Lucid has spent years engaged on its second EV — a luxurious van-like SUV designed to be the class killer that might take market share from the likes of different luxurious EV and inner combustion folks haulers just like the Rivian R1S, Cadillac Escalade IQ, BMW X7, and Audi Q8.
The Saudi-backed firm’s goal was to create an SUV with out compromise — a lofty aim different automakers have tried and failed at earlier than. After a primary drive within the EV, which has a beginning worth of $96,550, it’s clear the corporate did extra than simply give attention to luxurious touches. Though there are lots.
The Lucid Gravity may be over-engineering at its greatest. The EV is loaded with tech and upgrades from its predecessor, the Lucid Air sedan. Peter Rawlinson, the previous Lucid CEO and CTO, who stepped apart in February, might not be on the firm, however his engineering fingerprints are everywhere in the new Lucid Gravity.
And whereas clients might by no means see the tech beneath the proverbial hood, they may expertise it.
The Lucid Gravity has as much as 450 miles of EPA-rated vary, a zero to 60 mph time beneath 3.5 seconds, and charging instances which are unparalleled for present EVs. The Gravity can cost as much as 200 miles in simply 11 minutes on DC quick charging, based on the corporate, due to a brand new enhance mode that leverages the rear motor as a transformer to spice up charging.
All of this luxurious, tech, and spaciousness do include a worth. The automobile’s price ticket ranges between 96,550 for the two-row Grand Touring trim to $99,450 for the three-row model. A “cheaper” $81,550 Touring mannequin is predicted to reach later this yr.
Lucid Gravity’s tech guts
Engineers engaged on Gravity took what they realized from Lucid Air Sapphire and the Lucid Air, to create the corporate’s new Gen 2 system that underpins the SUV. That features a new battery developed in partnership with Panasonic (which Lucid says gives a 40% charging pace enchancment over the aggressive set) , a brand new drive unit, a brand new thermal system, and a brand new charging system.
Particularly, engineers created a system that permits the Lucid Gravity to cost at 225 kW on 500-volt structure (which underpins Tesla’s V3 chargers) chargers and at as much as 400 kW on 1000-volt chargers (which underpins Tesla’s new V4 chargers which are because of roll out this yr).
To do that, engineers used the Gravity’s motor and inverter as a transformer to spice up 500-volt charging to the battery’s required voltage with out including further {hardware}. Additionally they applied plug-and-charge for the system in order that house owners don’t should fuss with cost and cost initiation at sure chargers.
EV charging innovation
The modifications are a part of Tesla’s North American Charging commonplace that got here out final yr. The announcement of the usual got here at a time when the event of the Gravity was almost full.
The up to date commonplace required a big rethinking of the underpinnings of the Gravity when it was roughly 70% developed in late 2022 and early 2023, based on Emad Delala, the senior vp of powertrain at Lucid.
“Once I joined in 2015, 400-volt was cutting-edge,” Delala mentioned. “Shortly, we realized that we would have liked to take it to the following degree,” he continued, “So we developed a brand new know-how that enabled charging by a legacy 500-volt charging structure by a future 1000-volt charging structure. What we realized from Air in 2021 has been fully modified.”
The group behind Gravity additionally made plenty of {hardware} modifications so as to add in redundancy, assist its infotainment system, and to permit the corporate to ultimately add extra automated driving options to its superior driver help system.
The corporate is utilizing NVIDIA’s Orin-X processors for AI notion and video processing for its superior driver help system, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8295 for infotainment, and Infineon TC397 for automobile dynamics and physique management.
At the moment, the Gravity gives what is named Stage 2 automated driving, a system that automates among the driving, however nonetheless requires the driving force to concentrate. Lucid is aiming to ultimately provide Stage 3, or L3, which generally gives hands-off, eyes-off driving on the highways in sure situations.
Its upcoming Dream Drive 2 Professional, an improve to its ASAS is coming quickly, based on the corporate, and can provide options like visualization of as much as 5 lanes of visitors, curve pace management, lane change help, curb rash alert, and automatic parking.
Lucid Gravity: cargo and passenger house
The Gravity was designed to be spacious for occupants and their cargo. And engineers and designers achieved that aim. The inside is cavernous inside with a whopping 120 cubic ft of inside house, which Lucid says is 40% greater than the closest competitor.
It seems an effort to keep away from fuses helped them get there.
The corporate wished to discover a option to not use fuses since they should be commonly accessed and changed once they blow, and so they are likely to take up treasured inside house that may very well be used for cargo and passengers, based on Jean-Phillipe Gauthier, the top of software program engineering at Lucid.
As an alternative, Lucid determined to make use of diffusers within the Gravity, that are primarily digital switches. These diffusers reset mechanically when the automobile is cycled off, reply sooner to shorts within the system, eradicate the potential error of putting in a fuse with the mistaken amperage throughout substitute and permit the fuse field to be buried deeper contained in the automobile as an alternative of encroaching on inside house. Diffusers can also energy down unneeded techniques and cut back parasitic losses within the automobile.
To show the Gravity was roomier than its rivals, the EV maker lined up a Cadillac Escalade IQ, Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, Rivian R1S and BMW X7 available on the occasion in Los Olivios, California. Reporters had been challenged to take bins that crammed the Gravity (together with its spacious frunk) and stack them into the EQS SUV.
It was an unimaginable process and with no different shut competitor available. One fellow journalist who occurs to be 6-foot, 6-inches was in a position to lie down within the rear of the Gravity comfortably and shut the rear hatch with none points.
Lucid Gravity on the highway
The Gravity is large and measures a whopping 198.2 inches in size and 87.2 inches huge. That places the EV SUV barely beneath the Chevrolet Suburban in measurement. Nonetheless, the automobile is very large, which helps enhance the inside house.
Usually, full-size SUVs with that sort of footprint are typically boomy inside and large rollie-pollies on the highway, making them uncomfortable to hustle, particularly on winding roads.
Not so with the Lucid Gravity.
I drove the Gravity from Nipomo, California on the Central Coast alongside Cuyama Freeway and Tepusquet Highway, a steep, one-lane, sharply winding highway, to Los Olivos for my check drive and it was surprisingly gratifying and, dare I say, enjoyable to drive.
The Gravity is heavy (6,000-plus kilos within the three-row choice I drove). I did really feel a few of that weight on the highway. Nevertheless, as soon as I positioned the automobile in its consolation setting generally known as “Clean,” it dealt with freeway cruising and huge sweepers with ease.
I toggled it as much as Swift for Tepusquet Highway, and the adaptive dampers and air springs ate up the tough undulations and curves with out unsettling the automobile, or getting nauseatingly rolly at any level. It was so easy on that winding highway within the Swift setting that my passenger fell asleep.
The Gravity will get rear wheel steering when outfitted with the Dynamic Package deal (which provides round $,2900 to the bottom worth), which provides you an extra 3-degrees of rear wheel steering — each in section and out of section relying on how rapidly (or slowly) you’re shifting.
That rear wheel steer will increase the agility of the automobile and take up much less of the highway because it drives on single-lane mountain roads and even dust monitor, which I did check out at an area ranch the place Lucid arrange a rally cross expertise for us.
Even when pushed (and sliding) by the dust, the Gravity stayed remarkably flat and comfy. And sure, you are able to do some very mild off-roading with the Gravity because it will get 7-inches of floor clearance that may go as much as 9-plus inches of clearance when raised.
One of many stunning issues that I appreciated essentially the most about Gravity was the so-called “squircal” steering wheel. Having pushed different autos with (dumb) yokes, the squared-off circle wheel makes the Gravity really feel much more agile and responsive, and the electrically-assisted rack and pinion steering is adjusted to be completely spot on: the place you level the wheel, the automobile goes with none mushiness.
Lucid additionally tuned one pedal drive to be so intuitive that I didn’t have to the touch the brake as soon as on the winding roads round Los Olivos.
All in, it’s clear that after greater than 4 years in growth, the seven-passenger all-electric SUV delivers exceptional vary and effectivity, agility, and performance for a rich purchaser on the lookout for an “American-made” automobile that isn’t a Tesla.