Edmunds Range Test of Gravity GT

hmp10

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"Edmunds" recently published their range test of the 5-seat Gravity GT using both the 20/21" Hankook Tires and the 22/23" Pirelli Tires. There were some very interesting findings.

First, it should be noted that this was not the "Edmunds" highway speed test but rather the test in which they try to duplicate the EPA mix of city/highway driving on real roads instead of in the laboratory conditions of EPA testing.

Most surprising was that the Hankooks delivered just short of 89% of their EPA range, while the Pirellis delivered over 95% of their EPA rating. In other words, the Pirellis at 388 miles delivered 95% of the 400 miles of the Hankooks. Put another way, the Pirellis delivered 97% of the real-world range of the Hankooks -- a difference I view as more or less meaningless.

And for that slight range penalty, the Pirellis delivered better lateral grip (.95 vs .91 g's) and considerably shorter stopping distances (107 feet vs 125 feet at 60-0 mph). 0-60 acceleration was virtually identical at 3.35 seconds for the Pirellis and 3.34 for the Hankooks.

Now I anxiously await the Moloughney and Conner highway range tests.

 
Yeah I am confused by this test, they didn't put any explicit details of the wheel and tire package. The lateral grip seems like it SHOULD have been less (<.9) based on the braking performance (which makes sense by rolling resistance and tire compound/ summer vs all-season). The range test also doesn't make much sense, the Hankooks should be better? Unless it's some special Lucid compound like the Sapphire with outside shoulder that have more grip...
 
Yeah I am confused by this test, they didn't put any explicit details of the wheel and tire package. The lateral grip seems like it SHOULD have been less (<.9) based on the braking performance (which makes sense by rolling resistance and tire compound/ summer vs all-season). The range test also doesn't make much sense, the Hankooks should be better? Unless it's some special Lucid compound like the Sapphire with outside shoulder that have more grip...

I, too, wondered why "Edmuds" didn't give explicit information about the tire/wheel packages. However, since they test with OEM equipment, it had to be the 20/21" Hankooks, as they are the ones with the 450-mile EPA rating "Emunds" specified, and the 22/23" Pirellis are the only summer performance tires offered.

Also, since these tests were done on actual roads around LA, they should have verified that both tests were done in similar conditions: same roads, same weather, same traffic -- ideally, in convoy fashion.
 
I, too, wondered why "Edmuds" didn't give explicit information about the tire/wheel packages. However, since they test with OEM equipment, it had to be the 20/21" Hankooks, as they are the ones with the 450-mile EPA rating "Emunds" specified, and the 22/23" Pirellis are the only summer performance tires offered.

Also, since these tests were done on actual roads around LA, they should have verified that both tests were done in similar conditions: same roads, same weather, same traffic -- ideally, in convoy fashion.
Either that or the Dynamic Handling Package (which they didn't tell us about) is that magical for skidpad, which is very possible.
 
Either that or the Dynamic Handling Package (which they didn't tell us about) is that magical for skidpad, which is very possible.

We don't know what changes Lucid specified for the custom "LM1" tires that both Hankook and Pirelli provide for the Gravity. However, in the generic versions of both tires, although the total widths are the same (265mm front / 285mm rear), the actual tread widths vary considerably, in part due to the much squarer shoulder of the Pirelli. The rear tread patch of the 285mm Pirelli is 10.0 inches, while the rear tread patch width of the Hankook is 8.8". That is a significant difference in the amount of rubber on the road.
 
Do we know they were actually using the 20/21s? The only pics are of the 22/23s from what I could see. It wouldn't surprise me if they were using the 21/22s for the All Season test given the results. As we know from Edmunds with their Air reviews, they're not always the most informed or fair-handed regarding Lucid.
 
Do we know they were actually using the 20/21s? The only pics are of the 22/23s from what I could see. It wouldn't surprise me if they were using the 21/22s for the All Season test given the results. As we know from Edmunds with their Air reviews, they're not always the most informed or fair-handed regarding Lucid.

Since they calculated the range underperformance of the all-seasons using 450 miles as the base figure (which is the range for the Hankooks, not the Michelins), I hope we can assume they were testing the 20/21" wheels.

But, this being "Edmunds", one can't be entirely sure.
 
seems awfully convenient to leave out wheel size and tire specs in a range test article. Must just be too many details to include in a proper journalistic submission.
 
Yea I’m gonna throw this one away. I have absolutely no way to evaluate whether this testing was useful, at all. We can speculate as to their methodology and accuracy all day, but it is no different than just writing numbers down at random. We don’t know what configuration they used, where or how or the timing with which they drove it, and so on.

Nothing against Edmunds, and I thought it was actually a super positive article for Gravity in general. But the range test is, without further information from Edmunds, useless.
 
“Real world” is different everyday even on the same ride, for example here a lot of Tesla tailgate dangerously close for lower drag, I also get much better efficiency not being windbreaker for example.

Hence EPA provides a controlled environment that can be applied to different manufacturers for comparison sake.
 
Yea I’m gonna throw this one away. I have absolutely no way to evaluate whether this testing was useful, at all. We can speculate as to their methodology and accuracy all day, but it is no different than just writing numbers down at random. We don’t know what configuration they used, where or how or the timing with which they drove it, and so on.

Nothing against Edmunds, and I thought it was actually a super positive article for Gravity in general. But the range test is, without further information from Edmunds, useless.
Yeah, I think for more realistic and even range testing with all info up front, we'll have to wait for Kyle and Tom to get their hands on the top range spec and put it thoroughly thru its paces.
 
seems awfully convenient to leave out wheel size and tire specs in a range test article. Must just be too many details to include in a proper journalistic submission.

I read pretty much anything I can find written about Lucid products, including by "Edmunds". But it's been a long time since I would have used them to assess a possible car purchase.

I have also found "Car & Driver" articles in recent years to be increasingly filled with errors. Two years after the Air was on the market they were still writing about its non-existent air suspension and tossing out other bad data on it and now the Gravity.

Some of this may be a symptom of the disappearance of content editing even among major journalistic outlets across many fields of reporting. It's really rather depressing.
 
I read pretty much anything I can find written about Lucid products, including by "Edmunds". But it's been a long time since I would have used them to assess a possible car purchase.

I have also found "Car & Driver" articles in recent years to be increasingly filled with errors. Two years after the Air was on the market they were still writing about its non-existent air suspension and tossing out other bad data on it and now the Gravity.

Some of this may be a symptom of the disappearance of content editing even among major journalistic outlets across many fields of reporting. It's really rather depressing.
Yeah see my same posts on this Edmunds “test” in the Gravity 75mph range thread. Don’t forget they trashed the Air’s range only to learn they filled their 19” wheels 21” wheel PSI on that first test, then screwed up their second range test too (I forget what they did but they admitted that they had to redo the redo). The conversation on range testing has been rehashed to death here as there’s so many variables as we all know, and Edmunds gave zero specifics aside from “All Season tires” and “Summer Tires”. The performance testing bit was more useful cuz at least they gave data on stopping distance but again we have no info on wheel size beyond “summer tires”.
 
Also, no one (except someone who does zero research about EVs) expects the cars to come close to EPA range. As I’ve said before, that shouldn’t even be a thing as it’s not right - especially for EVs.

If I could get 90% of rate range, I’d be thrilled. My expectation is 80-85% for most driving.

Don’t mean to go off topic as I know folks mention how MB and Porsche get closer to rated.
 
Also, no one (except someone who does zero research about EVs) expects the cars to come close to EPA range. As I’ve said before, that shouldn’t even be a thing as it’s not right - especially for EVs.

If I could get 90% of rate range, I’d be thrilled. My expectation is 80-85% for most driving.

Don’t mean to go off topic as I know folks mention how MB and Porsche get closer to rated.
Often I can get my Air over EPA.
 
Also, no one (except someone who does zero research about EVs) expects the cars to come close to EPA range. As I’ve said before, that shouldn’t even be a thing as it’s not right - especially for EVs.
20 of the their top 30 get EPA range.
I wish they did a simple highway range test as well. I bet at least half of EV buyers only care about Interstate highway range.
 
20 of the their top 30 get EPA range.
I wish they did a simple highway range test as well. I bet at least half of EV buyers only care about Interstate highway range.
I also don’t believe their numbers.
 
20 of the their top 30 get EPA range.
I wish they did a simple highway range test as well. I bet at least half of EV buyers only care about Interstate highway range.
For cars with much lower range, I can see how a mixed-driving range test might be useful. But for the Gravity, it's hard to imagine running out of city driving range in a day (or even two), and it's long distance highway driving that's going to matter for normal consumers. If you're a professional driver of some kind, then perhaps it's a different story. Or maybe if you're an apartment dweller who doesn't have overnight charging available, and want to know how many days you can go before having to find a charging station.
 
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