Speculation Gravity Features

[xponents]

I imagine that should have been a maximum of 9" ground clearance. Typically, SUVs with air suspension have a height adjustment range of four inches or less. Maybe 5-9" ground clearance range for the Gravity.

According to many news outlets, Lucid demoed the Gravity in one of its higher settings. Here is a picture of that:

I do agree with your conclusion of about 4 inches of travel, since that coincidentally appears to be close to the wheel gap to tire distance. If it really was 9 inches, then I imagine it would look like this

 

[Lucken]

How are Hankooks generally, with regards to tyre noise? More than handling capability and durability, I prize low road noise over anything.

I’m due to change out my OEMs within the next month or two. By then they’ll have close to 40,000 miles. So, I’m starting to shop around.

Wow, 40,000 miles on a set for this car seems very impressive. I’ve read stories here of replacements required in 20,000 or less. Of course driving style and diligence in maintaining correct tire pressure certainly play a significant role in longevity.

 

[hmp10]

Another design tidbit was revealed by Derek Jenkins in a video interview at the Geneva Auto Show. The Gravity's ambient interior lighting will be "fully animated" to respond to music and even to flow backward with the car's acceleration.

I'm not a fan of too much "effects" lighting in car interiors and think Mercedes and BMW have gone way overboard in this regard, turning their interiors almost into casinos. I'm hoping Lucid's execution of this will be reasonably subtle and, ideally, even cancelable. I have to admit, though, that I find the idea of flowing backward with acceleration a bit cool. On the other hand, having already had the ambient lighting in our Air repaired (due to a connector that came loose), it is one more gimmicky item to go haywire.

Oh, well. At least Lucid hasn't resorted to fart mode . . . yet.

 

[Pete44]

Another design tidbit was revealed by Derek Jenkins in a video interview at the Geneva Auto Show. The Gravity's ambient interior lighting will be "fully animated" to respond to music and even to flow backward with the car's acceleration.

I'm not a fan of too much "effects" lighting in car interiors and think Mercedes and BMW have gone way overboard in this regard, turning their interiors almost into casinos. I'm hoping Lucid's execution of this will be reasonably subtle and, ideally, even cancelable. I have to admit, though, that I find the idea of flowing backward with acceleration a bit cool. On the other hand, having already had the ambient lighting in our Air repaired (due to a connector that came loose), it is one more gimmicky item to go haywire.

Oh, well. At least Lucid hasn't resorted to fart mode . . . yet.

I don't know. Fart mode was at that time my 5 year old's favorite part of my old Tesla (which I gave to his Mom). But he likes the massage seats more when he can sit in the front in the driveway.

 

[hmp10]

I don't know. Fart mode was at that time my 5 year old's favorite part of my old Tesla . . . .

Okay, I admit that I played with it a good bit more than I ought when it first arrived in an update to our 2015 Tesla . . . and I can't claim the excuse of being 5 years old.

 

[xponents]

Okay, I admit that I played with it a good bit more than I ought when it first arrived in an update to our 2015 Tesla . . . and I can't claim the excuse of being 5 years old.

As a 5 year old, I hated it (mainly due to the fact that I was always the "victim," but oh well )

 

[Bus Driver]

Another design tidbit was revealed by Derek Jenkins in a video interview at the Geneva Auto Show. The Gravity's ambient interior lighting will be "fully animated" to respond to music and even to flow backward with the car's acceleration.

I'm not a fan of too much "effects" lighting in car interiors and think Mercedes and BMW have gone way overboard in this regard, turning their interiors almost into casinos. I'm hoping Lucid's execution of this will be reasonably subtle and, ideally, even cancelable. I have to admit, though, that I find the idea of flowing backward with acceleration a bit cool. On the other hand, having already had the ambient lighting in our Air repaired (due to a connector that came loose), it is one more gimmicky item to go haywire.

Oh, well. At least Lucid hasn't resorted to fart mode . . . yet.

Please! No fart modes! Let’s leave that to you-know-who and his fellow middle-school-mentality techbros.

 

[Bus Driver]

Wow, 40,000 miles on a set for this car seems very impressive. I’ve read stories here of replacements required in 20,000 or less. Of course driving style and diligence in maintaining correct tire pressure certainly play a significant role in longevity.

Yes. I’m surprised and impressed too, with the OEM Pirellis, now at 37,000 miles. I ride on the 19s, mostly freeway, mostly in smooth mode. I’m also pretty diligent about maintaining correct tyre pressures. And considering how beaten up our roads got this past winter, I’ve also been extremely lucky, not bashing into crater-sized potholes.

I have noticed that the tyres have gotten noisier, as the miles rack up.

 

[xponents]

Please! No fart modes! Let’s leave that to you-know-who and his fellow middle-school-mentality techbros.

I thought you were talking about me at first

Yes. I’m surprised and impressed too, with the OEM Pirellis, now at 37,000 miles. I ride on the 19s, mostly freeway, mostly in smooth mode. I’m also pretty diligent about maintaining correct tyre pressures. And considering how beaten up our roads got this past winter, I’ve also been extremely lucky, not bashing into crater-sized potholes.

I have noticed that the tyres have gotten noisier, as the miles rack up.

I think that’s normal. As tread decreases, the contact patch technically increases, causing more noise. Additionally, could it be because the foam on the inside stiffened over time?

 

[hmp10]

Since the highest-performance cars I've owned have used coil-over suspensions, I haven't paid much attention to air suspensions. So when I read that the Gravity was going to have a 1-chamber air suspension in base trim and a 3-chamber system in upper trim levels, I was clueless about what that meant.

I've been doing some reading on the matter and haven't found a lot on point specifically about the performance differences between a 1-chamber and a 3-chamber system. However, I did find an interesting article about the 2-chamber "Active Ride" system in the new Porsche Panamera. It seems almost otherworldly in what it can do -- and it's a 5,200-pound car -- making the active suspension Mercedes introduced a few year back seem like something from the Stone Age.

https://www.motor1.com/features/712424/porsche-active-ride/

I noticed in Episode 2 of 'The Road to Gravity" series a suspension engineer said the Gravity sometimes felt like a "hot hatch or a sports sedan". I'm wondering how much of Porsche's "Active Ride" approach will show up in the 3-chamber Gravity system?

 

[xponents]

Since the highest-performance cars I've owned have used coil-over suspensions, I haven't paid much attention to air suspensions. So when I read that the Gravity was going to have a 1-chamber air suspension in base trim and a 3-chamber system in upper trim levels, I was clueless about what that meant.

I've been doing some reading on the matter and haven't found a lot on point specifically about the performance differences between a 1-chamber and a 3-chamber system. However, I did find an interesting article about the 2-chamber "Active Ride" system in the new Porsche Panamera. It seems almost otherworldly in what it can do -- and it's a 5,200-pound car -- making the active suspension Mercedes introduced a few year back seem like something from the Stone Age.

https://www.motor1.com/features/712424/porsche-active-ride/

I noticed in Episode 2 of 'The Road to Gravity" series a suspension engineer said the Gravity sometimes felt like a "hot hatch or a sports sedan". I'm wondering how much of Porsche's "Active Ride" approach will show up in the 3-chamber Gravity system?

As somebody whose family actively compared the Air to the Panamera, the Panamera’s system is simply amazing (the new Taycan also has it). Although we didn’t push it much, the ride quality was simply otherworldly (even compared to the Air). Its movements under cornering and hard braking felt almost unreal, as it stays completely flat. It’s something you need to ride in to fully fathom, especially in the rear seat. I will share some videos demonstrating its capabilities below. A cool party trick mentioned online is the ability to adjust the suspension just by rotating your phone, we couldn’t try that (I always wondered… what would happen if you dropped your phone while that was happening?).

Here is Porsche's description of it.. I don't think it is entirely air suspension, and the qualities mentioned are mostly down to its hydrualics. It is actually very similar to Mercedes' current system, although it has more functionality and is IMO better at doing its job. It remains to be seen whether Lucid implements them on the Gravity, although I wouldn't think so due to the lack of it being mentioned as well as the natural power draw/drop in efficiency such a system would cause. The press release has more details on the functions of the system and how it works:

Porsche Active Ride

Reduced pitch and roll for better performance

newsroom.porsche.com

With Porsche Active Ride, all four active dampers are additionally equipped with a motor pump unit. In addition to their damper function, they also perform the function of anti-roll bars. As a result, the there is no need for anti-roll bars, unlike with the standard air suspension. The motor pump unit builds up the active actuating forces on the dampers as needed and at lightning speed. Two electric motors drive two hydraulic pumps. The system obtains the requisite power from the high-voltage battery, directly, without a detour via a voltage converter.
Sensors determine the driving conditions, such as longitudinal and lateral acceleration, effects of road stimuli on the wheels and the body, and the friction and slip of all tyres on the road. Using this data, each motor pump unit generates the exact volume flow required for the desired effect for each wheel. The volumetric flow rate indicates the quantity of fluid travelling through a specific cross-section per period of time. Based on the known properties of the damper oil, engineers can regulate the system pressure, which defines the forces acting in the damper. The damper, controlled in this way, actively suppresses undesired motion of the air suspension. This allows the wheels to be actively pushed into the road (outward deflection) or pulled into the body (inward deflection) at any time.

 

[hmp10]

It remains to be seen whether Lucid implements them on the Gravity, although I wouldn't think so due to the lack of it being mentioned as well as the natural power draw/drop in efficiency such a system would cause.

But you said the new Taycan also has it, right?

 

[xponents]

But you said the new Taycan also has it, right?

It does, and that could be part of the reason why Car and Driver got "only" 3.2 mi/kwh doing close to their original test procedures (despite the Taycan's purported efficiency improvements, although I'm unsure if the specific unit had the system). For reference, the larger and unrefreshed Air got around 3.1 with the 20 inch tires. With Lucid's laser-sharp focus on efficiency, I could totally see why this would be a turn off. Admittedly, the system would cause only an extremely small difference in efficiency Although it's a minor effect, there would also be slightly worse packaging as the hydraulics require more space.

If there's one thing I've learnt about Lucid, its that every single thing counts no matter how small it is. I'm actually proceeding to do a bit more research on this, as there are some sources that say its actually MORE efficient than the standard dual chamber air suspension on the Panamera (the Active Ride we are talking about here is actually a single chamber system).

 

[xponents]

I can confirm it is actually more efficient than a standard dual chamber. Now I wonder what is stopping Lucid from implementing this other than the space concept, although these reasons will be unknown to anybody outside the company. Price is likely a huge factor, although it could have been made an option for the higher trims.

The high end chassis Porsche Active Ride combines comfort and dynamic

The new Panamera is both a sports car and a touring sedan – and thanks to the new Porsche Active Ride chassis, it offers a driving experience that sets new standards.

newsroom.porsche.com

The system is certainly fast enough – it has a control frequency of 13 hertz, meaning up to 13 adjustments are made per second. “With this kind of design, we theoretically don’t need a spring anymore,” says Albers. The system could assume the spring’s role of absorbing shocks. However, this would be very energy-intensive, so the chassis features a single-chamber air spring. This is even lighter and more efficient than the dual-chamber air spring of the standard chassis.

Porsche Active Ride requires a high-performance power source. In the new Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid, this is provided by a 400-volt high-voltage battery. The technology is therefore not an option for purely combustion engine–powered versions. A version for all-electric vehicles has already been developed and will be gradually rolled out in future Porsche sports cars.

 

[Tesla2.0]

Another design tidbit was revealed by Derek Jenkins in a video interview at the Geneva Auto Show. The Gravity's ambient interior lighting will be "fully animated" to respond to music and even to flow backward with the car's acceleration.

I'm not a fan of too much "effects" lighting in car interiors and think Mercedes and BMW have gone way overboard in this regard, turning their interiors almost into casinos. I'm hoping Lucid's execution of this will be reasonably subtle and, ideally, even cancelable. I have to admit, though, that I find the idea of flowing backward with acceleration a bit cool. On the other hand, having already had the ambient lighting in our Air repaired (due to a connector that came loose), it is one more gimmicky item to go haywire.

Oh, well. At least Lucid hasn't resorted to fart mode . . . yet.

Can always toggle those effects off. It’s better to have option not to use it than no option at all.

 

[OCDC]

Now I wonder what is stopping Lucid from implementing this

Infinity had a variation of this back in the mid/late 90's on the Q45a. It was amazing performance for the time, but it was finicky and prone to failure, and expensive to develop and install and service. Their implementation of it didn't age well. The tech has advanced for sure. But today, Porsche and Mercedes have the revenue and R&D budget to experiment with this. Lucid is still building their factories. They are wise to invest in the 95-98% engineered solutions for a fraction of the cost, IMHO.

 

[hmp10]

Back in the 2020 time frame, Lucid posted a job for Senior Air Suspension Engineer. I assumed it was for the Air, but then the Air debuted a couple of years later with a coil suspension. I was never able to find out whether Lucid actually filled that job.

It is clearer now that Lucid already had a long-range product plan in development even back then. I'm now wondering whether that job did, in fact, get filled for the purpose of developing the air suspension that an SUV would need for ride height adjustment. If so, Lucid has been working on the Gravity suspension for several years.

Here is the original post:

Sr. Air Suspension Engineer, Chassis

Southfield, MI

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