- Lucid Gravity follows effectivity strategy of Air sedan
- 450 miles of EPA vary, 3.4-sec. 0-60 mph, out there third row
- Grand Touring arriving quickly, Touring coming later in 2025
One thing felt amiss as I hustled this prototype 2025 Lucid Gravity round cloverleaf ramps close to Lucid’s California Bay Space headquarters final week.
I’d flown round sooner than I’d meant to. And but on the imperfect pavement the Gravity felt prefer it had a lot extra to offer, with good poise and stability, a great deal of stability, communication by way of the steering wheel, and possibly some enjoyable forward—if, nicely, this have been a closed course.
It’s simply that the Gravity is an SUV. And I’ve by no means, in 25+ years of evaluating autos, been in an SUV that drives fairly like this. Lucid has by some means managed to dial its dynamics in like a sport sedan—or, maybe aptly, a sport wagon. My internal g-sensors have been reeling and I saved glancing into the rearview mirror—at two extra spacious, minivan-like rows behind, which is what bought me all rotated.
In a great way, you hear? Primarily based on a pace date with one, it is actually, actually good.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
A breath of contemporary Air—for SUVs
Taking a couple of steps again: For those who’ve by some means dismissed Lucid’s very sturdy opening act, the Lucid Air sedan, the Gravity makes the automaker’s unrelenting give attention to effectivity unattainable to miss or ignore.
The Air already introduced its case for the numbers it will probably obtain with its compact and highly effective but efficiency-focused totally electrical propulsion suite. Now the Gravity carries all this innovation right into a type much more People can be prone to take into account as their very own: a three-row SUV. On this case, it’s one which goes an EPA-rated 450 miles (in keeping with Lucid) with a battery pack that’s comparatively modest for the mission—about 118 kwh—and one that may add 200 miles of vary in quarter-hour through a 350-kw fast-charge connector (CCS port on early automobiles, Tesla-style NACS port to come back).
The 2025 Lucid Gravity provides in to the fact of the market and its plain forces however it does so on Lucid’s personal phrases. So it ought to come as no shock that the Gravity isn’t aiming to play on this planet of boxy, nubby-tired bricks named after off-road trails.
“We’re not going to Utah and climbing rocks,” mentioned chief design officer Derek Jenkins. “However to get to the cabin, to do the filth path, to do medium off-roading, the Gravity goes to be wonderful for that kind of exercise, with the suspension functionality.”
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
Forward of my drive, Lucid’s chief engineer and senior VP for product Eric Bach jogged my memory that it’s not growing autos for 0-60 mph instances. Efficiency might be on a observe, he underscored, or going up a windy mountain highway. Or it might be crash-safety efficiency. Or NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) efficiency.
The crew at Lucid by all accounts aren’t dyed-in-the-wool SUV guys. However they’re going to vary a whole lot of minds with this automobile.
Gravity begins with an environment friendly form
Lucid is relentless about effectivity as a result of it places the brakes on a collection of cascading components. For those who use parts or a design that collectively quantity to a less-efficient automobile, it’s then heavier as a result of it wants extra batteries to go the space. It then can’t match passengers and cargo as nicely.
To that, the model made clear to Inexperienced Automobile Studies that it’s happy with how the Gravity isn’t greater than it wanted to be; it stretches 198.2 inches lengthy and it rides on a 119.5-inch wheelbase. Its top of round 65 inches total (in its lowest setting, we’ve to imagine) makes it decrease total than a Subaru Forester—so yup, no drawback becoming into parking garages.
Gravity’s lean profile maps out in all instructions besides width, the place its 78 inches not counting the mirrors is normal for the category. The Gravity has a frontal cross-sectional space, in CdA, that’s a lot decrease than any of its rivals apart from the Tesla Mannequin X. It’s mentioned the coefficient of drag will land round 0.24, however with ultimate check numbers not but out, it might land barely higher than that.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
It’s not an Air with a unique high hat. Bach emphasised to Inexperienced Automobile Studies that Gravity was conceived as a very new SUV platform, with a modular set of Air’s present parts organized to the brand new structure. Bach mentioned that’s in order that Lucid arrived at “an actual off-road-capable in addition to luggage- and occupant-optimized bundle that appears like an SUV.”
Design-wise, Gravity suits proper in subsequent to the Air. It has a very totally different profile, in fact, plus a little bit extra depth to its taillights, whereas its headlights are a little bit extra vertical—partly to depart room for a wider frunk opening (with non-compulsory internet on the entrance).
It’s a beautiful profile with a swish roofline and good stance. Nevertheless it doesn’t examine on to any SUV in the marketplace. As my colleague Joel Feder identified in a drive of an earlier Gravity alpha construct prototype, this can be a mannequin that was shaping up as a bit chameleon-like—straddling the traces between wagon, minivan, and SUV at instances.
I don’t disagree. However the Gravity drives like no minivan I’ve ever been in.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
Drives like a Lucid not an SUV: Verify
One of many tuning targets was primarily that Gravity “ought to drive not like an SUV however like a Lucid,” mentioned chassis and dynamics tech specialist John Culliton, who rode alongside for my drive.
To guarantee that, the steering rack and the basic geometry are carried over from the Air, however the rear suspension, together with the air suspension, is new, as is the rear-steer performance. The entrance subframe is rigidly mounted and steering gear is rigidly mounted, to hold as a lot suggestions as doable. However all of the versus Air, the exhausting factors have been moved round to higher distribute the load. Each hyperlink is new, however massaged the format to cut back hundreds into the steering and make the most of the identical gear.
The Gravity’s physique construction is a mixture of supplies however essentially “aluminum wealthy,” in keeping with Bach, with simply 2-4% metal at a couple of particular factors. Lucid has used a megacasting course of for physique items at a couple of places.
To take advantage of the aero type and the lean, sturdy propulsion system, all Lucid Gravity fashions will get a height-adjustable air suspension and repeatedly adjustable dampers. A collection of drive modes dial in several ranges of firmness from the dampers, and there are 5 totally different journey heights, all principally chosen independently by the driving force.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
There’s no Auto mode for the multi-mode air suspension, which leaves it as much as the person to really feel the variations in journey versus responsiveness. Though, as Culliton factors out, choosing the Dash efficiency mode will drop the Gravity into its lowest journey top. It additionally makes the conduct of the rear-wheel steering a little bit extra aggressive, the damping firmer, and the torque break up extra rear-biased.
All these good selections enable sufficient torque for sub-3.5-second 0-60 mph instances, and a turning circle of 38 ft—in addition to a pure seat top that’s simple to get into and out of and physique
On a lonely stretch of highway, Culliton goals to point out off the dual-motor propulsion system, at 828 hp and 909 lb-ft mixed, and he has me do a managed launch, standing on the brake, flooring the accelerator, and releasing, and the Gravity leaps forward with not one of the feeling of lightness within the entrance finish that characterizes quick dashes in different high-power SUVs. The Gravity felt prefer it lunged ahead.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
Lucid Gravity is a quiet athlete
With its playful steering really feel and muted-yet-communicative demeanor total, it had a number of the identical qualities because the Porsche Macan Electrical we drove for our Greatest Automobile To Purchase roundup—a couple of foot shorter but additionally with rear-wheel steering.
The Gravity I drove was additionally fitted with the biggest and sportiest wheel and tire mixture within the lineup—staggered width 22- and 23-inch Pirelli PZero tires that basically appeared to have the ability to take advantage of the Gravity’s out there grip on the entrance wheels. This one feels prefer it’s going to be a hoot on a closed course, by way of staying sports-car impartial on grippy surfaces.
Moreover, journey high quality with this mixture was nice. The Gravity doesn’t float alongside like another luxurious SUVs; you do really feel the highway, however by no means excessively.
Lucid has additionally soft-mounted the motor to the physique to yield extra drive-system isolation from the physique versus within the Air. Though the surfaces round Lucid’s California workplaces have been hardly a problem for the Gravity, heading up previous regular freeway speeds for a bit did not expose something—a testomony to all of the tuning of the physique and chassis, and to that acoustic glass overhead, maybe.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
Area effectivity for seven and stuff
The cabin feels vibrant and ethereal, allowed partly by the huge expanse of glass overhead. The glass is acoustic, and structural, and flows repeatedly in two runs—one from the bottom of the windshield by way of to only over and behind these within the entrance seat. Then a second run goes from there all the way in which over the third row. It’s the one three-row SUV I can recall with the blue sky overhead, so uninterrupted.
What strikes me most as I first as I stroll as much as the automobile is how low the passenger cabin ground is, whereas the underside of the automobile isn’t particularly low. Based on a supply, the air suspension spans from about 135 to 235 mm (5.3 to 9.3 inches) of journey top—which means in its lowest setting, it’s primarily the identical journey top as Air.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
Similar to the Air Grand Touring, the Gravity Grand Touring has 22 battery modules, with 4 of them “upstairs” on a second layer. Within the Air, that’s underneath the rear seat, however within the Gravity it’s been pushed to the world underneath the entrance seats, in order to permit a steady cargo ground, with the seats folded, of greater than eight ft.
Together with the frunk’s extra house, the Gravity has 120.6 cubic ft of cargo quantity with the second and third rows folded—40% greater than the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, Lucid boasts, and about 15% greater than the Rivian R1S, which additionally has a frunk.
As Bach put it, “you want such a ginormous truck to get to a number of the attributes that we will pack into this small Gravity house idea,” pointing to the Chevy Suburban and its enormous body-on-frame counterparts.
Lucid hasn’t mentioned a lot in regards to the Gravity’s off-road skill but, aside from that there can be some. Its Terrain mode will benefit from the soundness system within the high-performance Lucid Air Sapphire. That system, able to studying inputs from all 4 wheels 1,000 instances per second, can deal with the braking portion of the traction management in Gravity at that price, albeit not for every rear wheel individually. That helps guarantee peak regenerative braking, which nonetheless arrives in normal and excessive settings while you raise off the accelerator, saving the brake pedal particularly for the brake pads.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
Gravity again seat: Tables not screens
I’m 6-foot-6 and might really sit instantly behind two of myself, moderately comfortably, within the Gravity.
The way in which the third-row ground stays flat, and the way in which the seats swing round right into a nicely behind the automobile. Bach says that the group made a whole lot of selections all through the engineering course of to not compromise any of that house. For example, it break up its energetic rear steer actuators in half, whereas it might have gone with a mixed unit that might have compromised third-row legroom.
The third row is non-compulsory for $2,900, however it solely provides about 130 kilos to the Gravity’s curb weight (but undisclosed). The group behind the Gravity see this as a highway journey automobile, with the second row good for consuming, enjoying video games, and watching issues on units. So that they opted for a pair of sturdy utility tables, instead of a local leisure system for the rear.
What the Gravity ended up with is an answer that is likely to be proper out of a first-class air cabin.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
“We talked to clients, we talked to enterprise folks, we talked to households, and everybody mentioned simply give me a desk for meals, for laptops, for the youngsters’ iPad, charging, and ensure it’s simple to stow. “I’m super-proud of this, as a result of it was an enormous push to make this occur and never sacrifice second-row house and do one thing strong and stable,” mentioned Jenkins.
A 90-degree-opening rear door additionally permits simpler loading of youngsters into youngster seats, took some further degree of engineering to verify the latches have been sturdy, and the doorways have a particular low security cinch helps bolster facet safety when the influence is simply above the decrease sill.
Counterintuitively, Lucid was in a position to put its H-point for the third row larger up than within the Suburban, permitting extra relaxed leg angles. You gained’t be trying solely at your knees.
Jenkins additionally famous that Lucid has additionally thought rather more in regards to the robustness and cleanability of all of the supplies It’s providing 4 totally different themes for the Gravity: Tahoe and Ojai are leather-based, whereas Yosemite and Mojave are non-leather.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
Gravity interface: Panorama, swipes, and vibes
Inside, the Gravity doesn’t completely commerce in what Lucid has established as an interface, however it reworks it. The instrument panel is even slimmer, with up to date vents for higher heating and cooling and a bigger heart console. Basically, new {hardware} affords a full OLED show facet to facet with no interruptions and higher distinction
Perhaps most notable of all, the steering wheel has been changed by a “squircle,” and primarily based on the fast drive my palms felt pure at 9 and three in tight corners and in high-speed cruising.
There are new mood-and-ambience modes known as Vibes. It’s taken an in depth take a look at what it’s together with within the augmented-reality head-up show to verify it’s not including to litter, and the touchscreen has moved to a panorama format, with new thumb controls that provide a swipe operate good for dismissing alerts plus a tactile thumb swap for menu choice. Within the new format, menus at all times open to the precise
As of my drive, a number of the interface factors nonetheless stood out as works in progress, because it aimed to quell some switchgear and menu-latency points.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
Luxurious in value, however extra reasonably priced later
To this point Lucid has solely mentioned that the Gravity Grand Touring will begin at $96,550 (together with $1,650 vacation spot) and embrace the bigger battery pack and dual-motor all-wheel drive, with preliminary deliveries set to begin late this 12 months. The $81,550 Touring mannequin, coming in late 2025, can have a smaller pack, and officers say it’s honest at this level to imagine that choices will parallel these of the Air Touring—which will get a smaller 84-kwh pack. Do the maths and within the Gravity that might nonetheless imply nicely over 300 miles of vary from the small battery.
Loaded up with choices, the Gravity is nicely into luxurious territory. The Dynamic Dealing with Package deal provides the rear-wheel steer system, triple-rate air suspension, and painted brake calipers. And a $2,500 Consolation and Comfort bundle brings energy rear sunshades, soft-close doorways, a heated steering wheel, heated wipers, heated second-row seats. Two totally different ranges of Lucid’s DreamDrive assisted-driving and active-safety options are additionally non-compulsory, for as much as $6,750. And the $750 towing bundle brings a tow score of as much as 6,000.
Add the works, together with $2,900 Surreal Sound Professional audio and the most important (22/23-inch wheels), and the grand whole quantities to $117,400 for a totally loaded Grand Touring, not together with different beauty upgrades.
2025 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring
My drive, whereas it left an excellent first impression, was a really fast absorb a well-fettled prototype with firm handlers. I didn’t get to go off pavement, and I observed a couple of totally different quirks within the switchgear and touchscreen interface that, in all hopes, Lucid can have mounted by the point the primary autos are delivered. Arizona manufacturing of the Lucid Gravity began final week.
There are such a lot of causes to like this automobile, and it’s certainly one of many 12 months’s greats. However what it quantities to is that this: For those who want an SUV, however you’d reasonably be in a sport sedan, that is your forefront.
