Lucid gravity order begins Nov 7

[DreamTour]

I'm 100% sure there are testers in press hands. There was a X video posted of 2 Gravity driving around in South Lake Tahoe that had MFG plates on them. Embargo is probably just in place until orders open up. Not sure why anyone thinks there are no press vehicles already.

Agree just flying under the radar until elections clear, probably same reasons for earnings date. Why schedule your presser for the same day as the superbowl? Well actually the reason would be that you want no one to pay attention but you have to do a press release.

I'm going to the factory tour that day, maybe something interesting will be available that day haha.

 

[Amster]

Agree just flying under the radar until elections clear, probably same reasons for earnings date. Why schedule your presser for the same day as the superbowl? Well actually the reason would be that you want no one to pay attention but you have to do a press release.

I'm going to the factory tour that day, maybe something interesting will be available that day haha.

I don't know a lot of the financial rules. What determines the date a company announces it's earnings? Do they choose it or is it set by some market constraints?

 

[HC_79]

I don't know a lot of the financial rules. What determines the date a company announces it's earnings? Do they choose it or is it set by some market constraints?

They can set the date themselves but it has to be done within a specific time period per SEC rules.

 

[borski]

Probably true, but at the price possibly of moving further back in the delivery queue for some changes, as Lucid runs certain things, such as paint colors, in batches. For example, when Lucid added Zenith Red to the color options for the Air Dream Edition late in the game, people who opted for the red moved back in the delivery queue until the paint shop ran a red batch.

This is not the case anymore. The paint line is completely different now, and they will absolutely be able to produce colors without batches. A lot has changed between then and now at the factory.

 

[hmp10]

Likely simply waiting until all the election craziness calms down a bit.

Most pundits are predicting that the election results won't be known for at least a couple of days (and maybe longer) and then followed by God knows what. I have a feeling that Thursday of next week might be about the worst choice if the aim were to steer clear of election madness. If the election were a factor in Lucid's timing, I really think they would have steered further clear of it than two days.

I'm 100% sure there are testers in press hands. There was a X video posted of 2 Gravity driving around in South Lake Tahoe that had MFG plates on them. Embargo is probably just in place until orders open up. Not sure why anyone thinks there are no press vehicles already.

I hope you're right. I was surprised by what Kelley said about there being no Gravities in the hands of the press. Kelley has been a strong supporter of Lucid products so far and was favored with a lot of access to the demo cars at the time of the L.A. Auto Show for their articles and videos. My guess -- and it's no more than that -- is that they would have asked to be among those test driving the Gravities and would have been provided one if the press were getting them.

But my guess is also that you probably have authoritative information that I don't. However, I still don't see what point there would be in not lifting the embargo a week before people will be wanting to make ordering decisions.

There might be some helpful information from test drives for deciding on options. For instance, regarding wheel decisions, how much will the 3-chamber air suspension tame the ride harshness of the very low profile 23" wheels? Will the HUD add enough functionality above what the fully-viewable driver binnacle does that the option will be worth the price? How much does the different final drive ratio of the Gravity offset the additional weight the vehicle carries over a similarly-powered Air?

 

[HC_79]

I was surprised by what Kelley said about there being no Gravities in the hands of the press. Kelley has been a strong supporter of Lucid products so far and was favored with a lot of access to the demo cars at the time of the L.A. Auto Show for their articles and videos

Also, don’t always assume what everyone tells you is correct. Working for a company that deals very heavily with NDA’’s, embargo’s and confidentiality we’d be extremely annoyed if a media person, influencer etc. even alluded that they had access to something. Even though they didn’t explicitly share anything the single hint of “watch this space” would be enough to get them on the shit list for future events.

 

[hmp10]

Also, don’t always assume what everyone tells you is correct.

I don't, as I indicated when I said that @hydbob probably has more authoritative information. However, I often post such things as the Kelley remark to elicit discussion, perspective, and information that others might have to the contrary.

This is a forum, after all.

 

[Pragmatic]

I would think the embargo end date would be tied to the release of quarterly financial results. I assumed it would be after, in case reviewers panned the vehicle. But the embargo on the ID BUZZ lifted on Monday and VW's results were released on Wednesday. Of course the VW results were bad and the embargo end could have been timed to deflect some from looking at the past to looking at the brighter future.

 

[Knucklehead]

It sounds almost like a soft opening of a retail store. The store opens to the public, but doesn't promote it. They hold a grand opening a week or two later. It gives them time to work out the bugs in the process before the big rush of new customers show up.

Maybe Lucid is taking a similar strategy, and will promote it when they feel their production can support the demand. Just a theory.

 

[Batteryman]

On your point about investors, I wondered if perhaps Lucid wanted to put out some "good" news earlier than planned, in an effort to stop the share price's downward trajectory leading up to the earnings call.

Perhaps, but it didn’t do anything to the share price, wonder where the 100k cars that Saudi promised to buy went? Saudis should start buying more cars to distribute to the Middle East Governments. Im also wondering why no licensing deal yet? Aston Martin has exclusivity till 2025 I believe. Maybe we will see some news come out next year.

 

[hmp10]

Well, I'll cry uncle here and assume that Gravities have been in the hands of the press and that the press is under an embargo.

But as a Lucid owner who doubled down on Lucid stock just yesterday (despite furtive sighs and eye rolls from my advisor), I will say this: if Lucid really is timing the lifting of an embargo in an attempt to have any long-term effect or even appreciable short-term effect on the stock price, I think it's a dead-end stratagem. It won't.

What this signals to me is that Lucid is looking more for stunts in this arena than for meaningful assistance to customers. While I'm anxious to order a Gravity just because I love the Lucid product and like to torture myself, others have indicated a need to get in the order queue early because of needs to cover lease gaps or other timing issues with vehicle purchases. With the Gravity not available to most customers to view, sit in, or test drive at this point and maybe not for a while yet, seeing an array of reputable press reviews of the car would be a real boon to their decision making.

 

[Adnillien]

I think Lucid is kind of boxed in between the election and the holidays, there is very little time to create multiple waves of press information that will drive brand/model awareness. I do think the opening of orders was set for the day of the earnings call to give them a talking point during the call. In an ideal situation, I think you are correct that they would want a couple rounds of press reviews a week a part before opening orders.

I do think that he slow ramp implied in their press release underwhelmed investors. I also think it is much more realistic than the quick ramp they planned for the Air. I am hoping this allows Lucid to meet and exceed expectations for Gravity.

 

[illopp00]

I have concluded/speculated that the biggest risk is that the UX 3.0 and software is the least ready part knowing that is how these development things tend to go...

 

[suchluke]

I think Lucid is kind of boxed in between the election and the holidays, there is very little time to create multiple waves of press information that will drive brand/model awareness. I do think the opening of orders was set for the day of the earnings call to give them a talking point during the call. In an ideal situation, I think you are correct that they would want a couple rounds of press reviews a week a part before opening orders.

I do think that he slow ramp implied in their press release underwhelmed investors. I also think it is much more realistic than the quick ramp they planned for the Air. I am hoping this allows Lucid to meet and exceed expectations for Gravity.

On top of that they need to squeeze and release Android Auto in between and there are not that many Thursdays left before the end of the fall season. Earnings, Gravity orders, Android Auto, and Holidays; lots of things to be excited about in the next two months.

 

[hmp10]

I do think that he slow ramp implied in their press release underwhelmed investors. I also think it is much more realistic than the quick ramp they planned for the Air. I am hoping this allows Lucid to meet and exceed expectations for Gravity.

Agree entirely. It is far more important that Lucid get the Gravity right than that they get it quick. I don't think they can afford another round of owners and reviewers not being able to do things such as get doors open.

The Air was about proving that Lucid could scale the mountain in terms of advancing automotive technology, which they largely did outside of the software realm. The Gravity is about proving that they can move that technology to larger scale and eventually to profitability.

So many companies go off track when their focus shifts too much toward managing the stock price in the short term. It has virtually destroyed such monoliths as General Electric and come close on several occasions with the Big Three automakers.

I can see the point, up to a point, of pegging the opening of orders to an earnings release. In any case, that is now cast in stone. Assuming Lucid wants a strong showing on early orders, I think the timing of a press embargo should revolve more around facilitating those orders.

 

[Ughwhy]

We are wanting to get a Gravity Grand Touring to complement our Air, but without knowing the features, details and seeing one in person, we will unfortunately not be ordering one on November 7th. Rather we will wait until all the features, options and pricing for them are known.

I don't know how Lucid will handle this, but when I ordered my Ineos Grenadier, Ineos finally revealed all the options and features (and pricing) on the configurator the day they opened reservations. So you "built" what you wanted to order and your build was what you were reserving.

Contrast that to the new Scout EV Truck, on their site I placed a reservation and the only options I could pick now were the Truck vs SUV, and battery extender (on-board generator) or not. That was only a $100 reservation fee though so I went ahead and took the risk, even though I think the target is Q4 2026.

 

[emoylv]

If they dd make a cheaper configuration they might pick a more apt name than "pure". It makes sense for Air because it pares the "air" down to just the purest form with just the essentials. But, there is no concept of "pure gravity". What's a good analogy for an adjective for gravity?

A synonym for pure gravity is dead weight, but I guess that would be a poor choice for a model name :-( Seriously looking forward to seeing it, but I would have to do that in stealth mode. I think my wife would kill me if I gave it a serious look, at least right now. In the meantime, I'm still smiling driving the Touring and still getting "Wow, that's a nice-looking car. What is it?"

 

[Batteryman]

I think Lucid is kind of boxed in between the election and the holidays, there is very little time to create multiple waves of press information that will drive brand/model awareness. I do think the opening of orders was set for the day of the earnings call to give them a talking point during the call. In an ideal situation, I think you are correct that they would want a couple rounds of press reviews a week a part before opening orders.

I do think that he slow ramp implied in their press release underwhelmed investors. I also think it is much more realistic than the quick ramp they planned for the Air. I am hoping this allows Lucid to meet and exceed expectations for Gravity.

Air wasn’t a quick ramp. It’s worrying that Lucid doesn’t get the more in demand model out sooner. Why delay base model. People will move on just like the cancellations they had with the Air. This doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[HC_79]

Air wasn’t a quick ramp. It’s worrying that Lucid doesn’t get the more in demand model out sooner. Why delay base model. People will move on just like the cancellations they had with the Air. This doesn’t make sense to me.

Lucid over promised and under delivered with the Air. They had huge issues with supplies and on top of that, production and QC issues that bit them in the ass. The ramp up was by no means smooth and many soon to be owners vented their frustrations in here.

I don’t know if the Air has moved to the new production line in the factory or the Gravity is going to be the first rolling off the new line. If so, Lucid could just be taking a more cautious approach in its messaging. If they don’t have production woes and can ramp up quicker than anticipated then you may see the Touring come sooner.

TBH, I’d rather them say it’s coming in 12 months and if it comes sooner then great vs saying it’s coming in 3 months and everyone get pissed when it’s delayed and starts canceling orders.

 

[borski]

I don't know how Lucid will handle this, but when I ordered my Ineos Grenadier, Ineos finally revealed all the options and features (and pricing) on the configurator the day they opened reservations. So you "built" what you wanted to order and your build was what you were reserving.

This is my best guess as to how this is going to happen. All options available to build from day 1, timing of delivery based on which options you select.

That is a complete guess though, based on absolutely no knowledge or data. Just my gut.

Air wasn’t a quick ramp.

No, but they said it would be. That’s the point. Here, they are aiming more realistically.

It’s worrying that Lucid doesn’t get the more in demand model out sooner. Why delay base model.

Because if you delay the expensive model, people may downgrade and you lose out on revenue.

And it is better to ensure you produce one well (and work out the kinks) than to produce both mediocrely.

People will move on just like the cancellations they had with the Air. This doesn’t make sense to me.

With the Air, people moved on because they hold on to the reservations for years, and they were completely refundable.

These will not be many-years-long reservations.