Well this afternoon I finally got to drive the Lucid Gravity. Had my appointment scheduled for over a month. Was really looking forward to it!
The Tysons Corner mall showroom was swarming with people, i feel bad for the Gravity they have in there, people were swarming all over it the whole time we were there.
First, the "good":
- The car drove incredibly well. Very solid, very sturdy, very quiet, very fast. My previous car was a Model S Plaid, so I knew what to expect power-wise, and this car has that same kick.
- It does not feel huge. It barely feels bigger than the S, to be honest, from a driving standpoint I mean. It obviously has gobs of interior room. But it drives small. It's marvelous in that regard.
- The build quality was top-notch. Everything felt like it was high-quality materials assembled with care.
- The car looked great! I think anyone who uses the m-word to describe it is just flat out dead wrong. Not even subjectively. Objectively wrong. It's way WAY too low to the ground. It's shorter in height than people realize. It's really got more of a Dodge Magnum profile, but obviously much MUCH nicer, and bigger on the inside.
- The glass front / roof was awesome. It fades to a 90% tint once it's over one's head. There's no way it's going to be a heat problem. reminder: these cars do have A/C.
- Overall, visibility was very good. The front pillar didn't bother me at all.
- Plenty of cupholders, compartments, and other amenities.
- Frunk was very comfortable to sit on, as were all the seats.
- I measured the height of the opening in the back -- it is 32" at the corners, 34" in the middle. Plenty of room to fit a folded up pinball machine, which is my primary concern, as a collector/restorer.
- The Squirkle steering wheel was absolutely fine. WAY less awkward than the yoke on my Plaid. Not a problem at all. It will take people like 5 minutes to get used to, if they're not instantly comfortable with it. Big thumbs up to that design.
- Loved that there were physical buttons for a lot of the common controls -- adjusting temp and volume, for example. I like a good, responsive touchscreen for settings and other things you don't adjust regularly. But certain frequent controls should be physical buttons -- and not half-assed haptic crap, either. Lucid got this right. BIG thumbs up.
Next, the "neither good nor bad":
- The "goody bag" had nothing in it, other than a small box with a dark grey paperweight model of the Gravity. My son said "the paperweight is meant to remind you of Gravity, and the empty bag is meant to remind you of Air." haha!
- The huge directional pads on either side of the steering wheel seem excessively large, for how seldom you will probably use them. I adjust my mirrors once over the course of my vehicle's lifetime. (assuming they have memory, and will reposition depending on who's driving)
- HUD was covered with a cloth. I was told "it works fine, but we're hiding it on the test drives because it's not on the GTs, due to a supply chain issue". I suspect that's only half-true, because I've also heard reports of people saying it was grainy and unfinished when they did get to see it, but who knows.
- The SA said they were doing about 100 test drives a day between the two vehicles they had, and that the current Tysons stint was the final stop on these cars' cross-country tour. So it's possible I was seeing this vehicle in its most run-down state. If one wants to be charitable, then one can use that fact as an excuse for the next part of my post....
Finally, the "potentially worrying":
- I was told not to do a launch in Sprint Mode. The SA said this instruction came from the engineer overseeing the two test drive vehicles. He said I was welcome to gun it in Smooth or Sport mode, though, which I did, and the car responded like an 800hp EV.
- Before our test drive, the same engineer had to hook up a laptop to the car to fix an unspecified issue with the rear screen, I think? I think I heard him say rebooting it would have also fixed it.
- Also, another error message popped up during our drive, but the SA cleared it before I could see what it was. He said it was related to me changing the ride height while in motion (which obviously *shouldn't* be a problem). He then told me not to change the ride height, which was a little disappointing.
- The test drive was quite scripted, and I felt like I was discouraged from exploring the UI and settings and going "off script" too much.
I don't want to end this post on a down note. I was overall VERY impressed. The car is exactly what I was hoping for, in terms of looks, driving dynamics, space, and luxury.
The Tysons Corner mall showroom was swarming with people, i feel bad for the Gravity they have in there, people were swarming all over it the whole time we were there.
First, the "good":
- The car drove incredibly well. Very solid, very sturdy, very quiet, very fast. My previous car was a Model S Plaid, so I knew what to expect power-wise, and this car has that same kick.
- It does not feel huge. It barely feels bigger than the S, to be honest, from a driving standpoint I mean. It obviously has gobs of interior room. But it drives small. It's marvelous in that regard.
- The build quality was top-notch. Everything felt like it was high-quality materials assembled with care.
- The car looked great! I think anyone who uses the m-word to describe it is just flat out dead wrong. Not even subjectively. Objectively wrong. It's way WAY too low to the ground. It's shorter in height than people realize. It's really got more of a Dodge Magnum profile, but obviously much MUCH nicer, and bigger on the inside.
- The glass front / roof was awesome. It fades to a 90% tint once it's over one's head. There's no way it's going to be a heat problem. reminder: these cars do have A/C.
- Overall, visibility was very good. The front pillar didn't bother me at all.
- Plenty of cupholders, compartments, and other amenities.
- Frunk was very comfortable to sit on, as were all the seats.
- I measured the height of the opening in the back -- it is 32" at the corners, 34" in the middle. Plenty of room to fit a folded up pinball machine, which is my primary concern, as a collector/restorer.
- The Squirkle steering wheel was absolutely fine. WAY less awkward than the yoke on my Plaid. Not a problem at all. It will take people like 5 minutes to get used to, if they're not instantly comfortable with it. Big thumbs up to that design.
- Loved that there were physical buttons for a lot of the common controls -- adjusting temp and volume, for example. I like a good, responsive touchscreen for settings and other things you don't adjust regularly. But certain frequent controls should be physical buttons -- and not half-assed haptic crap, either. Lucid got this right. BIG thumbs up.
Next, the "neither good nor bad":
- The "goody bag" had nothing in it, other than a small box with a dark grey paperweight model of the Gravity. My son said "the paperweight is meant to remind you of Gravity, and the empty bag is meant to remind you of Air." haha!
- The huge directional pads on either side of the steering wheel seem excessively large, for how seldom you will probably use them. I adjust my mirrors once over the course of my vehicle's lifetime. (assuming they have memory, and will reposition depending on who's driving)
- HUD was covered with a cloth. I was told "it works fine, but we're hiding it on the test drives because it's not on the GTs, due to a supply chain issue". I suspect that's only half-true, because I've also heard reports of people saying it was grainy and unfinished when they did get to see it, but who knows.
- The SA said they were doing about 100 test drives a day between the two vehicles they had, and that the current Tysons stint was the final stop on these cars' cross-country tour. So it's possible I was seeing this vehicle in its most run-down state. If one wants to be charitable, then one can use that fact as an excuse for the next part of my post....
Finally, the "potentially worrying":
- I was told not to do a launch in Sprint Mode. The SA said this instruction came from the engineer overseeing the two test drive vehicles. He said I was welcome to gun it in Smooth or Sport mode, though, which I did, and the car responded like an 800hp EV.
- Before our test drive, the same engineer had to hook up a laptop to the car to fix an unspecified issue with the rear screen, I think? I think I heard him say rebooting it would have also fixed it.
- Also, another error message popped up during our drive, but the SA cleared it before I could see what it was. He said it was related to me changing the ride height while in motion (which obviously *shouldn't* be a problem). He then told me not to change the ride height, which was a little disappointing.
- The test drive was quite scripted, and I felt like I was discouraged from exploring the UI and settings and going "off script" too much.
I don't want to end this post on a down note. I was overall VERY impressed. The car is exactly what I was hoping for, in terms of looks, driving dynamics, space, and luxury.
