Over a week with Gravity, my thoughts

[HC_79]

Hell yeah! Good work @HC_79 !! When can we expect your own YouTube channel?

I don’t think I have the time or patience

Maybe some short vids here or there, we’ll see . Currently coordinating a charging speed / curve video that people seem to be asking for. Seems they thought Kyle’s was controlled by Lucid so not necessarily what we’ll see in the real world. Some 400kW NACS chargers have opened nearby.

 

[privacylaw]

@HC_79 do you have any early assessment of range? miles/kwh or pure distance?

For context - I've got a 240 mile trip that I do often. San Jose, CA to Kings Beach, CA (SF Bay Area to North Lake Tahoe). 240 miles and from altitude of 30 ft. to 6200 ft. My primary purpose in purchasing the Gravity is that I BELIEVE that it will be the first SUV (non-escalade) that can make the trip holding 80mph on the highways, without stopping to charge. I also BELIEVE that I'll need to see over 400+ in rated range to make it happen.

Now I know you've not done this drive, and I know you have the DE which has less range than the DT with smallest wheels, but I'd love your thoughts since you're one of a few on the west coast driving a Lucid Gravity.

 

[hydbob]

@HC_79 do you have any early assessment of range? miles/kwh or pure distance?

For context - I've got a 240 mile trip that I do often. San Jose, CA to Kings Beach, CA (SF Bay Area to North Lake Tahoe). 240 miles and from altitude of 30 ft. to 6200 ft. My primary purpose in purchasing the Gravity is that I BELIEVE that it will be the first SUV (non-escalade) that can make the trip holding 80mph on the highways, without stopping to charge. I also BELIEVE that I'll need to see over 400+ in rated range to make it happen.

Now I know you've not done this drive, and I know you have the DE which has less range than the DT with smallest wheels, but I'd love your thoughts since you're one of a few on the west coast driving a Lucid Gravity.

Having driven this car with no regards to efficiency I truly believe that your trip.would not be an issue at all.

 

[9point81]

@HC_79 do you have any early assessment of range? miles/kwh or pure distance?

For context - I've got a 240 mile trip that I do often. San Jose, CA to Kings Beach, CA (SF Bay Area to North Lake Tahoe). 240 miles and from altitude of 30 ft. to 6200 ft. My primary purpose in purchasing the Gravity is that I BELIEVE that it will be the first SUV (non-escalade) that can make the trip holding 80mph on the highways, without stopping to charge. I also BELIEVE that I'll need to see over 400+ in rated range to make it happen.

Now I know you've not done this drive, and I know you have the DE which has less range than the DT with smallest wheels, but I'd love your thoughts since you're one of a few on the west coast driving a Lucid Gravity.

I just drove mine on a 200 mile trip with some elevation changes (nothing compared to yours tho) and moving at whatever speed I cruised comfortably, which may or may not be exactly allowed, and with my GT config on Lucid giving an estimated 385 miles of range, this car still had about 44% of the battery left. It should be able to handle your trip one way pretty handily. Extremely efficient!

 

[HC_79]

@HC_79 do you have any early assessment of range? miles/kwh or pure distance?

For context - I've got a 240 mile trip that I do often. San Jose, CA to Kings Beach, CA (SF Bay Area to North Lake Tahoe). 240 miles and from altitude of 30 ft. to 6200 ft. My primary purpose in purchasing the Gravity is that I BELIEVE that it will be the first SUV (non-escalade) that can make the trip holding 80mph on the highways, without stopping to charge. I also BELIEVE that I'll need to see over 400+ in rated range to make it happen.

Now I know you've not done this drive, and I know you have the DE which has less range than the DT with smallest wheels, but I'd love your thoughts since you're one of a few on the west coast driving a Lucid Gravity.

Shouldn't be an issue at all. On a recent road trip I did the dynamic range was reporting 300+ miles which included elevation of around 1500 ft and I doing around 75 to 80mph. My range is fluctuating quite a lot as per @hydbob, I'm not really driving it with efficiency in mind and am seeing anything from 2.6 to 3.1 miles per kW

 

[BS8899]

Shouldn't be an issue at all. On a recent road trip I did the dynamic range was reporting 300+ miles which included elevation of around 1500 ft and I doing around 75 to 80mph. My range is fluctuating quite a lot as per @hydbob, I'm not really driving it with efficiency in mind and am seeing anything from 2.6 to 3.1 miles per kW

That sounds rather optimistic.....seems marginal to me @80mph/6,500 ft elevation change/winter weather/loaded SUV. I'd love to hear about the actual achievable range under these conditions. Getting there from San Jose to Tahoe is the problem. Coming home should be a breeze!

 

[privacylaw]

Thanks for the responses which echo my hopes. Would love any science that people are seeing. SOC, Kwh, altitude, distance, remaining charge. I use ABRP but and have asked them to add Gravity but for some reason it's been months without a response. Normally they are really good at adding cars quickly.

 

[bicycleguy]

Thanks for the responses which echo my hopes. Would love any science that people are seeing. SOC, Kwh, altitude, distance, remaining charge. I use ABRP but and have asked them to add Gravity but for some reason it's been months without a response. Normally they are really good at adding cars quickly.

The lack of an OBD port probably is the reason.

 

[jrreno]

The lack of an OBD port probably is the reason.

The Gravity doesn’t have an OBD port?

 

[Ron_Burgundy]

The Gravity doesn’t have an OBD port?

I believe it just has an Ethernet port somewhere, if I remember correctly. But no OBD.

 

[borski]

The Gravity doesn’t have an OBD port?

Same as Air. No classic OBD-II port.

 

[TahoeMichael]

That sounds rather optimistic.....seems marginal to me @80mph/6,500 ft elevation change/winter weather/loaded SUV. I'd love to hear about the actual achievable range under these conditions. Getting there from San Jose to Tahoe is the problem. Coming home should be a breeze!

I regularly do a very similar drive (SF to Tahoe City, 199 miles), and I'll be very interested to hear the first report of someone going from the SF Bay to North Lake Tahoe in a Gravity. By the numbers, I'd think it should do it without a charging stop. It'll certainly manage if a person is willing to drive slower than 80. My hope is that it manages after there's 10% battery degradation, and cold winter weather between Sacramento and Tahoe.

 

[Ron_Burgundy]

Okay, picked mine up this morning. Haven't had it for a week, but got to drive back about 200 miles - mainly highway, and have a ton of thoughts. I will start with stuff I haven't heard or read in my months/years of scavenging the inter web for every crumb of information on Gravity. I won't gush as much as others but not because I don't LOVE it - I just agree 100% with what many others have said about it. For context, I just drove our 2022 X last Friday on the same route I took the Gravity today and drove our R1S on a similar route a couple of days ago (long story).

Stuff I didn't know/hadn't heard:

1) Seeing out the back - Because of how the car slopes down in the back, and the placement of the brake light, it's a little weird looking at the rear view mirror. It's easy to see out the book, it's just the field of view is somewhat limited by the "overhang" of the downward slope. Granted, I am very used to my R1S which is higher and has a boxier rear window.

2) Front Windshield Gear - I have DDPro, so this may differ if you don't. I also did a demo drive, so this wasn't my first time in the Gravity. The areas that houses the cameras on the windshield is very large. Much larger than our X or R1S. The X has a similar windshield, but I actually found the housing on the Gravity to be a bit in the way. Not awful, but noticeable. Far more noticeable to me than the A pillars - which weren't an issue. It may be how I sit in the car, but I have to measure the box on the windshield - it's BIG.

3) That Windshield - I had posted asking why people would get shades...well, 200 miles back on an 88 degree day with the sun right overhead - it was HOT. Noticeabley hotter near the glass above your head. I've never noticed it in my X (which has "normal" factory tinting there) or my R1S - the glass doesn't even get that hot. But it gets hot on the Gravity. I am short (5'7"), and I had A/C on, so it's fine, and not a deal breaker at all, but I was surprised at the difference between the Gravity glass and the Tesla and Rivian.

4) Third Row - Pretty tough to get down (at first). Apparently, there are cables in the assembly that will appropriately loosen with use - but I thought I was going to break the handle or was "doing it wrong" when SA was showing me. The studio Gravity in Tysons was very easy to operate - likely because it's been done hundred of times.

Random thoughts:

1) Quiet - yes, it's really quiet, I noticed a lot less wind noise than I did in my X and R1S with effectively the same conditions. I't like a vault and it's awesome.
2) Interior - 12+ years of driving Teslas and a Rivian, I had TOTALLY forgotten what. an interior could be like. The interior is really nice (I have Tahoe), materials are great and it's just right. Not over the top, but luxurious (to me) and feels high end.
3) Space - others have said this, but it's just remarkable how "small" it looks on the outside and next to our X and R1S, but how much bigger it is inside. Gave the kids a ride tonight and felt like I was a limo driver. Again, it's been said, but worth repeating - really amazing space.
4) Ergonomics - Again, I am not tall, but all of the screens are well within reach and it's easy to get to the pilot panel while resting your right arm on the armrest. They clearly had this in mind when designing it. Easy to reach everything from the driver's seat and really, really amazing seats.
5) DDPro - Admittedly, I still can't really understand the difference between premium and pro except pro will be hands free one day. That said, after the anticipated 20-30 mile calibration, I was able to use it and it was great. I would say it's much better than the R1S G1 I have - smoother, more confident, etc. Seemed just as "confident" and in control as my Tesla FSD. I think it's better than the first gen of the Tesla several years ago, but it only looks at the lanes on each side of you (or at least that's all it shows), so not sure what it's picking up.
6) Lane Biasing - This was really cool and I wish Tesla did this (and Rivian). I was driving and there was one of those smallish SUVs towing a small trailer crammed with all sorts of crap and it was bouncing and swerving on my left. DDPro said something like "adjusting position to the right" to let me know it was biasing to the right side of my lane to stay away from the junkyard trailer. Later, when a semi was on my right and had its left wheels right on the lane line, it told me it was biasing left and did a great job.
7) Audio - I have SSPro. I love music and I haven't heard the regular system. It sounds great - but I will say, I really couldn't hear the difference between Tidal (which I signed up for just to test the SSPro) and Spotify. I tried all the songs folks suggested. The only time I noticed the speakers being amazing was during the Sanctuary mode with waves, etc. Again, maybe I am not picky enough - sounds great, but I don't think I need to keep Tidal.
8) Blind spot cameras - The quality is somewhere between my Rivian and my X. The Rivian uses an awful few/placement, plus its camera is not great. Tesla's camera is clearly higher quality than Lucid's - or at least it appears that way now. But, Lucid's is perfectly good for what I need it for, very clear, solid frame rate, etc.
9) Interace - Very snappy and quick. Now, I will say, our X is also snappy. Our R1S is horrendous - like 3-5 seconds or more to load screens it hasn't cached.
10) Bugs - I do have some, nothing huge (yet) and will post on the bugs thread.

Okay, general day 1 thoughts. The ride is perfect (to me) great handling, etc. Many folks have written far more eloquently about the driving dynamics. Really excited and love, love the car!

 

[msaunders9430]

1) Seeing out the back - Because of how the car slopes down in the back, and the placement of the brake light, it's a little weird looking at the rear view mirror. It's easy to see out the book, it's just the field of view is somewhat limited by the "overhang" of the downward slope. Granted, I am very used to my R1S which is higher and has a boxier rear window.

Completely agree. I spent time positioning my side view mirrors to help extend my rear view in conjunction with the rear view mirror. When the third row head rests are up, the view is narrowed some, but doable. Just a mental adjustment.

4) Third Row - Pretty tough to get down (at first). Apparently, there are cables in the assembly that will appropriately loosen with use - but I thought I was going to break the handle or was "doing it wrong" when SA was showing me. The studio Gravity in Tysons was very easy to operate - likely because it's been done hundred of times.

It took me some time to figure out the folding/unfolding. I was tugging at the handles with no movement. Then I realized the folding is a pull along with a lift of bottom of the seat. Same the unfolding. The manual describes the action, but as is the case, the learning doesn't really come until the doing.

5) DDPro - Admittedly, I still can't really understand the difference between premium and pro except pro will be hands free one day. That said, after the anticipated 20-30 mile calibration, I was able to use it and it was great. I would say it's much better than the R1S G1 I have - smoother, more confident, etc. Seemed just as "confident" and in control as my Tesla FSD. I think it's better than the first gen of the Tesla several years ago, but it only looks at the lanes on each side of you (or at least that's all it shows), so not sure what it's picking up.

DDPro remains uncharted territory for now. Until I get the ppf and ceramic coating done, I'm staying off highways. I did have to turn off the haptic feedback with the Lane Departure Protection feature; no intervention needed, just the warning.

 

[Ron_Burgundy]

One other thing on DDPRo - I like that it seems to be able to be engaged anywhere and it’s not afraid of tunnels or construction. The R1S G1 only engages on “known highways” in its memory and makes you take over when you go under anything larger than a small overpass and disengages if there’s any construction - even if there are lines.

I was pleasantly surprised by DDPro. No, it’s not FSD, but the only time I really need or want assisted driving like that is on highways and it seemed to do fine there.