LUCID Gravity Lease vs Finance

Are you finalizing your paper work already?
No, but our DE is supposedly coming off the line on the 8th, according to our SA.

Since loan approvals last 30 days, and this 5.34 is only until 5/12, I wanted to lock in the rate.
 
BofA approved the full amount for 4.84%. If you know anyone looking, the BoA rate is currently 5.34%, but if you have the relationship discount it's 4.84%.

What's funny is Lucid Financial Services is BofA underneath, but their rate is >7%.

The only other one I found that was lower was:
1) Clearpath FCU (4.49%)
2) Polish & Slavic FCU (3.95%) lmao, I wish I were making that one up, but unfortunately they don't service CA.

If you know anyone in NY/NJ though, the Slavs and poles have great rates :p
If I can get a similar rate (once I’m at this stage) I think financing makes much more sense than lease which is quite expensive as I’ve described before
 
If I can get a similar rate (once I’m at this stage) I think financing makes much more sense than lease which is quite expensive as I’ve described before
Yeah, agreed. I don’t think we’ll see many people leasing the DE at these rates. There are plenty of other FCUs that have rates of 4.99%, btw - just look around a bunch. Carolina Coop FCU is one, for example.

All of the rates I’ve listed are only for excellent credit, etc.
 
Yeah, agreed. I don’t think we’ll see many people leasing the DE at these rates. There are plenty of other FCUs that have rates of 4.99%, btw - just look around a bunch. Carolina Coop FCU is one, for example.

All of the rates I’ve listed are only for excellent credit, etc.
BofA with relationship, or NFCU…

Some people lease for business expenses purposes, my prior business partner leased his air because his business paid for it. At that point the lease cost doesn’t really matter. 4-8% c’est la vie.
 
BofA approved the full amount for 4.84%. If you know anyone looking, the BoA rate is currently 5.34%, but if you have the relationship discount it's 4.84%.

What's funny is Lucid Financial Services is BofA underneath, but their rate is >7%.

The only other one I found that was lower was:
1) Clearpath FCU (4.49%)
2) Polish & Slavic FCU (3.95%) lmao, I wish I were making that one up, but unfortunately they don't service CA.

If you know anyone in NY/NJ though, the Slavs and poles have great rates :p
So is your suggestion we shop 3rd party for financing?
 
So is your suggestion we shop 3rd party for financing?
Screenshot 2025-05-06 at 11.56.00 AM.webp

Navy FCU... (how many months is the BofA financing for @borski )

I'd search 3rd parties if you are looking for a deal. Lucid doesn't care how you purchase the car, cash, financing, or lease, it is all the same. So, look for what works best for you and what you can get approved for.
 
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Navy FCU... (how many months is the BofA financing for @borski )

I'd search 3rd parties if you are looking for a deal. Lucid doesn't care how you purchase the car, cash, financing, or lease, it is all the same. So, look for what works best for you and what you can get approved for.
60. Navy Federal is fantastic if you have access. I don’t.

I do have access to Pentagon FCU, though… hm, I should apply.

IMG_0775.webp
 
are auto rates like mortgages where you can have the lenders match and give incentives? or is it more static and has less wiggle room?
My personal experience has been that they are pretty static and decided at a management level not a relationship level.
 
are auto rates like mortgages where you can have the lenders match and give incentives? or is it more static and has less wiggle room?
Yes, but it depends on the bank. For example, BofA no longer matches competition rates as of a few years ago, because they tend to be among the lowest of the big banks anyway.

It never hurts to ask, and you may have better luck at smaller institutions.
 
Lucid historically sets residuals around the mid‑50 % range on a 36 / 10 k lease. Plugging 55 % in:

Residual value ≈ $77,350
Money factor ≈ 0.00406
Equivalent APR ≈ 9.7 %

That combination reproduces a $2,474 payment almost exactly.

If it's a lower residual, the interest rate is lower. Since neither are published in the calculator, is likely at or near this. 50% residual would be around 7.8% APR.
 
if I did not the the headlights so much.......
I love the way it looks and for me it would be a true one car solution (I want more off-road capability than the Gravity offers.)
However, the charging performance is too slow and I doubt the R2 will be any better. The Gravity works for 95% of my driving and I'll just keep my beater Lexus GX for the other 5%.
 
I love the way it looks and for me it would be a true one car solution (I want more off-road capability than the Gravity offers.)
However, the charging performance is too slow and I doubt the R2 will be any better. The Gravity works for 95% of my driving and I'll just keep my beater Lexus GX for the other 5%.
I’ve watched some videos showing the gen 2 performance is much better. It won’t be as fast as the gravity but much improved over Gen 1.
 
I’ve watched some videos showing the gen 2 performance is much better. It won’t be as fast as the gravity but much improved over Gen 1.
Haven't looked into it in much detail. I just go by Out of Spec's 10% challenge as my metric (80mph range after a 15 minute charge). Maybe they improved consistency in Gen 2 but not speed much? I've also heard the Air is not very consistent and Gravity will be much better.
Anyway hoping Gravity will match Air's charging speed.
1751584838519.webp
 
Haven't looked into it in much detail. I just go by Out of Spec's 10% challenge as my metric (80mph range after a 15 minute charge). Maybe they improved consistency in Gen 2 but not speed much? I've also heard the Air is not very consistent and Gravity will be much better.
Anyway hoping Gravity will match Air's charging speed.
View attachment 30370
I’ve watched nearly their entire catalog of videos and they complain continuously the air isn’t consistent on charging although they think highly of the car.

IIRC the Lucid was ranked highest in the 10% challenged followed closely by the Taycan and third was MXP at 126 miles.

I may be mistaken but I think the Gravity has the capability to surpass the air or at least match. Time will tell.

I did find this article on OTA updates to improve charging on Rivian vehicles.

 
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Back to the leasing discussion. I just configured a Gravity GT with an MSRP of 107,900 and the lease was 1,323 with 13,763 due at signing. The payment will most likely be at 225 higher given the 7,500 credit will be gone before I can take delivery. If I take out the tech package either HUD I may have a chance to get one.

Selecting the power package vs the full tech package lowers the payment to 1,282 with 8,656 due at signing.

I’m not sure how accurate the lease calculator is and certainly certain factors change month-to-month.
 
I've never leased a vehicle, always just purchased. For me, I can afford to pay cash, and so any form of financing makes the vehicle more expensive. I'm not sure my thinking is particularly sophisticated here, but I really only see two potential benefits to leasing:

1) If the interest rate was sufficiently low, and the EV incentive is passed along as a price reduction, then you could save money.
2) It's a form of insurance, protecting you from excessive depreciation, which might be a particular problem if Lucid were to go belly up. But that's expensive insurance.

My expectation is that Lucid isn't going to offer a lease deal that will seem worthwhile, but we'll see. Maybe if you're the sort of person who likes to move to a new car every few years, and you're financing either way, then leasing could make sense.
Economically when you pay cash you bear the opportunity cost of lost investment returns on that cash. Subsidized financing whether loan or lease can be more attractive than paying cash from time to time taking advantage of below market rates. Waiting for a subsidized deal makes sense if you have the patience. The lease subsidy may include money factor rates (low) and residual value (high). Advertising a low monthly payment seems for work for vehicle manufacturers seeking to drive sales volume and shopping traffic or they wouldn’t continue to do those deals.
 
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