Ex-Engineer Says Lucid Ignored His Warnings Before Air Recalls, Now Sues

A former senior engineer at Lucid is suing the EV maker, claiming he flagged a serious flaw in the Air sedan months before the company issued two recalls covering more than 3,800 vehicles.

The lawsuit, filed in California late last week, alleges Neil Milne warned Lucid in April 2025 about "multiple failure modes" in the car's half-shafts. He says he repeatedly challenged the company's testing, validation, and documentation for safety-critical work, citing weak manufacturing controls and missing records.

Lucid recalled 3,852 Air models in total. The first recall, in late 2025, covered 225 vehicles. A second recall in March 2026 added 3,627 cars. The latest recall says half-shaft bolts on Air Pure models may not be properly secured, which could cause a sudden loss of power.

The lawsuit does not confirm that Milne's warnings matched the recall issues, but he argues the timing and similarities suggest they did. In a January 2026 email to Lucid's product-safety officer, Milne reportedly wrote: "Will say what I said originally 9 months ago. Bad design, with multiple failure modes."

Milne also alleges Lucid retaliated against him. He says he was moved from his senior-manager role, given a poor performance rating, and passed over for a promotion after raising concerns. He was later terminated. He is seeking a jury trial, lost pay, bonuses, equity, benefits, and damages for emotional distress.