Again, Water Spill In Electric Cars Makes Loss Of Up To IDR 200 Million

Lucid Air Saphire. (Photo: Lucid Motors)

JAKARTA A simple incident turned into a big problem for Lucid Air tenants in the United States, after the spilled water in the trunk area of the electric car triggered serious damage to the electronic system. Losses due to this incident also reached Rp200 million.

Reporting from Carscoops, Monday, December 8, the problem started when the owner put the water holder in the trunk. When crossing a bumpy road, the reservoir fell and its contents flowed into the underlying area of the cabin.

Shortly thereafter, the warning light went on in the instrument panel, the car went into protective mode, the regenerative braking system stopped working, and the transmission was locked in Park's position. The owner tried to turn off and restart the vehicle, but the system didn't return to normal.

This condition made Lucid Air immovable at all. The first crane team also had difficulty moving the vehicle because the transmission could not be arranged to a neutral position.

The new car can be taken to the workshop the following day after the transmission system can return in response. During the initial inspection, the owner received a signal that the required costs would not be large, below US$1,000, or Rp. 16 million only.

However, the dealer later said that the seed water had damaged a number of vital components so that the total repair costs reached around 15,000 US dollars, or equivalent to Rp250 million.

The repair fee is equivalent to the used Toyota Corolla price tag in America. Because this incident was considered due to user negligence, the guarantee claim was rejected by the manufacturer and insurance may also not accommodate the incident.

This case highlights the sensitivity of electronic systems in modern electric vehicles. A small, trivial spill can actually trigger a series of malfunctions and lead to enormous repair costs, as experienced by the owner of Lucid Air.

Previously, this also happened to the owner of the Hyundai Ioniq 5. The drinking bottle that was placed in the cup holder fell due to a sudden brake, and the water seeped into the connector at the pressure of the cable under the seat and floor of the car.

A few minutes later, the warning light turned on on on the dashboard and the sein lights suddenly stopped working. Worse yet, when the car arrives home, the engine can't even turn off.

The car was taken to the repair shop, after checking the electric car, a Hyundai dealer told that all the cables under the floor and under the seat had to be replaced. Repairs cost 11,882 US dollars.