Hold out for the Gravity, or get something else?

[Tqlucid]

EQS sold 6688 last year and 2552 in the first quarter of 2024.

Sedan. SUV sold just under 9k in q4 2024 alone.

 

[Tqlucid]

Also to be fair, the lucid is kinda bubbly too. I like it and have one, but it is def somewhat egg shaped also.

 

[Batteryman]

Also to be fair, the lucid is kinda bubbly too. I like it and have one, but it is def somewhat egg shaped also.

Air looks bubbly? No way……the Merc EVs are the ones that look like an egg, and no frunk, more cramped- lazy engineering, or maybe they don’t have a lie how to build an EV

 

[Tqlucid]

Looks are subjective. People either love or hate the air. I like the looks. But yes, I do think it is bubbly also.

 

[Taz K]

Looks are subjective. People either love or hate the air. I like the looks. But yes, I do think it is bubbly also.

I think the Air looks like a more svelt, squat bubble compared to the Mercs. I enjoy the aerodynamic appearance of the Air, and the range is a bonus.

 

[Tqlucid]

Handling is what I am digging the most. Pretty crazy a car this size handles so well.

 

[borski]

Sedan. SUV sold just under 9k in q4 2024 alone.

Sure, but you can’t compare the EQS SUV sales to an unbuilt and unsold SUV.

We can, however, compare their equivalent sedans. I think that’s the point.

 

[Tqlucid]

Sure but the OP was asking about an SUV. I didn’t bring up sales someone else did. But in a post referencing SUVs one would think the convo was regarding SUVs not sedans. No reason to mention sedan sales in a post about SUVs when you can’t compare as lucid doesn’t have one out yet. I was always referring to the EQS suv not sedan. Anyway, I don’t think lucid suv will outsell the eqs. I don’t see lucid pushing 30k gravity’s a year for quite some time, but I could be wrong.

 

[hmp10]

I just found an old Lucid press release from November 15, 2022 in which Lucid said that the Gravity would "land" in 2024 and that reservations would open up in "early 2023".

https://ir.lucidmotors.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lucid-gravity-luxury-electric-suv-breathtaking-performance-and

It thus appears that at one point Lucid was planning to open reservations at least a year ahead of production start. I wonder why that changed?

The press release also said that Lucid was "currently finalizing the vehicle design and specifications". This was 20 months ago, and it's pretty much the same thing that is now being said in some of the "Road to Gravity" videos.

I'm wondering it was shortly after the 2022 press release that Lucid decided to go with essentially a new platform for the Gravity instead of the Air platform?

 

[joec]

My guess with the reservations is that they learned from Air starting reservations too early leads to inflated expectations. As delivery dates for various trims get pushed, people move on to other cars rather than wait.

Better to manage expectations by keeping reservations tight and short. Avoid questions from the press about reservation numbers altogether. Focus on delivery numbers.

 

[hmp10]

My guess with the reservations is that they learned from Air starting reservations too early leads to inflated expectations. As delivery dates for various trims get pushed, people move on to other cars rather than wait.

Better to manage expectations by keeping reservations tight and short. Avoid questions from the press about reservation numbers altogether. Focus on delivery numbers.

Could well be. But I wonder why in late 2022 they were saying they were finalizing design and specs? I suspect something significant happened for them still to be saying essentially the same thing in mid-2024.

We know from the recent announcement about hitting 5 m/kWh in the Air and from information that the Gravity motors will not be the same as in the Air that they are still making motor and powertrain advances. This should always be the case in a technology-driven enterprise, but I'm wondering if something came into view on the technology front that looked promising enough to cause them to delay finalizing the Gravity specs. Or, to take a more negative view, did they become aware of the battery pack problems that have caused some of the 2022-vintage battery packs to need replacement, and they needed to sort that out before moving the Gravity to final specification?

 

[bill1745]

In my opinion, either an iX or a gravity would be good. Your wife does not want to be an early adopter, so iX is a good choice. If you dont think lucid is reliable from your DE experience, then dont get it. Polestar 3 could be good, owned by volvo.

I saw something a few months ago that said Polestar not part of Volvo anymore. Now 100% Geeley. But still Volvo engineering perhaps.

 

[xponents]

I saw something a few months ago that said Polestar not part of Volvo anymore. Now 100% Geeley. But still Volvo engineering perhaps.

Correct. Their current models do use some Volvo parts, but I do expect their future models (Polestar 7/8 onwards?) to use more bespoke elements, rather than the Volvo parts bin.

 

[DeaneG]

Correct. Their current models do use some Volvo parts, but I do expect their future models (Polestar 7/8 onwards?) to use more bespoke elements, rather than the Volvo parts bin.

Polestar 4 shares a platform and parts with other Geely models and is not related to the Volvo-partnered Polestar 3. Maybe that's why they could start shipping them concurrently.

 

[Batteryman]

Could well be. But I wonder why in late 2022 they were saying they were finalizing design and specs? I suspect something significant happened for them still to be saying essentially the same thing in mid-2024.

We know from the recent announcement about hitting 5 m/kWh in the Air and from information that the Gravity motors will not be the same as in the Air that they are still making motor and powertrain advances. This should always be the case in a technology-driven enterprise, but I'm wondering if something came into view on the technology front that looked promising enough to cause them to delay finalizing the Gravity specs. Or, to take a more negative view, did they become aware of the battery pack problems that have caused some of the 2022-vintage battery packs to need replacement, and they needed to sort that out before moving the Gravity to final specification?

Peter said they redesigned the Gravity, instead of using Air platform, they made it bespoke, changed direction, hence the 1 year delay

 

[MoneyPit]

Peter said they redesigned the Gravity, instead of using Air platform, they made it bespoke, changed direction, hence the 1 year delay

The nerd in me would love, at some point (they probably wouldn't speak to it until after an Air refresh), to get a detailed breakdown of this.

Honestly from a manufacturing efficiency standpoint I was always really shocked that they didn't just make the Air a wagon and add elevated/air suspension (basically do the Volvo Cross Country/Porsche Cross Turismo route). Obviously they needed something bigger to capture the three row SUV market, but I'd think getting a two row wagon that could be marketed as an SUV would do a lot to put butts in seats too.

...and yes I would totally buy a Sapphire version of what I just described, why do you ask?

 

[RM-S8]

Honestly from a manufacturing efficiency standpoint I was always really shocked that they didn't just make the Air a wagon and add elevated/air suspension (basically do the Volvo Cross Country/Porsche Cross Turismo route). Obviously they needed something bigger to capture the three row SUV market, but I'd think getting a two row wagon that could be marketed as an SUV would do a lot to put butts in seats too.

No offense, but I'm glad you are NOT a deciding factor in Lucid's decisions making.
Transformers/Volvo/Lucid comes to my mind.

 

[hmp10]

Peter said they redesigned the Gravity, instead of using Air platform, they made it bespoke, changed direction, hence the 1 year delay

Yes, and I've been wondering if that decision was made sometime after the November 2022 press release . . . and what drove the decision. It seems odd to have made it in the relatively advanced stages of Gravity development instead of at the outset. (Remember that the press release said the design and specs were already being finalized at that point.).

 

[MoneyPit]

No offense, but I'm glad you are NOT a deciding factor in Lucid's decisions making.
Transformers/Volvo/Lucid comes to my mind.

"No offense but your idea/the thing you like sucks."
Cool man, no problem.

 

[xponents]

"No offense but your idea/the thing you like sucks."
Cool man, no problem.

Huh? All he said is that your idea wouldn't sell. And thats completely true. I like wagons, and would like an Air wagon (not that stupid CC wagon thing, like volvo CC models), but doing that as their first model would be a great business plan only if your goal as a company was to go bankrupt as fast as possible.