Gravity Delivery Discussion

[Blue Lectroid]

Simple update on my personal Gravity Order. Twice I was emailed regarding ordering Gravity DE. Twice I responded with "please just tell me when I can purchase the vehicle I ordered". Crickets. Heck, I would be willing to pay the additional $14k for DE, but just don't add the DE options (I don't want more hp, I don't want a sticker of a bear on the front panel, and I definitely don't want less range), if I knew it would give me a date-certain for receiving the vehicle. I have invested significantly in clean energy businesses and watched several fail as they could not deliver. If I was asked to bet, I would bet there is a less that 40% chance that Lucid delivers. My real hope is that their IP gets purchased by a car company that knows how to manufacture - and how to communicate. I would love if Lucid followed an Intel model (e.g. MB, with Lucid battery and motor tech inside, Toyota, with Lucid battery and motor tech inside, etc etc) So, I am giving Lucid until 1 June to tell me when I will receive the vehicle. Three things can happen, in my mind: 1. They never respond, so I ask for my $1k back, 2. They respond, telling me it will be in 2026, so I will ask for my $1k back or 3. They respond, telling me it will be in X month of 2025, whereby I will plan accordingly to sell my ICE and buy the Lucid Gravity. For perspective, I drove an X for 5 years, so I have a good feel for what works and what does not work for my personal needs.

40% chance they deliver? More like 99.9%. Depending on when u ordered it might be late 2025 or early 2026, but 99.9% that your order will be filled if you stay the course…

 

[WeighingGravity]

Given that Lucid has been delivering Air since 2022, I would put the odds of Lucid delivering Gravity at 99%. As far as a comparison to Intel, from a financial perspective Intel is was of the worst companies in the semiconductor industry. There cost structure is completely out of line with the rest of the industry and they are getting beat on the technology front by TSMC, Global Foundries and Samsung. Definitely not a model that I want to see Lucid follow.

I don't agree with the OP's 40% odds and I think the actual odds are a lot closer to the >99% you cite. That said, I think his point was about Intel's "Intel Inside" general go-to-market strategy, which was to specialize in one thing (chips) and not the whole end product (at the time, PCs). This was a perfectly winning strategy for many years and Intel owned the chip market. They have fallen on harder times today, true, but I think his point was that he believes Lucid should focus on one thing (presumably EV drivetrain) as opposed to trying to compete on the whole enchilada. That is to say, take a horizontal vs. vertical approach. It's actually ironic that you mention TSMC and Global Foundries, which are both essentially contract manufacturers (manufacture only, not design of chips) - focusing on an even slimmer horizontal segment than Intel (design and manufacture). Samsung is obviously different, but if you're talking about the "model," you've actually provided two data points in support of his point. Technology industries are hard - it's hard to sustain meaningful competitive advantages across multiple specialties, so focusing on just one thing that you can do better than anyone else, and letting others figure out the other stuff, tends to be the way that many tech-y industries shake out.

Analogies to other industries aren't always relevant, of course, and ultimately only time will tell whether Lucid's "make the whole car" vertical strategy will work. (I don't know myself, but my gut tells me that the path they've chosen is very, very hard) I think it's clear from how great the cars are (theoretically, when they are working correctly, and whenever they get delivered) that it pays dividends in terms of a great product. But so far, it has proven to be expensive and time consuming. Will the great product be great enough and be priced well enough to win the share of consumers? We'll see.

Anyways, much respect to you - I am sure you know a lot more about chip manufacturing than I do, just thought this point needed to be made. Cheers.

PS Any chance of a flyover this week?

 

[hmp10]

Despite calls, my GT still sits in "Cancellation requested" purgatory, and I have yet to receive a refund for that $1000 deposit. At this rate, I don't really expect any traction until they actually start delivering cars and reach out to let me know where I am in the production line. Which is par for the course I guess.

Also, I thought it was odd that the date and time on the GT order changed from 7 November ~9:00a to the day AFTER my Dream Edition order was placed (27 February). Maybe that date represents the date the cancellation was requested? Who knows? The rational side of my brain says that's the case, but the other part of me wants an actual confirmation of cancellation, and my $1K refund.

My sales rep requested the cancellation of my Grand Touring order after I ordered the Dream, and "Cancellation Requested" appeared on my order profile a couple of hours later. The next day it switched to "Order Canceled". Although I had to pay a second $1,000 deposit to order the Dream, the refund of my $1,000 GT deposit showed up in my next credit card statement.

I get the impression that some of the features on the configurator and under your profile account are not actually interactive although they appear to be. For instance, you cannot switch options on your Gravity order without calling a sales rep to do it for you. (I found this out when I tried to switch from the largest to the mid-size wheels.). When Dream orders were opened, you could only add a Dream to your order, not cancel the existing Grand Touring order.

That means much of the site is being operated by a wizard behind the curtain, and what you see happening on the website depends on what the wizard is inclined to do and when. It's sort of like Waymo. You may think the car is driving itself, but there's someone hovering over a joystick in front of a computer screen somewhere actually determining what the car's going to do.

 

[WeighingGravity]

I would say more that you could only add a new Dream order that was independent of your GT order.

My SA said "You can move your gravity order to the dream via your portal" and "You can move the order back and forth from a dream to gt" but this was definitively not true. For me, at least.

I now have two separate orders. I'm not cancelling the GT order until I know what's what. If I get the GT configuration call first, it's possible I will ask to see if they can cancel my DE and apply that deposit to the GT. And vice versa - if my DE is about to get delivered, I'll just ask them at that point to cancel the GT and apply its deposit over to the DE. The former is probably a moonshot of a negotiation (and hopefully isn't what happens anyways - now I'm sort of emotionally invested in the DE) but I'll be giving a lot more than $2K to Lucid soon, so it doesn't really matter having the extra $1000 tied up.

I might feel differently if deliveries still aren't happening and the calendar is turning to 2026.....

 

[hmp10]

I might feel differently if deliveries still aren't happening and the calendar is turning to 2026.....

On another thread (https://lucidowners.com/threads/special-lucid-motors-evening.11648/), a poster reported that a sales rep in NYC said that the Gravity showing up for the special event on March 27 would be a production version. However, it still would not be available for test drives.

Color me skeptical on the first point.

But I would love to be wrong . . . .

 

[msaunders9430]

In regards to Lucid's future, considering the need for support through car maintenance and service, parts availability, software updates, etc. would it be fair to say, the necessary support isn't in jeopardy as much as current public ownership?

What I'm getting at is owner support 5 to 10 years from now. Will ownership support described above, still exist? Some are concerned with existence from a financial perspective with stock value. I get that. I'm a shareholder, but I won't be losing my shirt over Lucid shares. Others, perhaps not viewing these owner-focused posts, probably are looking purely at the financials.

I look at small production companies like Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati (FL&M). Their ownership have changed over the years, but those small production/low sales volume cars are still being sold today. So, a Gravity delivered in 2025 might still be receiving support in 2035.

Five to ten years and more from now, will Lucid cars still be supported and possibly sold?
Lucid might be owned by another company, but still in existence.
I know none of us know the actual answers, but I've seen posts about Lucid's future and I want to make sure I'm understanding the concerns and if change in ownership occurs, but under different ownership, is that so bad, considering the history of FL&M?

My answers to each of the 4 questions above in bold are yes to the first three and none to the fourth.

 

[DeaneG]

I'm not concerned about Lucid delivering Gravity. They will, though in a longer time frame than we'd prefer.

I want to move to an SUV this year but otherwise am not in a hurry. So I have an alternate vehicle plan, and will choose Gravity or the other when either is fully baked. My planned alternate vehicle's release is also delayed from my original expectation.

If Gravity, I'll plan for a 36 month lease.

All together, this is my car angst reduction strategy.

 

[msaunders9430]

The Lucid service center in Mechanicsville, VA is certified to service over 30 brands.

With the service model that small car makers like Maserati, Rolls Royce, and yes Lucid, if training and certification in support of these brands continues, these brands live on?
We're not talking Fisker here.

 

[hmp10]

I called the West Palm Beach studio this morning to see if they had a Gravity on display while my brother is in town, as he's itching to see one.

The sales rep there said they've been told the Gravity "will enter production in late spring" and they'll be getting one shortly before fo put on display.

If correct, this suggests at least two more months before real customer deliveries instead of choreographed delivery publicity events get underway.

 

[yadaBaga]

On another thread (https://lucidowners.com/threads/special-lucid-motors-evening.11648/), a poster reported that a sales rep in NYC said that the Gravity showing up for the special event on March 27 would be a production version. However, it still would not be available for test drives.

Color me skeptical on the first point.

But I would love to be wrong . . . .

That was me. I get your skepticism. I confirmed a couple of times with her that it'll be a production version. Was then surprised that you couldn't even sit in it. She hedged a bit on that front after pushing. Couldn't tell how much she was holding back or just didn't know.

Regardless, I walked away with the feeling that we are about to turn a corner on Gravity timelines and deliveries with Q1 ending. Q2 here we come

 

[Pragmatic]

I want to move to an SUV this year but otherwise am not in a hurry. So I have an alternate vehicle plan, and will choose Gravity or the other

If you're willing to go smaller (Earth sized) the highly anticipated Neue Klass BMW should be available by the end of the year.

 

[hmp10]

That was me. I get your skepticism. I confirmed a couple of times with her that it'll be a production version. Was then surprised that you couldn't even sit in it. She hedged a bit on that front after pushing. Couldn't tell how much she was holding back or just didn't know.

Weird that you can't even sit in it. We (and a host of other folks) were all over the inside of one at the Miami Worldcenter showroom a couple of months ago. (That was a prototype, of course.)

 

[yadaBaga]

Weird that you can't even sit in it. We (and a host of other folks) were all over the inside of one at the Miami Worldcenter showroom a couple of months ago.

Ah I'm envious . The manhattan studio has never let me get close to the preproduction version.

 

[hmp10]

Ah I'm envious . The manhattan studio has never let me get close to the preproduction version.

Yeah, I don't know how Lucid decides this. We saw the Lunar Titanium prototype twice, once in West Palm Beach studio and once in the Miami Brickell City Center studio, and we could sit in it neither time. But between those two visits, we saw the Aurora Green prototype at the Worldcenter, and it was fully accessible. You could move and fold the seats, open the frunk, try out the squircle, etc.

Perhaps one had more working components than the other?

 

[illopp00]

Yes both of those are from the LA show, I remember the Green Car had everyone able to sit in it because the interior components work. I have only seen the Lunar Titanium one in person (in my profile pic) close up at the Chicago Studio and most recently the Chicago Auto Show but have never been able to get in it. It seems to be like a design proto where the doors open and the wheels and frunk package work.

 

[WeighingGravity]

Possible they’re borrowing one of the 9 friends and family units hence the rationale for not letting it take additional wear and tear?

None of the reasons why they’d disallow people from getting into it (if that’s in fact true) are encouraging from a production timeline perspective.

 

[californiaboy935]

Possible they’re borrowing one of the 9 friends and family units hence the rationale for not letting it take additional wear and tear?

None of the reasons why they’d disallow people from getting into it (if that’s in fact true) are encouraging from a production timeline perspective.

hmmm, I think it would be a close friend or family if they did that. Which would make sense.

 

[Adnillien]

PS Any chance of a flyover this week?

I did this morning, saw one Gravity coming out of the factory, none being loaded onto to haulers. I will post some more later on the Flyover thread.

 

[HC_79]

I did this morning, saw one Gravity coming out of the factory, none being loaded onto to haulers. I will post some more later on the Flyover thread.

Progress…. Production ramping up from 0 a week to 1 a week.

 

[msaunders9430]

Yeah, I don't know how Lucid decides this. We saw the Lunar Titanium prototype twice, once in West Palm Beach studio and once in the Miami Brickell City Center studio, and we could sit in it neither time. But between those two visits, we saw the Aurora Green prototype at the Worldcenter, and it was fully accessible. You could move and fold the seats, open the frunk, try out the squircle, etc.

Perhaps one had more working components than the other?

@hmp10 did you see the DM from me?