Here's what you should know about installing a dashcam in a Lucid Air.
Getting Power
Getting power from the fuse box behind the glovebox is the best option. It's relatively easy, and it allows supplying power to your dashcam for parking mode (recording when motion detected while parked). This is the closest we can get to Halo Secure on the Lucid Air.
| Option: |
Fusebox behind glovebox (a.k.a. hardwire) |
Center console USB-C | 12V outlet in trunk | Wire tap rear view mirror |
| Can power dashcam while parked? | ✅ There are always-on fuses to utilize if your dashcam supports parking mode. | ❌ USB-C output turns off when parked. | ❌ Lucid Air has no option to keep 12V outlet on when parked. | ❌ Rear view mirror is not powered when parked. |
| Cable length: | ✅ reasonable (cable goes up A-pillar) | ❌ Acceptable length but clutters center console. | ❌ very long | ✅ very short |
| Installation difficulty: | ✅ pretty straightforward |
✅ easy |
✅ straightforward but too much cable routing and tucking | ❌ Very tricky. Hard to reach the connector inside the mirror base. The base's cover is extremely hard to remove. Tapping or backstabbing the wires/connector has questionable reliability. |
Parking mode: will the dashcam drain the battery?
Most dashcams and hardwire adapters auto-shutoff when they detect the battery voltage getting too low. This prevents them from completely draining the LV battery, so the car can still turn on. Once on, the car's HV battery will recharge the LV battery.
In parking mode, the dashcam records only when it detects motion, so it uses much less energy than in normal/driving mode.
Hardwire Kit & Dashcam Considerations
I used Vantrue's USB-C hardwire kit because my dashcam is USB-C powered. The cable that comes with the kit has an in-line 12~24V to 5V converter, which sits along the middle of the cable. The segment of cable after the converter is too short to cover the entire fusebox-to-dashcam distance, so I had to hide the converter inside the A-pillar liner. That's too much extra work. Using a USB-C extension cable long enough to go straight from the fuse box area to the dashcam, and coiling up the adapter cable inside the fuse box, would have been easier. But you know what's easier still?
Use a 12V dashcam instead of USB-C.
12V-powered dashcams, such as BlackVue's Elite series, accept the battery voltage directly and don't require a converter. Their hardwire kit is a simple passive cable with a barrel plug. This simplifies the wiring greatly. I highly suggest choosing this type of dashcam.
Accessing the Fuse Box
Use a T20 bit to unfasten the cover behind the glovebox.
Which Fuses to Use
The hardwire cable has 3 wires:
| Name: | BATT+ | ACC | GND |
| Behavior: | Needs constant 12V | Expects 12V only when car is on. Signals dashcam to switch from parking mode (record upon motion) to normal mode (record constantly). | Ground (=negative of battery) |
| Where to connect: |
Fuse MB12 (It's for the intrusion detection sensor, so it stays powered when the car is parked.) |
Fuse MB29 (It's for the USB-C ports. Has power only when car is on.) |
A bolt that screws into the vehicle body |
This is the fusebox's layout from the Air Dream Edition manual (thanks to Alex for sharing it on LucidOwners.com), rotated to our perspective. The highlighted fuses are the ones I used.
Any overcurrent risk?
No, because the busbars and sockets behind the fuses are sized for the higher-amp fuses, and the fuses we're sharing with are lower ampacity. The dashcam's current draw (<1A) is also miniscule compared to the fusebox's overall ampacity.
Grounding Bolt
Sandwich the ground wire lug under this bolt at the bottom right corner, which threads directly into the car's metal body and provides a ground path.
Routing the cable
For glass canopy Airs, follow the spine from the rear-view mirror area and back around to the A-pillar.
If you're installing a rear camera too, you may want to route its cable on the driver side, since the gaps between the roof and pillars/headers may not be big enough for 2 cables tucked in the passenger side.
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