I think it's to prepare future owners for the inevitable nicks and chips that will occur in that huge windshield.
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Gravity Test Drive writeup
- Thread starter JoshG
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I think it's to prepare future owners for the inevitable nicks and chips that will occur in that huge windshield.
Here are a few random thoughts after spending a few days with the floor model and the test drive. For reference, I will be upgrading from a 10 year old base model car with MSRP <$40k. I've never owned or spent significant time in any luxury car.
1. Very nice looking car. Photos don't quite capture the relative width vs height vs length ratios. It's got wider squat back end than I expected and otherwise super elegant lines. In the words of 2Chainz - She got a big booty so I call her big booty. I'm unbothered by the van vs SUV debate but in some photos I did see some minivan angles. In person, I didn't think it gave minivan vibes at all. It's quite stunning either way.
2. Interior materials are supremely nice. Tahoe interior is much less orange than some photos suggest but is still a brighter brown. Definitely has that baseball mitt brown vibe. It's grown on me and I'm now contemplating switching from Ojai to Tahoe.
3. Seats are extremely comfortable, well supported, adjustable. 10/10.
4. Hot take - the massage function is meh. Take this form somebody who is usually underwhelmed by even the high end space lounge massager chairs. It's fine.
5. One thing i never saw mentioned before regarding second row and egress into third row...If you put the second row in the all the way back position and then get out and push the button to get into the third row, both the left AND right middle row slide forward a few inches before the one side folds forward to let you in. No idea why both sides need to move forward but it happens. When you push the button again to bring the second row backwards it does NOT return all the way to the farthest back position. So when you're watching the review videos of the 6' 5" people get into the third row after sitting in the second row it is not actually keeping their prior seating position.
6. Three row seating and internal space - Contrary to what some have said, IMO you could not sit three people over 6 feet tall all in a line (driver, second row, third row) and be *comfortable*. Can you do it without jamming your knees? Sure. But it stops feeling spacious at that point. This will be a non issue for 99.9% of people, me included. With the second row in a 'middle' position I could ride in the third row for a few hours and be comfortable. See #5
7. When you push the second row button to let yourself into the third row the respective driver/front passenger seat moves forward a few inches and does not return back to prior position. Not really an issue in real life but when you're trying to test the driving seat ergonomics in a mall floor unit with 20 other people swarming the car...SUPER annoying.
8. Second row tables slightly weirdly high but still nice. Definitely higher than an airline tray table.
9. Visibility of the screens is excellent. Really very nice.
10. Test drive - nothing to say. My drive was like 6 minutes and 23 seconds long at 35 miles per hour on a straight line. I can confirm the steering wheel turns the wheels and the gas pedal moves the car forward. Squircle would take a few days to get used to but is comfortable and ergonomic. Can't make any comment about the suspension, smoothness, driving dynamics etc. The rear wheel steering does make a U-turn pretty nice. Otherwise, hugely disappointing test drive experience.
These are just nitpicking and observations. As far as I'm concerned this is among the best cars that money can buy and is an absolute home run. 100% going to follow through with my order but will probably delay until the HUD debacle is resolved.
1. Very nice looking car. Photos don't quite capture the relative width vs height vs length ratios. It's got wider squat back end than I expected and otherwise super elegant lines. In the words of 2Chainz - She got a big booty so I call her big booty. I'm unbothered by the van vs SUV debate but in some photos I did see some minivan angles. In person, I didn't think it gave minivan vibes at all. It's quite stunning either way.
2. Interior materials are supremely nice. Tahoe interior is much less orange than some photos suggest but is still a brighter brown. Definitely has that baseball mitt brown vibe. It's grown on me and I'm now contemplating switching from Ojai to Tahoe.
3. Seats are extremely comfortable, well supported, adjustable. 10/10.
4. Hot take - the massage function is meh. Take this form somebody who is usually underwhelmed by even the high end space lounge massager chairs. It's fine.
5. One thing i never saw mentioned before regarding second row and egress into third row...If you put the second row in the all the way back position and then get out and push the button to get into the third row, both the left AND right middle row slide forward a few inches before the one side folds forward to let you in. No idea why both sides need to move forward but it happens. When you push the button again to bring the second row backwards it does NOT return all the way to the farthest back position. So when you're watching the review videos of the 6' 5" people get into the third row after sitting in the second row it is not actually keeping their prior seating position.
6. Three row seating and internal space - Contrary to what some have said, IMO you could not sit three people over 6 feet tall all in a line (driver, second row, third row) and be *comfortable*. Can you do it without jamming your knees? Sure. But it stops feeling spacious at that point. This will be a non issue for 99.9% of people, me included. With the second row in a 'middle' position I could ride in the third row for a few hours and be comfortable. See #5
7. When you push the second row button to let yourself into the third row the respective driver/front passenger seat moves forward a few inches and does not return back to prior position. Not really an issue in real life but when you're trying to test the driving seat ergonomics in a mall floor unit with 20 other people swarming the car...SUPER annoying.
8. Second row tables slightly weirdly high but still nice. Definitely higher than an airline tray table.
9. Visibility of the screens is excellent. Really very nice.
10. Test drive - nothing to say. My drive was like 6 minutes and 23 seconds long at 35 miles per hour on a straight line. I can confirm the steering wheel turns the wheels and the gas pedal moves the car forward. Squircle would take a few days to get used to but is comfortable and ergonomic. Can't make any comment about the suspension, smoothness, driving dynamics etc. The rear wheel steering does make a U-turn pretty nice. Otherwise, hugely disappointing test drive experience.
These are just nitpicking and observations. As far as I'm concerned this is among the best cars that money can buy and is an absolute home run. 100% going to follow through with my order but will probably delay until the HUD debacle is resolved.
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On your point 8, I was surprised that the table is completely dependent on the position of the front seat for its position. So if the front passenger sets the seat up high and upright, the table is at a weird height and angle far out of level. For holding an iPad I suppose it doesn’t matter, but I was in the back seat when someone was adjusting the front seat and that table moves all over the place.
I wasn't looking to stir the pot, just an observation and mainly so I could make the "in jest" comment about "hopefully not an omen" with the kooky spooky face.You guys... I checked my Gravity speedform and it has the tiniest little pockmark in the glossy finish, visible only if I hold it with strong sunlight in a certain direction.
Time for a class action suit?
Let's see... it was a gift... my damages are $0.00
To clarify the amount of damage, when I did look at a couple of others they varied quite a lot in how "pockmarky" they were. On one of them it was more like "aggressive paint swirling", but they all had something right there in the middle of the roof to some degree. To be clear, there was one that he showed me that was 2-3x better than the one he originally gave me and he even offered to just give me the new one and let me keep the old one as well, and I declined. It makes mine even more unique and in need of love, like a pound puppy with a floppy ear.
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We did test drives today at West Palm Beach. We each had separate appointments to drive two cars in simultaneous time slots. However, when we arrived both cars were standing at the curb, and the sales staff said they had had some cancellations, so we were offered the chance to do two back-two back test drives with each of us getting 20 minutes behind the wheel.
Traffic was fairly light, but we were kept to city streets, so there was no real chance to test acceleration or develop highway impressions. With that caveat, here's what we thought:
Looks
Although we had seen Gravity prototypes three times in showrooms, it looked a different beast on the street: great presence, beautiful lines, and sleek as all get-out. A friend who accompanied us but had never seen one in person was blown away.
The test driver was Aurora Green with Yosemite interior. Although we had seen the Yosemite under showroom lighting, we had ordered it for our Black GDE with some trepidation only because we did not want a black interior with the glass canopy in south Florida and we did not want the same interior in both GDE's, our other one having been ordered in Aurora Green / Tahoe. But in natural sunlight, the interior lost the blue hue of the showroom and looked fantastic. We even went through a bit of agonizing about whether to try to switch our order to Yosemite for the green car, too.
The Gravity in the showroom had the Tahoe interior, so we have yet to see it in natural light. But it did look less orange than the early Air prototype we had seen several times several years earlier in an Air in the Miami Brickell showroom. (Some posters have been saying that, but I'm still wondering if the orange hue has not been reined in a bit since early days.). In any case, we both decided it was okay, although we still wish Ojai was available in the GDE. Our friend, however, thought the green/saddle combo was one of the best he has seen on any car.
My partner does not like open-spoke wheel designs that expose too much of the brakes, but he sang a different tune upon seeing the 22/23" combo on the street. We are getting them on the black car, as we want the new Pirelli PZ5's for performance reasons, but he suggested switching the other car to them, too, after seeing them. I had to remind him that we needed all-season tires on at least one car for cold weather roadtripping, and there are currently no all-season tires that will fit that large staggered set of wheels, so we're staying with the mid-sizes on the green car.
The Build & Features
Kyle Conner was right that Lucid has fixed so many of the things that were wrong with the Air. The dashboard toggle switches now look and feel like Swiss watches. Screen responses are instantaneous. The control pads on the steering wheel are much better and more multi-functional than the Air's rotary switches. No motor whine in the cabin at all. Center console had vast storage space and was better organized and will now charge two phones instead of one. The glovebox will swallow a large laptop. Even the squircle with its variable-ratio steering felt intuitive.
Sound system noticeably better than the Air with a considerably expanded soundstage and more visceral bass.
The Space
Front seats supremely comfortable and roomy.
We drove 3 hours to West Palm Beach with me taking a second-row seat in our Honda Odyssey minivan. I rode in the second row of the Gravity while my partner test drove. The seating position, thigh support, and foot room of the Gravity trounced the Odyssey. I'm still scratching my head as to how. Although the Gravity wheelbase is a smidge longer than the Odyssey's, the difference in interior space went well beyond what that alone would contribute. Lucid has pulled off the same packaging miracle they did with the Air.
The Drive
Astonishing, at least on city streets.
To long-term Air owners such as us, we knew we were driving a close family member sired by the same engineering team. Every dynamic of the car just felt so right.
Even in Sprint mode on less-than-perfect streets with the lowest-profile tires, the suspension compliance was superb. In Smooth mode, the pavement under the car seemed to disappear.
The interior was tomb-like. At a 4-way stop we were across from a gargantuan Chevrolet Silverado pickup. As it accelerated past us in the intersection, we did not hear it at all. I mean dead silence. It was almost disorienting.
Having detested the yoke in our Model S Plaid (which we finally changed out for a steering wheel), I was the most leery about the squircle. No worries. It was intuitive to use, offered a comfortable position when driving with one hand on the top as I like to do and, with the variable-ratio steering, did not require much hand-over-hand maneuvering which casts out-of-round steering devices in their worst light.
Bottom Line
Cannot wait to get our Gravities in the garage and am moving from annoyance to anger that, over six months after ordering on Day One, we cannot get a VIN assignment or even a hint of a delivery window -- especially with hopes for our summer roadtrips in a Gravity now beginning to fade.
Traffic was fairly light, but we were kept to city streets, so there was no real chance to test acceleration or develop highway impressions. With that caveat, here's what we thought:
Looks
Although we had seen Gravity prototypes three times in showrooms, it looked a different beast on the street: great presence, beautiful lines, and sleek as all get-out. A friend who accompanied us but had never seen one in person was blown away.
The test driver was Aurora Green with Yosemite interior. Although we had seen the Yosemite under showroom lighting, we had ordered it for our Black GDE with some trepidation only because we did not want a black interior with the glass canopy in south Florida and we did not want the same interior in both GDE's, our other one having been ordered in Aurora Green / Tahoe. But in natural sunlight, the interior lost the blue hue of the showroom and looked fantastic. We even went through a bit of agonizing about whether to try to switch our order to Yosemite for the green car, too.
The Gravity in the showroom had the Tahoe interior, so we have yet to see it in natural light. But it did look less orange than the early Air prototype we had seen several times several years earlier in an Air in the Miami Brickell showroom. (Some posters have been saying that, but I'm still wondering if the orange hue has not been reined in a bit since early days.). In any case, we both decided it was okay, although we still wish Ojai was available in the GDE. Our friend, however, thought the green/saddle combo was one of the best he has seen on any car.
My partner does not like open-spoke wheel designs that expose too much of the brakes, but he sang a different tune upon seeing the 22/23" combo on the street. We are getting them on the black car, as we want the new Pirelli PZ5's for performance reasons, but he suggested switching the other car to them, too, after seeing them. I had to remind him that we needed all-season tires on at least one car for cold weather roadtripping, and there are currently no all-season tires that will fit that large staggered set of wheels, so we're staying with the mid-sizes on the green car.
The Build & Features
Kyle Conner was right that Lucid has fixed so many of the things that were wrong with the Air. The dashboard toggle switches now look and feel like Swiss watches. Screen responses are instantaneous. The control pads on the steering wheel are much better and more multi-functional than the Air's rotary switches. No motor whine in the cabin at all. Center console had vast storage space and was better organized and will now charge two phones instead of one. The glovebox will swallow a large laptop. Even the squircle with its variable-ratio steering felt intuitive.
Sound system noticeably better than the Air with a considerably expanded soundstage and more visceral bass.
The Space
Front seats supremely comfortable and roomy.
We drove 3 hours to West Palm Beach with me taking a second-row seat in our Honda Odyssey minivan. I rode in the second row of the Gravity while my partner test drove. The seating position, thigh support, and foot room of the Gravity trounced the Odyssey. I'm still scratching my head as to how. Although the Gravity wheelbase is a smidge longer than the Odyssey's, the difference in interior space went well beyond what that alone would contribute. Lucid has pulled off the same packaging miracle they did with the Air.
The Drive
Astonishing, at least on city streets.
To long-term Air owners such as us, we knew we were driving a close family member sired by the same engineering team. Every dynamic of the car just felt so right.
Even in Sprint mode on less-than-perfect streets with the lowest-profile tires, the suspension compliance was superb. In Smooth mode, the pavement under the car seemed to disappear.
The interior was tomb-like. At a 4-way stop we were across from a gargantuan Chevrolet Silverado pickup. As it accelerated past us in the intersection, we did not hear it at all. I mean dead silence. It was almost disorienting.
Having detested the yoke in our Model S Plaid (which we finally changed out for a steering wheel), I was the most leery about the squircle. No worries. It was intuitive to use, offered a comfortable position when driving with one hand on the top as I like to do and, with the variable-ratio steering, did not require much hand-over-hand maneuvering which casts out-of-round steering devices in their worst light.
Bottom Line
Cannot wait to get our Gravities in the garage and am moving from annoyance to anger that, over six months after ordering on Day One, we cannot get a VIN assignment or even a hint of a delivery window -- especially with hopes for our summer roadtrips in a Gravity now beginning to fade.
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Wait, does the Gravity have variable ratio steering? Like steer-by-wire like the Cybertruck? I don't think it does. I think what you were noticing in the 4 wheel steering effect. I haven't ever heard of variable steering ratio on the Gravity and didn't feel like it did on my test drive.
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It was mentioned in several of the test drive reviews from "Press Week". One reviewer specifically said that there was very little hand-over-hand necessary on winding roads at speed due to the variable-ratio steering.
A different reviewer wrote this:
"Despite weighing three tons, the combination of good summer performance tires and a really well-sorted suspension made the Gravity a real pleasure to drive. While most of the turns were very tight with multiple hairpins, the oddly shaped steering wheel wasn’t a problem at all, thanks to a surprisingly fast variable ratio steering system.
Tesla opted to go with a fully by-wire steering system on the Cybertruck that has no mechanical connection to the wheels in order to avoid going hand over hand with its flat steering wheel. Lucid went a more conventional route with the steering ratio starting at 13:1 and gradually tightening to 8.5:1. The result was I was able to go through the whole mountain route only having to turn the wheel more than about 100 degrees in either direction a couple of times. Most of the time my hands were at 9 and 3 and stayed there. Even with the electric assist, the Gravity has surprisingly good feedback through the wheel."
The Lucid Gravity Is The Best Big Luxury Electric SUV You Can Buy Right Now - The Autopian
Like most startups in the history of the automobile, Lucid Motors has had what could charitably be called a bumpy history. Its first product, the Air sedan, was first shown publicly in 2017 (although I got a background, deep dive on it and a look at the first prototype earlier, in November 2016...
www.theautopian.com
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Oh wow. I have no idea after all this time I have missed this detail. I'm actually very excited about that. I thought I was just noticing the 4WS efffect on my u-turn tests.It was mentioned in several of the test drive reviews from "Press Week". One reviewer specifically said that there was very little hand-over-hand necessary on winding roads at speed due to the variable-ratio steering.
A different reviewer wrote this:
"Despite weighing three tons, the combination of good summer performance tires and a really well-sorted suspension made the Gravity a real pleasure to drive. While most of the turns were very tight with multiple hairpins, the oddly shaped steering wheel wasn’t a problem at all, thanks to a surprisingly fast variable ratio steering system.
Tesla opted to go with a fully by-wire steering system on the Cybertruck that has no mechanical connection to the wheels in order to avoid going hand over hand with its flat steering wheel. Lucid went a more conventional route with the steering ratio starting at 13:1 and gradually tightening to 8.5:1. The result was I was able to go through the whole mountain route only having to turn the wheel more than about 100 degrees in either direction a couple of times. Most of the time my hands were at 9 and 3 and stayed there. Even with the electric assist, the Gravity has surprisingly good feedback through the wheel."
The Lucid Gravity Is The Best Big Luxury Electric SUV You Can Buy Right Now - The Autopian
Like most startups in the history of the automobile, Lucid Motors has had what could charitably be called a bumpy history. Its first product, the Air sedan, was first shown publicly in 2017 (although I got a background, deep dive on it and a look at the first prototype earlier, in November 2016...
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I'm sure much of the effect I was sensing derived from the 4-whee steering, especially as I was at low speeds most of the time. But I could detect a bit more responsiveness to the squircle when I could gain some speed.
Great write up, agree totally. They really did a great job and this car I think will well like crazy.
Nice! Due to the lack of engine sound, EVs are prone to wind and road noises. I assume Gravity is as quiet as the Mercedes Maybach EQS, which is my benchmark of EV SUV quietness.
Did you guys test the door closing sound? I know the early prototype had some issues. I hope they fixed them in production.
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Unfortunately, we didn't hit speeds that would tell us much about wind noise or tire noise at speed. But the ambient traffic noise was as low as in any car I've ever experienced, and I've been chauffeured around in S-Classes and 7-Series cars with dual-pane acoustic glass.
Frankly, I didn't pay any attention to door closing sound. I just know nothing drew my attention on that score.
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In my test drive, I thought Gravity's soft-close action sounded much better than the triple-clack of my Air GT's doors.
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I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that Dream Drive Pro 2 will not approach FSD's capabilities. But it will be a great companion on long highway drives.
Gravity is a much more capable, sophisticated, comfortable, and practical vehicle than the Model X - outside of FSD.
No. There has been public testing or use of dream drive pro at this point.
Test drove today. I call them auto closing doors. They’re not soft close doors and no where near Mercedes S Class level. The Gravity doors still make a metal sound and you hear the mechanism. But like I said, auto close, not soft. They’re better than the Air for sure.
Thanks for sharing!
My wife’s biggest holdback is the FSD because she sits in traffic on a very complicated route to her work in downtown Miami five days a week. FSD significantly reduces the stress.
