Lucid says service wait times fell 20% after 40% jump in service staff

Lucid (LCID) says service wait times dropped 20% globally in the third quarter after it grew its technician and service-support staff by more than 40% in a single quarter. The automaker is also adding Studio and Service Centers in Southern California, Los Angeles, Dallas, and the Chicago suburbs, plus 20 more Gravity Mobile Service vans. It’s a clear sign that service had become a problem for Lucid owners. Lucid hires up service after a year of cuts Lucid announced the numbers today, a day after its Q3 2026 earnings. Both comparisons are against the second quarter, not a year ago. Lucid’s new combined Studio and Service Center in Mission Viejo, California (Image: Lucid) The hiring isn’t done either. After a 40%-plus increase in technicians, advisors, and concierges in Q3, Lucid wants that figure at 50% by the end of 2026 and 60% by Q1 2027. Mobile Service capacity in North America grew 15%, with a 40% target for year-end. That’s a big hiring push for a company that laid off 18% of its workforce in June, its second cut in four months after a 12% reduction in February. Roughly 1,500 people left across those two rounds. And owners noticed. On the LucidOwners forum, one Air Touring owner posted in early October that Lucid told them in writing to expect “a service time of about 7 weeks” at its Beverly Hills Service Center. Other threads blamed service-department layoffs for slow repairs and recall work. A Lucid technician at work in a Service Center (Image: Lucid) Billy Hayes, Lucid’s Chief Customer Officer, said the company is “adding service personnel, and increasing Mobile Service capacity to reduce wait times and provide more convenient, responsive support.” The new Lucid service locations Here’s what’s opening, according to Lucid: Mission Viejo, California: a new combined Studio and Service Center, open now Downtown Los Angeles and Dallas: Studio and Service Center operations later this year Highland Park, Illinois: Q1 2027 Mobile Service: 20 additional Gravity Mobile Service vehicles in North America Service bays at Lucid’s Mission Viejo location (Image: Lucid) Lucid is also letting a growing number of its Certified Collision shops handle recall campaign work, which should take some pressure off its own Service Centers. Outside the US, the expansion leans on partners. Munsterhuis Autobedrijven is Lucid’s first retail partner in the Netherlands (Hengelo), Cloppenburg Automobil SE opens a Duisburg retail and service site in January 2027, Autohaus Possögel starts authorized service in Naumburg, Germany, in December, and Emil Frey France will support Lucid’s launch in France. In Saudi Arabia, Lucid opened its first company-owned Body & Paint Repair Center in Riyadh, with more service sites in Riyadh and Dammam coming in the first half of 2027. A Lucid Gravity converted for Mobile Service (Image: Lucid) The numbers Lucid doesn’t give Lucid doesn’t say what the average wait time actually is. A 20% drop from seven weeks is still more than five weeks. A 20% drop from one week is a non-issue. Without a baseline, owners can’t tell which one they’re getting. It’s also hard to separate better service from fewer cars coming in. Lucid delivered 3,806 vehicles in Q3, down 7% year-over-year, while it worked through inventory. Its fleet keeps growing, but slowly. For context, Rivian delivered 19,248 vehicles in Q3, five times Lucid’s volume, and it’s been leaning hard on mobile service too. Lucid is a much smaller operation trying to cover the US, Europe, and the Middle East with a thin network. Electrek’s Take This is the right move, and it’s overdue. Lucid has been one of the few EV startups with genuinely class-leading hardware. The Air’s efficiency is still unmatched and the Gravity is a great vehicle on paper, even if we found its software wasn’t ready. But when you’re asking someone to spend $80,000 or more on a car from a brand with an uncertain future, the ownership experience is half the sale. A seven-week wait for a repair kills that sale, and the referrals that come after it. So growing service staff by 40% in a quarter is a big deal. It also tells you how thin those teams had gotten after two rounds of layoffs. Lucid cut too deep in the wrong place, and it’s now hiring to fix it. The problem is the timing and the money. Lucid burned $1.04 billion in free cash flow in Q3 and only stays funded into late 2027 because the PIF just added another $1.75 billion. Meanwhile, the Midsize “Cosmos” that’s supposed to bring real volume doesn’t start production until the second half of 2027. Service is exactly where Lucid should spend between now and then, because the buyers it has today are the ones who’ll decide whether anybody trusts the brand with a cheaper EV. If you’re buying an EV, powering it with home solar can cut your fuel costs to nearly zero. With electricity rates up almost 10% last year and expected to keep climbing, going solar is one of the best ways to protect yourself against rising costs. And with lease and PPA options, you can do it with zero upfront cost and start saving immediately. If you want to find the best deal, check out EnergySage. It’s a free service with hundreds of pre-vetted installers competing for your business, so you save 20 to 30% compared to going it alone. 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