Any insights on specific features, Gravity, etc?
This is my recollection of conversations I had with staff at the event:
- New to me but an easter egg that has been around for a long time, double click the image of the car on the lower panel and it blacks out the screen (a 'digital detox'). Tap anywhere to turn it on again. Nice option instead of retracting the screen. I tested it and could swear it came back on by itself after a relatively short period of time
- New audio tune is coming (OTA) and significantly improves the subjective experience
- New phone app is coming, Zach was running the alternate version on his phone
- There was the expecting lamenting of the loss of Alexa. They are "all in" on the Lucid Assistant (LA) and urge owners to realize that the state of the 1st gen LA is not what it will be in the future. They intend to open up a lot more functionality, refinement and control of the vehicle.
- Current LA is cloud based for most of the processing, with limited local options if there is no mobile data connection. I wanted to broach the topic of in-car local agent hosting but there wasn't time.
- If it comes a time where certain software features can only be rolled out on newer versions of hardware, that's when they're more likely to seriously look at hardware upgrades for existing vehicles. They are careful to gauge the hardware requirements of any new software they're working on to determine what might be 'new Gravity/Air' vs for everyone, that was my takeaway at least.
- Spoke with David (gov affairs) about hands off driving for HA (level 3 was the reference he used when I described the feature set) and he said that testing was going well, however, the gov approval process is non-trivial and time consuming
- Speaking of approval, company line is AA will be released "before end of year." Less formally, simply to indicate where they were at, I suspect, he mentioned that the software was in approval stage with Google for distribution via the Google Play Store. So, in that regard, it's somewhat out of their hands (my take).
- A good reminder to me but probably not news to the OG owners, Smooth mode is fundamentally more efficient than Swift/Sprit, even if you command identical acceleration and speeds. This is because Smooth allows one of the motors to be de-energized completely, which is Swift and Sprint feel so much more responsive, the motors are ready to go. It's NOT just a different throttle response map, there is a physical difference that results in more efficiency for driving. This means if efficiency is important to you on long drives, use Smooth to the extent possible.
- I hounded Zach regarding fast charging vs charging at home. He said that even though they have high mileage test vehicles (1000 miles/day, currently at around 250K miles) that have been exclusively fast-charged, there is undeniable wear on the battery associated with DCFC rates that do not occur with slow charging, along with charging more than 80% (the latter was known to me, but I was hazy on fast charging). I said, "what would you do, given the choice between free DCFC or charging at home and paying for Level 2 at home?" and he said that if you're going to own the vehicle for a long time, it would be the latter without missing a beat. Again, not new information for many people, I'm sure, but I figured I'd share
- Auto park will NOT trash your wheels when parallel parking. Those issues are long gone
- Auto park is going to get additional upgrades. Right now it does not use the cameras at all, it only uses the ultrasonic sensors. That will change where it will incorporate visuals from the cameras to recognize lines, which means it'll let you auto park in spots without requiring them to be flanked by cars.
- I overheard someone requesting geo-fenced auto folding mirrors (useful for getting in/out of garage without having to dismiss the surround view screen and proactively fold them) with Zach. I voiced my support for it, too, having not wanted to pepper Zach too much at the time.
- Erwin is new to the company (7 weeks) but brings a lot of passion and experience. He's attending events to listen to owners to keep his fingers on the pulse and to ensure all the data is collected so they can prioritize feature dev. He appears to have a ton of integrity and passion for the space. I think he'll be a strong asset from them given his history in launching the Genesis line.
In terms of Gravity specifically, the prototype they showed didn't have everything worked out in terms of 3rd row headset adjustment, or the intended feature set for moving the 2nd seat to allow easy access to the third row. 2nd row was comfortable but not luxurious. I was somewhat rushed, though, I would absolutely take another look, given the chance. Sitting in driver seat, it is very different to Air between the steering wheel shape and height of the dash. I suspect the HUD hardware will open up some pretty incredible possibilities. Truthfully, I preferred the feel of Air, but that said, what they had on display was NOT final, they went to great lengths to point that out and were actually cautious about letting anyone sit up front for that reason.
Lastly, I thanked them for producing a vehicle that delivers such a compelling driving experience, I'm still looking for reasons to drive it after 8000 miles in a few months. They seemed genuinely appreciative, and they love seeing the same passion from owners that drives them as a company. I also shared my (presumably) minority view that the stock maps are actually excellent, and that I have little to no interest in CarPlay or AA. I absolutely love the consistency of the UI in its native mode and have no interest in bypassing all of that for an interface that they do not control. I'd rather be using what they have built, assuming it continues to evolve.
Hope this is helpful to someone, I know it's a lot to wade through, containing a mix of forward looking statements and reviews of existing functionality.
