped in a beta release.

The Lucid’s driver-assist suite also sparked early skepticism. NeurOctopod’s first brush with lane keeping was described as “terrifying,” and that’s not hyperbole when you’re riding shotgun to an algorithm. 

As Revenge_of_the_Khaki added, “You shouldn’t have any issues” once you let the car prove itself. These systems are capable, sometimes astonishingly so, but they demand time, familiarity, and a shift in expectations. You don’t test them once. You grow into them.

Public EV Charging Pain Point: $40 for 200 Miles in a Lucid Air GT

Dropping $40 on public charging for just 200 miles is a reminder that America’s EV infrastructure is still a work in progress. The owner’s frustration was echoed by canikony, who wrote, 

“Public charging absolutely sucks if you don't have access to the Tesla supercharging network.” 

It’s not a Lucid problem; it’s an ecosystem problem. And until home charging is installed, a process that oneripfl mentioned also took days to resolve, this futuristic ride is tethered to a fragmented, often expensive grid.

And then there’s the curious case of the missing dash cam. For a car with more onboard cameras than most Hollywood film sets, the lack of a factory video security system feels... odd.

As jojocorodon noted, aftermarket installation becomes a headache, especially with the panoramic glass roof complicating cable runs. 

Lucid’s Q1 2025 Financial Highlights, Leadership Update & Gravity SUV Rollout

• In Q1 2025, Lucid delivered 3,109 vehicles, a 58% year-over-year increase, and reported $235 million in revenue, a 36% rise over last year, while narrowing its quarterly net loss
• Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff, stepping in after Peter Rawlinson’s exit, emphasized operational progress and Gravity arrivals in showrooms; Lucid closed Q1 with ~$5.8 billion in liquidity, planned to sustain operations into mid‑2026
• The full-size luxury SUV, featuring up to 828 hp, a ~450‑mile range, and prices starting around $80K, began limited customer deliveries in late 2024, with orders for Grand Touring trim already open and Touring trim to follow in late 2025
• Leveraging demand for both Air and Gravity, Lucid aims to more than double production to roughly 20,000 units this year (up from ~9,000 in 2024), though early Gravity volumes suggest a cautious rollout amid safety and scaling challenges

Meanwhile, the phone-as-key function, while stylish and forward-thinking, showed its limits. “Use the FOB only as it works every time,” said jojocorodon, channeling the wisdom of hard-earned experience. 

Tech-savvy though it may be, the car’s eagerness to wake up every time its owner walked nearby with a phone bordered on comedic. It’s the kind of thing that sounds great in a lab but complicates real life, especially when you’re trying to walk your dog, not start your car.

Yet for all this, despite the quirks, the growing pains, and the occasional $40 charge for an incomplete fill-up, the lasting takeaway is crystal clear. “This thing rips,” the owner said, and nothing about that statement felt forced. One week in, and he’s already tasted the raw, silent power of instant torque and figured out what makes the Lucid Air GT so compelling.

Image Sources: Lucid Media Center

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.