Like several other forum members, I test drove the Gravity at the Tyson’s Corner event last week. I wanted to share my thoughts and perspectives.
First, as some have noted, the test drive sucked. We went on a set route on some city streets around the moll. It lasted much less than 20 minutes, and I swear that I spent half of it stopped at red lights. I got hardly any sense of the vehicles dynamics. A few things that I was able to glean: Gravity was very quick to respond to steering inputs. The ride was very smooth and quiet, even on the 22/23” wheels (though this was at low speeds on relatively smooth roads). The couple of times I was able to press the accelerator a bit more, I got a little sense of the great power delivery. I felt the mass of the car in a good way as a strong push against my back. One-pedal driving was fantastic—the regen was strong, seamless, intuitive, and easy to control. I’m still not sold on the squircle steering wheel. I like that I could set it low, and it doesn’t block the view of the screen, but grabbing the top of the “wheel” as I normally do when making a turn on a city street felt very awkward to me. The turn signal stalk was a little too far behind the wheel, and it required a long throw past a heavy detent to fully engage. I usually ended up just flashing the turn signal, not completely turning it on. The windshield extending over your head is a cool effect, though it’s odd to have the sun visor running across the view. The day was completely overcast, so I couldn’t tell if it would bother me to have the sun shining down from overhead while I drive.
As for the non-driving impressions:
Gravity looks great in-person. It makes sense to call in an SUV because that’s exactly how it functions—sport and utility. It just breaks the rules for what an SUV should look like, as it incorporates elements that are similar to SUVs, minivans, and wagons. The wheelbase still looks a little too long to me, but it’s beautiful overall. I especially noticed how low the roof was when standing next to the open back. The load floor is impressively low, at least compared to a typical SUV. And the interior feels extremely spacious. It’s really a winning design overall.
I found the Aurora Green color dull, whether indoors or out. I have a little red-green color deficiency, but it didn’t look very green to me. It seemed more grey-brown.
The Gravity in the showroom had the Tahoe interior. It is very luxurious—beautiful and sumptuous. I really like the saddle brown color. And the other fabrics inside are so nice. There was an Air in the showroom with the base Mohave Purluxe interior; not a true apples-to-apples comparison, but I took a look just to get an idea what the base Gravity interior might be like. The Tahoe was SO much better in look and feel.
Seats are a critical issue for me in a car, so I scrutinized them a lot. I’m 5’3” and oddly proportioned (short torso and long arms), so seats (and clothing and sofas and just about everything else) is typically not designed to fit me. The Gravity seats are supremely supportive and the adjustments have a big range. Tall people will probably love them. Shorter people . . . maybe. The thigh extensions are obviously useless to me, but they did get (just) short enough for my legs, and they are kind of magic in the way that they “unroll” to extend without leaving any gap in the seat. The side bolsters are a mixed bag for shorter people like myself. When I moved them in, they held me firmly, but they come up much too high. So, they are really holding against my lats, and they restrict the motion of my arms. While I was looking around the vehicle, I overheard a very short woman (maybe 4’10”) sitting in the driver’s seat talking to her (much taller) husband. I didn’t hear her say anything specifically about the seat, but she hated the driving position, which required her to be much too close to the steering wheel in order to see over the dash and reach the pedals. I didn’t have that problem, but I did wish that the steering wheel could move a little further away from me (maybe another inch of travel).
Then, I tried the massage. In the first couple of modes, I thought “this is pretty nice.” Then I tried the “deep” mode. Oh, wow. It’s like a dozen firm hands pressing deeply into your back AND legs. If you get stiff or sore on long drives, you will want this. I ordered a GT with the base interior, but I now see that the upgraded ones are definitely worth it.
The center console looks very big, but despite its size, it couldn’t fit the bag that I usually carry with me. The cupholders were too small for my usual water bottle as well.
I didn’t get to try out the touch pads on the steering wheel, but the buttons on the touch pads are used to adjust things like the steering wheel and mirrors. They were one of the few bits in the vehicle that felt cheap and plasticy to me.
The Surreal Sound Pro audio system was good, but not nearly what I expect for a $3000 upgrade. The treble lacked a bit of clarity. There was too much mid-bass, making the sound a little muddy. And the sound over-emphasized the midrange a bit. There was not much deep bass, and if you turned it up, the sound became too boomy. The equalizer has only 3 bands, so there is no precision in the adjustment. My sense is that the system really needs more than just a adjustment in calibration or frequency response. It felt as though it needs more amplifier power, and maybe even better speaker drivers. It definitely sounded better than the base Surreal Sound system in the Air in the showroom, but I think that it should be better than it is.
If you’ve read this far . . .
with all of these positives and superlatives (and just a few criticisms), you would probably conclude that I will change my interior choice to the Tahoe leather and excitedly await delivery. But the test drive of Gravity gave me the most critical impression: I just did not enjoy driving it. The thing is just too big for me. Many test drivers have noted that it feels much smaller than it really is, and while it certainly did not feel as long as its measured length, I definitely noticed the width. The lower screen felt far away. The armrest in the door WAS very far away from me. And the right side of the vehicle looked and felt WAY out there.
I’m having a hard time describing what it felt like. A little like wearing a shirt that’s two sizes too big. I felt as though I were floating inside a big sphere, not really connected to it. I think that part of the feeling came from the visuals. All of the glass gives an expansive view, but the view is mostly “up.” With the high beltline and dash, I couldn’t see the ground anywhere near the vehicle. it was a little like looking over the bow of a boat and seeing the sky, but not the sea.
I’m no stranger to big vehicles. I grew up driving my family’s full-size, extended length van (1983 Plymouth Voyager), a 231-inch behemoth. That’s nearly 3 feet longer than Gravity, and at least as wide. I’ve driven vehicles ranging from subcompacts to a 26’ box truck. Not that I always enjoyed driving the giants, but it’s just to say that I’m capable of doing so. And I did drive the Gravity just fine around those city streets. But I felt very disconnected from it, as though I were piloting in remotely. Gravity has so much driving capability, but it was not comfortable or enjoyable for me to access it.
So, after all of the anticipation and waiting, I come away very disappointed that this is not my dream car, and not even something that I want to own. I’m going to cancel my Gravity order. I’ve decided to lease a Hyundai Ioniq 5 for 3 years. It’s not everything that I want, and it can’t match the dynamics of a Lucid. But it’s fast, fun to drive, meets most of my needs; and with the incentives and my trade-in, came to a very low lease payment. When it’s time to give the car back, there will be more options on the market, including Lucid’s midsize SUV. I hope that Lucid gives it the same meticulous attention to detail in design, packaging, and driving dynamics as the Gravity. If they do, then maybe that will be the vehicle of my dreams, and will yet become a Lucid owner.
First, as some have noted, the test drive sucked. We went on a set route on some city streets around the moll. It lasted much less than 20 minutes, and I swear that I spent half of it stopped at red lights. I got hardly any sense of the vehicles dynamics. A few things that I was able to glean: Gravity was very quick to respond to steering inputs. The ride was very smooth and quiet, even on the 22/23” wheels (though this was at low speeds on relatively smooth roads). The couple of times I was able to press the accelerator a bit more, I got a little sense of the great power delivery. I felt the mass of the car in a good way as a strong push against my back. One-pedal driving was fantastic—the regen was strong, seamless, intuitive, and easy to control. I’m still not sold on the squircle steering wheel. I like that I could set it low, and it doesn’t block the view of the screen, but grabbing the top of the “wheel” as I normally do when making a turn on a city street felt very awkward to me. The turn signal stalk was a little too far behind the wheel, and it required a long throw past a heavy detent to fully engage. I usually ended up just flashing the turn signal, not completely turning it on. The windshield extending over your head is a cool effect, though it’s odd to have the sun visor running across the view. The day was completely overcast, so I couldn’t tell if it would bother me to have the sun shining down from overhead while I drive.
As for the non-driving impressions:
Gravity looks great in-person. It makes sense to call in an SUV because that’s exactly how it functions—sport and utility. It just breaks the rules for what an SUV should look like, as it incorporates elements that are similar to SUVs, minivans, and wagons. The wheelbase still looks a little too long to me, but it’s beautiful overall. I especially noticed how low the roof was when standing next to the open back. The load floor is impressively low, at least compared to a typical SUV. And the interior feels extremely spacious. It’s really a winning design overall.
I found the Aurora Green color dull, whether indoors or out. I have a little red-green color deficiency, but it didn’t look very green to me. It seemed more grey-brown.
The Gravity in the showroom had the Tahoe interior. It is very luxurious—beautiful and sumptuous. I really like the saddle brown color. And the other fabrics inside are so nice. There was an Air in the showroom with the base Mohave Purluxe interior; not a true apples-to-apples comparison, but I took a look just to get an idea what the base Gravity interior might be like. The Tahoe was SO much better in look and feel.
Seats are a critical issue for me in a car, so I scrutinized them a lot. I’m 5’3” and oddly proportioned (short torso and long arms), so seats (and clothing and sofas and just about everything else) is typically not designed to fit me. The Gravity seats are supremely supportive and the adjustments have a big range. Tall people will probably love them. Shorter people . . . maybe. The thigh extensions are obviously useless to me, but they did get (just) short enough for my legs, and they are kind of magic in the way that they “unroll” to extend without leaving any gap in the seat. The side bolsters are a mixed bag for shorter people like myself. When I moved them in, they held me firmly, but they come up much too high. So, they are really holding against my lats, and they restrict the motion of my arms. While I was looking around the vehicle, I overheard a very short woman (maybe 4’10”) sitting in the driver’s seat talking to her (much taller) husband. I didn’t hear her say anything specifically about the seat, but she hated the driving position, which required her to be much too close to the steering wheel in order to see over the dash and reach the pedals. I didn’t have that problem, but I did wish that the steering wheel could move a little further away from me (maybe another inch of travel).
Then, I tried the massage. In the first couple of modes, I thought “this is pretty nice.” Then I tried the “deep” mode. Oh, wow. It’s like a dozen firm hands pressing deeply into your back AND legs. If you get stiff or sore on long drives, you will want this. I ordered a GT with the base interior, but I now see that the upgraded ones are definitely worth it.
The center console looks very big, but despite its size, it couldn’t fit the bag that I usually carry with me. The cupholders were too small for my usual water bottle as well.
I didn’t get to try out the touch pads on the steering wheel, but the buttons on the touch pads are used to adjust things like the steering wheel and mirrors. They were one of the few bits in the vehicle that felt cheap and plasticy to me.
The Surreal Sound Pro audio system was good, but not nearly what I expect for a $3000 upgrade. The treble lacked a bit of clarity. There was too much mid-bass, making the sound a little muddy. And the sound over-emphasized the midrange a bit. There was not much deep bass, and if you turned it up, the sound became too boomy. The equalizer has only 3 bands, so there is no precision in the adjustment. My sense is that the system really needs more than just a adjustment in calibration or frequency response. It felt as though it needs more amplifier power, and maybe even better speaker drivers. It definitely sounded better than the base Surreal Sound system in the Air in the showroom, but I think that it should be better than it is.
If you’ve read this far . . .
with all of these positives and superlatives (and just a few criticisms), you would probably conclude that I will change my interior choice to the Tahoe leather and excitedly await delivery. But the test drive of Gravity gave me the most critical impression: I just did not enjoy driving it. The thing is just too big for me. Many test drivers have noted that it feels much smaller than it really is, and while it certainly did not feel as long as its measured length, I definitely noticed the width. The lower screen felt far away. The armrest in the door WAS very far away from me. And the right side of the vehicle looked and felt WAY out there.
I’m having a hard time describing what it felt like. A little like wearing a shirt that’s two sizes too big. I felt as though I were floating inside a big sphere, not really connected to it. I think that part of the feeling came from the visuals. All of the glass gives an expansive view, but the view is mostly “up.” With the high beltline and dash, I couldn’t see the ground anywhere near the vehicle. it was a little like looking over the bow of a boat and seeing the sky, but not the sea.
I’m no stranger to big vehicles. I grew up driving my family’s full-size, extended length van (1983 Plymouth Voyager), a 231-inch behemoth. That’s nearly 3 feet longer than Gravity, and at least as wide. I’ve driven vehicles ranging from subcompacts to a 26’ box truck. Not that I always enjoyed driving the giants, but it’s just to say that I’m capable of doing so. And I did drive the Gravity just fine around those city streets. But I felt very disconnected from it, as though I were piloting in remotely. Gravity has so much driving capability, but it was not comfortable or enjoyable for me to access it.
So, after all of the anticipation and waiting, I come away very disappointed that this is not my dream car, and not even something that I want to own. I’m going to cancel my Gravity order. I’ve decided to lease a Hyundai Ioniq 5 for 3 years. It’s not everything that I want, and it can’t match the dynamics of a Lucid. But it’s fast, fun to drive, meets most of my needs; and with the incentives and my trade-in, came to a very low lease payment. When it’s time to give the car back, there will be more options on the market, including Lucid’s midsize SUV. I hope that Lucid gives it the same meticulous attention to detail in design, packaging, and driving dynamics as the Gravity. If they do, then maybe that will be the vehicle of my dreams, and will yet become a Lucid owner.
one of my close friends is an aerialist too. 
