Gravity Dream Drive Pro as it evolves- experiences, thoughts, and can I sleep in the back while it's driving itself yet?

As I create this thread, the most recent update is 3.6 and the upgrade to this edition is hand free driving on highways so I felt creating a thread solely dedicated to DDP as it heads towards "autonomy" (and yes I know this car won't ever get to level 4 or 5) and how the car's AI driving behaves- both good and bad.

Me- I had a 2023 Tesla Model Y hardware 4 with FSD before getting the Lucid in November of 2025. Previously I had a 2021 Y that also had FSD and that version was actively trying to kill me but as FSD evolved and by the time I was ready to wash the Musk off my car choices, FSD was pretty dang good. In most cases I'd say it drove better than I did. My 81 year old father still drives a Y with FSD and refuses to get something else as the auto pilot is a huge help at his age with getting around to his bridge tourneys and coming to my house to annoy me. FSD is the main thing I miss while owning the Gravity

That said- I look forward as the vaporware condensates into reality

after finally having the calibration set my initial impressions so far are as follows-

lane changes are a bit abrupt- it's not crazy bad but it can be a little jarring. Lane changes into the slower lane is usually apt (at least compared to Tesla in the initial stages as it changed lanes way too often) but changing back to the fast lane when needed is a little on the slow side. I'll have it set to 75mph and it'll drop to 62mph behind a truck before it decides to go back to the left lane.
The hands free is nice and works well on the PA turnpike, however on a highway like rte 309 near Sellersville/Hatfield (where it is a highway for 9 miles) it tends to go back and forth to hands free and hold the wheel- no idea why maybe it's just the nature of the road. So that was annoying to say the least.

Overall it is a nice step, definite tweaks need to be made for highway driving but it will come in handy for long trips and I look forward to hearing your experiences and to future updates

Re lane changes, are you on conservative or assertive? I've found lane changes more abrupt on assertive and that the vehicle slows down much more on conservative before changing lanes. Perhaps by design but maybe this will smooth out as it develops.

I miss my Tesla's HW4 FSD too. I can't wait until Lucid at least has point to point.

blagar1000 said:

Re lane changes, are you on conservative or assertive? I've found lane changes more abrupt on assertive and that the vehicle slows down much more on conservative before changing lanes. Perhaps by design but maybe this will smooth out as it develops.

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lol I don't know
I'll have to look

I've found that I don't particularly enjoy Automatic Lane Changes in its current iteration. The car probably sees more and farther than I do at any given moment but pivoting my attention at a moment's notice from simply monitoring while cruising in-lane to double-checking all mirrors and horizons to see if it's a good idea to change lanes based on my lived experiences (maybe traffic is slowing ahead or is known to slow in the target lane) is pretty jarring and surprisingly stressful.

The car's lane change routine (both Hands-Free Lane Change Assist and Automatic Lane Changes) performs about 2-3x more angular steering input than I would for an average lane change - it feels more like a swervy collision avoidance maneuver than a graceful lane change. After the lane change is completed, the turn signal also lingers a bit too long for my liking and I suspect it might confuse drivers in the lane over.

It is a very neat party trick when showing off the car's capabilities and gives a taste of the future. But the execution of automated lane changes today feels like it's a few degrees inside the uncanny valley to this driver, especially as it is not yet nav-aware.

Otherwise with 3.6 I am definitely enjoying Hands-Free Drive Assist and consider it a huge upgrade for longer road trips. There was one instance of it disengaging completely and without warning in a very average situation on a straight highway so that has dampened my full trust in it somewhat. More feedback on why it disengaged would be welcome (e.g. sensor blocked). This is distinct from the graceful "takeover" notice that gently prompts me to take the reins, which in contrast I thought was tuned well.

Completely new to this with lease picked up last Thursday. DDPro automatic lane change seems not quite perfected (though still better than nothing which is what the iX has). Just posting that on our way back home on the highway, a cop was coming up very fast in the left passing lane (sirens and lights on) and DDPro almost lane changed us in front of it to pass the car in front of us. A corner case to be sure, but did not inspire confidence in my wife, who was driving, and promptly asked for it to be turned off as a feature. I guess a vivid reminder that true autonomous driving is still a bit off and we must stay aware at all times! To be clear, DDpro still seems better so far to both of us than the iX highway assist.

I wouldn’t expect DDPro to be aware of emergency vehicles. The 3.6.3 release brought some nice incremental improvements, but it’s still mostly lane centering instead of traffic aware self-driving, even on the highway. It’s great for what it does within those limits. What I have found with 3.6.3 (building on my post in the update thread):

• DDPro is much smoother in stop-and-go traffic. I used to turn DDPro off under these traffic conditions because it was jerky, but I now keep on. Very nice improvement!
• DDPro handles cars merging and leaving the lane much better, keeping the acceleration/deceleration smooth. I still intervened on very close merges where cars forced their way in, but normal merge handling was good. Stay vigilant and be ready to intervene, though.
• Speed limit detection is better. My regular spot of false speed limit detection no longer triggered. I’ve kept automatic speed limit adjustment turned on since 3.6.0, and this 3.6.3 release improves upon that.

Areas to watch out for/intervene:

• Abrupt lane shifts, even in hands-free mode. DDPro will not slow down and may cross the lane lines trying to handle the sudden S-like maneuver.
• Sharper curves requiring slowing down. It feels better in 3.6.3, but I still need to do more testing and push the limits by driving on highways through mountains (safely, of course)
• Speed differential, such as highway traffic coming to a stop ahead. You can still see further and react sooner than DDPro.

Basically, use DDPro/hands-free for lane centering and distance following. DDPro handles gradual changes well. Intervene for anything requiring anticipation and maneuvering, including moderate to abrupt changes in steering & speed and changing traffic patterns.

Saksak said:

I wouldn’t expect DDPro to be aware of emergency vehicles.

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I also wouldn't have expected DDPro to detect traffic cones and disengage saying "construction zone detected," but it does. So I wouldn't expect awareness of emergency vehicles, but it sure would be nice. It would also be really nice (and easier) if I could more easily tell the car when I don't want it changing lanes. What comes up more frequently is I have an exit coming up, but DDPro decides it's a great time to pass. So I can't just have it deal with that last mile of traffic for me, I have to disengage early.

I had DDPro automatically change lanes into an HOV lane, but it was a few minutes past the passenger count restriction period, so it was legal.
It made me curious if DDPro is aware of HOV lane restrictions, and if so, if it is also aware of the restricted times. Was the lane change timing just a coincidence?
Maybe there's a nav setting relating to HOV lane use related to auto lane changes that I hadn't considered.

DeaneG said:

I had DDPro automatically change lanes into an HOV lane, but it was a few minutes past the passenger count restriction period, so it was legal.
It made me curious if DDPro is aware of HOV lane restrictions, and if so, if it is also aware of the restricted times. Was the lane change timing just a coincidence?
Maybe there's a nav setting relating to HOV lane use related to auto lane changes that I hadn't considered.

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I think there is a setting to use/not use HOV lanes in the Dream Drive settings? I have had it shift into a toll lane just before the dividers started as well. That and the upcoming exit issue would also presumably be solved if it were navigation-aware.

segbrk said:

I think there is a setting to use/not use HOV lanes in the Dream Drive settings? I have had it shift into a toll lane just before the dividers started as well. That and the upcoming exit issue would also presumably be solved if it were navigation-aware.

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There is a setting but it doesn't always seem aware of them. Some of the HOV lanes near me are just the left most lane marked as HOV and Dream Drive sometimes decides to leave the "passing lane" while in it. And then some of them it cruises along happily in the lane. So overall I think it is aware of them, just maybe not 100% depending on map data.

RandomDesign said:

There is a setting but it doesn't always seem aware of them. Some of the HOV lanes near me are just the left most lane marked as HOV and Dream Drive sometimes decides to leave the "passing lane" while in it. And then some of them it cruises along happily in the lane. So overall I think it is aware of them, just maybe not 100% depending on map data.

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I can confirm that the Dream Drive HOV setting works with hands-free auto lane change, as of the 3.6.3 update. Previously, with 3.6.0, auto lane change would try to use the HOV lane to pass, even when “use HOV” was set to off. This is a nice improvement.

I do wish the HOV enable/disable setting was a button on the main navigation screen instead of being buried in a menu. I have to change it every time I drive solo vs. carrying passengers. Even better, also having an “auto” mode based on the number of passengers would be great (I’d still want on/off overrides).

I do believe that it’s important for HERE maps to have accurate HOV data, as I doubt DDPro currently interprets HOV signs and lane markings.

I think it’s good behavior for Dream Drive to leave the HOV/passing-lane when you don’t need to be in it. I wish more people were aware of being a road boulder, in the HOV lane or otherwise, and move to the right to allow faster cars to pass.