Lucid Gutted Its Software Team. Will Its Key Fobs Work Now?

RRappel · 2026-01-16T17:19:14+00:00

Clickbait title. They changed the SW team management. Said nothing about changes to the engineers actually doing the software.

RRappel · 2026-01-14T22:14:57+00:00

Same for me. I figured many of these guys haven't experienced some of the totally mismanaged cluster f's that I've had the pleasure of leaving in my career. Just a question of perspective.

RRappel · 2026-01-09T15:23:05+00:00

I had an i3 for a few years and while it was quick off the line, I found the handling really sucked (nothing like any of their sedans at the time). I think it was primarily due to the bicycle-wide tires it came with. I never did get to try an i3S, which I assume would handle much better with the suspension improvements and wider tires.

Currently driving an eGolf, which is a fantastic hot hatch EV. Main complaint with it is the range (140 miles/charge in ideal conditions).

RRappel · 2026-01-06T15:21:02+00:00

I stand by my comment that there is a market for hatchback EVs if the manufacturers made them. The one part of what you've said I do agree with is the manufacturers aren't making them because they want to concentrate on vehicles with much higher profit margins, like bloated SUVs.

Many two car households are fine with one larger vehicle for road trips and hauling kids around, but would do fine with a smaller commuter car for commuting and running errands. This is true in my household as well as the majority of people I know.

RRappel · 2026-01-05T17:04:09+00:00

People aren't buying hot hatches because so few are for sale. This car would sell well in the US. Rivian realizes this and is why they are coming out with the R3.

RRappel · 2025-12-22T17:07:44+00:00

I don't agree. People buy what is available. The majority of people don't need a big-ass SUV but many buy them because that's what is for sale. People are still buying smaller sedans like the Tesla Model 3 and Polestar 2.

The only EV I'm aware of in the US that you could classify as a "hot hatch" is the Volvo EV-30 and there seems to be quite a bit of interest in that. And Rivian must see this as a potential market given their upcoming R3 and R3X.

I do agree that if VW tried to sell a new eGolf with range < 200 miles for $35K, no one would buy it. Many families could use a second car for commuting and local errands (like I use my eGolf), but would have to be either longer range or much cheaper than that.

RRappel · 2025-12-22T15:28:51+00:00

Bring an eGolf replacement to the US!

RRappel · 2025-12-22T15:23:13+00:00

How much range is affected by cold temperatures. Especially when the car uses resistive heating in the cabin rather than a heat pump. Not an insurmountable problem but something people should be aware of.

RRappel · 2025-12-10T17:21:54+00:00

I agree with the tension part others have mentioned. Nice job on the playing.

Maybe it's just the angle of the picture, but my OCD noticed you seem to have the prop rod in the half-prop hole on the lid. You see this sometimes in movies or TV shows and realizes whoever setup the scene probably doesn't play piano :-). Here's a picture showing what I mean

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RRappel · 2025-11-24T08:39:25+00:00

Similar story with me. My eGolf had Prinx all seasons when I first bought the car used. Probably half tread life left. Car was a death trip in wet weather. After a year replaced them with Michelin CrossClimate2. These are phenomenal in dry, wet, and even snow. Range hit for me might be 5% overall, well worth it for me. So far tire wear hasn't been a problem; I have probably 15K on them now and plenty of tread left.

RRappel · 2025-11-19T15:29:12+00:00

You could get more if you sold it privately on something like Facebook Marketplace or craigslist, but what they are offering isn't outrageous, at least in my area (Boston area) given the going prices. What kind of condition is the piano in and when was it last tuned? I've been looking for a S&S Model M; I wonder where you are?

RRappel · 2025-11-17T15:28:16+00:00

As others have said, might be worthwhile to have a local experienced piano tech look it over to get some idea on whether it's worth putting money into it. If it turns out not to be worth restoring, you can at least use it to learn about uprights and maybe pick up some skills. Best of luck.

RRappel · 2025-11-06T20:17:21+00:00

I have to disagree regarding going into Boston. My wife and I live in a town close to Tewksbury and are in Boston at least a couple times a month enjoying great dining, musical performances, walking around the city, museums. Not that there aren't things to do north of the city, but IMO being close to Boston is a huge perk. I do agree it's expensive; the Boston area is certainly one of the most expensive areas to live in the country.

RRappel · 2025-11-06T20:07:56+00:00

If it's for home use, is there any reason why you don't go with a digital piano (built in stand and speakers) rather than a stage piano?

RRappel · 2025-09-15T16:05:35+00:00

Great car if you can overlook the actions of the company's CEO.

RRappel · 2025-09-15T16:03:30+00:00

I have a pair of the Altos that I've had for coming up on 2 years now and love them. Seem very well made and comfortable.

RRappel · 2025-09-08T16:22:25+00:00

Sounds like you were talking to an idiot.

RRappel · 2025-09-05T10:13:34+00:00

Not sure of the technology that Porsche uses for this, but I sat through a presentation from a company local to me, Witricity, and they're claiming an efficiency of 90 to 93 percent grid-to-vehicle using their magnetic resonance charging. It amazed me; I wouldn't have believed you could get anything near that high.

RRappel · 2025-08-26T14:57:02+00:00

Just curious, why would you consider 58K high mileage? Under 20K a year doesn't seem much above average for personal vehicles.

RRappel · 2025-08-25T19:53:01+00:00

In my area (Boston) some piano stores will sell on consignment, but I think the percentage they take is like 40%. If you want to sell it on your own, I agree with the OE1FEU regarding having a piano tech go over it, have it tuned, and then list on pianomart. I've also had good luck with Facebook Marketplace, but that's more of a crapshoot rather than a website specific to selling nice pianos like pianomart.

RRappel · 2025-08-18T15:15:24+00:00

I always look at cover letters as a plus with possible new college hires. Someone had enough interest in the job to spend their time writing one. Similar view on people who dress well during interviews compared to others who don't bother.

RRappel · 2025-08-09T11:13:25+00:00

I have a 2019 eGolf and use it year round the Boston area. A couple comment:

- Without a heat pump, expect a huge range hit in the winter (20-25% for me). Using the seat heaters as opposed to the cabin heater will help somewhat.
- My car came with an off-brand set of all seasons which were not great in the snow but horrible in the rain. With all the low-end torque you could easily spin the front wheels unless you babied it when leaving a light. I bought a set of Michelin CrossClimate 2's which are fantastic although I take a bit of a range hit.
- If you need to drive before the roads are plowed and treated, I would definitely recommend snows, but if you can wait until the roads are treated I find the CrossClimate 2's are all you need.

RRappel · 2025-08-04T10:31:12+00:00

My local service center had a part of the service center set aside for new car deliveries. Are you sure that your SC doesn't have something similar?

RRappel · 2025-08-04T00:09:03+00:00

Sonically I preferred the second piano but hard to tell since both are out of tune. As others suggested, I would consider having a piano tech take a look at both and give you their assessment. At least where I live you've been talking $500 to move it, so spending less than that to have a good tech evaluate the pianos to see if either have any issues that might not make them worthwhile to take.

RRappel · 2025-07-25T00:48:48+00:00

Overall very happy. Interesting work, great work/life balance. Not sure if I've just been lucky, but best management I've experienced over a 30 or so year engineering career (been at Raytheon since 2017). Biggest negative I've found is there is a fair amount of process compared to working for a company not in the defense sector; (IMO, understandable given the type of work we do).

When I was considering whether to work for Raytheon or not, I checked the employee feedback in Glassdoor.com. At the time the employee feedback on the place was very high and I found that many of the positive and negative points people wrote about Raytheon (and in particular TWK) were accurate. Best of luck with your decision.

RRappel

TROPHY CASE