Temporary car...

[flarbear]

I'm at a point where I need something to drive while waiting for my Gravity GT order to become available.

I was intrigued by the short-term leases they offered earlier for people interested in Gravity, but I don't really fit into the Air (ingress/egress), so I wasn't able to consider that option. I'm pretty much spinally restricted to an SUV at this point. Yes, I can get into the Air to see what it's like from the inside, but the noises I make while going in and out would disturb my neighbors.

If my order was weeks away I might consider just renting a car in the short term, but it could be months to a year.

If my order was 2 years away, there are a lot of incentives out there for short term leases, but the minimum seems to be 2-ish years. Most noteably, the Polestar 3 seems like a great car, with huge lease incentives, but for a minimum term of 27 months. And, famously, Polestar is very hostile to early terminations and doesn't allow transfers. (They once had a "walk away after 5 months" program, but it was very short-lived.)

I might like the Volvo EX40 as well, and at a much lower price point, but there aren't any avilable for a couple of months (OK, one of them in the country right now, and not very local) so I can't even test drive it.

I've even shopped around for a bunch of 2-row SUVs in the $50k-ish range, feeling that I could stand to take the hit on trading that in in 6 months to a year, but every competing model has something that makes it feel "less than" in a way that I wouldn't really want to live with. The P3 is something I definitely feel I could live with (drives great), but too expensive to want to take a short-term ownership hit on, and the leasing is too long with no "outs". (OK, a used car would have much less of a hit, but all of the cars I might consider are too new to have a lot of used stock available.)

It's almost to the point of considering the 27-month lease on the P3 and then just holding off on the Gravity for that long - by which time the Earth might be available and might fit my needs as well or better. I love the Gravity, but honestly the 3 rows are more than I really need and it's more about wanting "an SUV, any SUV, from Lucid".

Wondering if anyone else is in this same category of having to make a hard decision while waiting for the Gravity to start shipping? The annoying thing is that the extreme variation on the potential time frame for the Gravity leads to huge swings in which solution works best...

 

[Ughwhy]

National, Enterprise, Budget, Sixt, and probably some others have long term rental rates (by the month) that are not far from the price of a lease. The good thing about those is you can end them when you are ready or extend it if you need to. I rented a car for three months from National a couple of years ago. I just kept extending it at the end of each monthly cycle. I also swapped to a truck for one of the months when I knew I'd need a truck for moving. I had a Hyundai 3 row SUV the first month, a 4 door Toyota Tacoma the second, and then a VW Atlas the third month. My rental rate was $840/month but when you add all the taxes and fees it came to $1297.15 per month.

Just make sure your insurance will cover a rental that long.

I had reserved an economy car, but with National you can pick whatever is in the Emerald Aisle. This was Nov-Feb 2023/24.

 

[Bobby]

I'm at a point where I need something to drive while waiting for my Gravity GT order to become available.

I was intrigued by the short-term leases they offered earlier for people interested in Gravity, but I don't really fit into the Air (ingress/egress), so I wasn't able to consider that option. I'm pretty much spinally restricted to an SUV at this point. Yes, I can get into the Air to see what it's like from the inside, but the noises I make while going in and out would disturb my neighbors.

If my order was weeks away I might consider just renting a car in the short term, but it could be months to a year.

If my order was 2 years away, there are a lot of incentives out there for short term leases, but the minimum seems to be 2-ish years. Most noteably, the Polestar 3 seems like a great car, with huge lease incentives, but for a minimum term of 27 months. And, famously, Polestar is very hostile to early terminations and doesn't allow transfers. (They once had a "walk away after 5 months" program, but it was very short-lived.)

I might like the Volvo EX40 as well, and at a much lower price point, but there aren't any avilable for a couple of months (OK, one of them in the country right now, and not very local) so I can't even test drive it.

I've even shopped around for a bunch of 2-row SUVs in the $50k-ish range, feeling that I could stand to take the hit on trading that in in 6 months to a year, but every competing model has something that makes it feel "less than" in a way that I wouldn't really want to live with. The P3 is something I definitely feel I could live with (drives great), but too expensive to want to take a short-term ownership hit on, and the leasing is too long with no "outs". (OK, a used car would have much less of a hit, but all of the cars I might consider are too new to have a lot of used stock available.)

It's almost to the point of considering the 27-month lease on the P3 and then just holding off on the Gravity for that long - by which time the Earth might be available and might fit my needs as well or better. I love the Gravity, but honestly the 3 rows are more than I really need and it's more about wanting "an SUV, any SUV, from Lucid".

Wondering if anyone else is in this same category of having to make a hard decision while waiting for the Gravity to start shipping? The annoying thing is that the extreme variation on the potential time frame for the Gravity leads to huge swings in which solution works best...

I find Lucid’s lack of transparency on the Gravity timeline to be frustrating.

 

[thyname]

It sounds like you short term lease / rental must be an EV, correct? If so, Hyundai Ioniq 5 used to do 13-month leases, but I am not sure if they still do that.
Another option is to buy a used car (with the depreciation already absorbed) then sell it again when the Gravity is ready

 

[PetevB]

I'd also check this out to see if there's an option to assume someone else's lease that looks attractive. Can get you into the ~6 months range if you get lucky:

https://www.swapalease.com/lease/search.aspx

 

[PetevB]

Hertz also does Model Ys (mostly for Uber drivers) at $40 per day in my area as long term rentals.

 

[flarbear]

Yes, I was hoping to stick with EV, preferably not Tesla (but with acess to superchargers if I need to do a road trip in the interim).

 

[borski]

Flexcar: Your flexible car lease. Zero down. Cancel anytime.

Ditch the dealership and save thousands with Flexcar: the only $0 down, month-to-month car lease. Cars starting at $199/mo. Swap or return anytime.

www.flexcar.com

Also, https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/electrified/evolve

 

[flarbear]

Flexcar: Your flexible car lease. Zero down. Cancel anytime.

Ditch the dealership and save thousands with Flexcar: the only $0 down, month-to-month car lease. Cars starting at $199/mo. Swap or return anytime.

www.flexcar.com

Also, https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/electrified/evolve

Ooh, that looks interesting. I'll have to read more about it.

Meanwhile I feel like I've been sliding into the "what if I just went with a Polestar 3 for a couple of years and waited out the Gravity launch and possible Earth unveiling?" rabbit hole.

To be fair, I don't really need a 3 row vehicle. I like to be the designated driver whenever I go on trips with friends, but I've used my current 3rd row maybe twice in 8 years - granted it isn't as nice and accessible as the Gravity's 3rd row. I'm struggling with "people say the Gravity is fun to drive and belies its 3-row SUV packaging" and "reviewers say that P3 is very sporty, nimble, and fun to drive and belies its 2-row SUV packaging" without being able to test drive the Gravity to see for myself. My excitement for the Gravity is slowly waning.

I'm an investor, so I do want Lucid to succeed and I'd love to help out with a purchase. But, truth be told, the mid-size is probably a better fit for my needs. And a 27-month "actually cheaper than buying the car" lease isn't so bad in that context/timeframe...

 

[DeaneG]

...Meanwhile I feel like I've been sliding into the "what if I just went with a Polestar 3 for a couple of years and waited out the Gravity launch and possible Earth unveiling?" rabbit hole...

I've been asking myself the same question and have decided there's no single correct answer. The Polestar looks to be a fine vehicle, somewhat less posh and cocooning than Gravity, but also at a lower price point and is immediately available - unless you want the native NACS port version or Lidar, both on a TBD / model year 2026? schedule.

As an aside, I'm drawn to Gravity's class-leading EPA range. But a recent road trip with Supercharger access in our limited-range Volvo XC40 EV has made clear that the Gravity's possible range advantage would be more of an added comfort for long road trips, rather than the game changer that it was with CCS-only charging.

 

[flarbear]

I've been asking myself the same question and have decided there's no single correct answer. The Polestar looks to be a fine vehicle, somewhat less posh and cocooning than Gravity, but also at a lower price point and is immediately available - unless you want the native NACS port version or Lidar, both on a TBD / model year 2026? schedule.

As an aside, I'm drawn to Gravity's class-leading EPA range. But a recent road trip with Supercharger access in our limited-range Volvo XC40 EV has made clear that the Gravity's possible range advantage would be more of an added comfort for long road trips, rather than the game changer that it was with CCS-only charging.

Yes, the Gravity has an amazing Cd which equates to less range loss at higher road trip speeds. The P3 is around .32 which is "meh" even for an EV SUV.

But, P3 has a 315 mile range compared to my current 8yo EV which has around 265 now. I doubt I'll suffer from road trip range anxiety even with the lower Cd because the P3 also has a smaller frontal area and 50 miles more range. Add to that the fact that I welcome a nice 45 minute meal stop when I charge on road trips, I'm not in the target group that "needs" huge range and super quick charging.

The main interest I have in the Gravity's immense range has more to do with days when I have multiple trips to mid-range destinations (100-ish miles) that are close enough that I don't feel the need for any rest other than what I get inherently by my visits to those destinations, but with a couple of those in 1 day and with maybe having to pick up 3 or 4 passengers spread across 15-20 mile radius, that can add up and require a charging stop despite not being a real "road trip". Picking up 3 or 4 people to go wine tasting in Napa can really add up the miles given friends that live all over the SF Bay Area. Sure, we can drive to a central point and carpool from there, but I'm a "door-to-door" kinda designated driver.

But, for longer road trips, 300 miles is enough for my tastes as long as I have something interesting to do while charging. Can you say "steak lunch/dinner at Harris Ranch"?

 

[DeaneG]

...Can you say "steak lunch/dinner at Harris Ranch"?

And you won't be suffering with 6 EA stalls at Harris any more. You can use one of the 98 Supercharger plugs there.

 

[flarbear]

And you won't be suffering with 6 EA stalls at Harris any more. You can use one of the 98 Supercharger plugs there.

Actually, everbody is heading over to those new high power stalls because they *must have* the fastest charging they can get. Meanwhile I plug into the older slower stalls in the parking lot of the restaurant, have less walking to do, and don't have to rescue my car from idle fees halfway through the appetizers...

 

[illopp00]

What about buying a lightly used (ideally coming off a shorter-term lease, there should be lots of EVs) BMW iX or Cadillac Lyric or Rivian R1S for 12 months?

 

[flarbear]

And DE is now available with better range (still down 27 miles from my config, but better than losing 67 miles).

A lightly used iX might be nice. I'll take a look for one.

I looked at the Evolve+ program which seems ideal, but there are no cars available right now in my area. I wonder if the program suffers from how much the dealers want to provide cars for it. I'll call the dealer I was working with and see how that conversation goes. Even more cool a deal if they offered some of the Genesis models in the program.

Meanwhile, I've become a little obsessed with the quirky sportiness of the P3. I'm starting to wonder what it would be like to become a 2-car single household. If the P3 was only about 5 inches shorter (I feel like the hood is longer than it really needs to be, but the Munro peek under there seems like it is packed pretty solid), I'd love to have it as an option for commuting and running smaller errands where parking (especially in SF) is more important than hauling capabilities.

 

[DeaneG]

...If the P3 was only about 5 inches shorter (I feel like the hood is longer than it really needs to be, but the Munro peek under there seems like it is packed pretty solid), I'd love to have it as an option for commuting and running smaller errands where parking (especially in SF) is more important than hauling capabilities.

This is why we have an XC40 EV, at 174" long, with 360-cams, native Google Maps, and 0-60 in 4.2 seconds it is perfect in SF. Just big enough, and just small enough.

 

[flarbear]

This is why we have an XC40 EV, at 174" long, with 360-cams, native Google Maps, and 0-60 in 4.2 seconds it is perfect in SF. Just big enough, and just small enough.

In terms of solving my immediate need for a new car, the EX40 is looking 7-9 weeks out on deliveries. I originally was considering an EX40, but there are none to be had and with the $20k in incentives on P3, it's similar price to the EX40 with longer range and more sporty handling. (But, yeah, longer.)

I also looked at EX30 which is so totally cute and tiny that I was nearly in love with it until I tried to get into the back seat.

 

[DeaneG]

In terms of solving my immediate need for a new car, the EX40 is looking 7-9 weeks out on deliveries. I originally was considering an EX40, but there are none to be had and with the $20k in incentives on P3, it's similar price to the EX40 with longer range and more sporty handling. (But, yeah, longer.)...

You can currently get $20K off a lease on a C40, if you don't mind the roof slope somewhat compromising carrying capacity.

 

[HC_79]

I find Lucid’s lack of transparency on the Gravity timeline to be frustrating.

It’s mind-boggling why there’s such a delay and why they can’t simply be transparent about the situation. The fact that not a single production unit has arrived at a store in the past three months of vehicle production just makes me think they’re concealing something (true or not) and are actively attempting to make it appear that this was all part of the schedule. Let's be real, they've been pumping these vehicles off the line in some way, shape or another since July last year so major issues etc. should have been identified well before now.

I feel sorry for the Sales Advisors being on the frontline and looking like fools when all they can say is "I don't know" to probably most the questions they've being asked.

 

[HC_79]

You can currently get $20K off a lease on a C40, if you don't mind the roof slope somewhat compromising carrying capacity.

This is the issue: we’re still uncertain whether leasing will be available on the first day of sales, and I highly doubt that the leasing options will provide anything more substantial than the $7,500 EV Credit. While we eagerly await Lucid to release a timeline or even a single piece of information, these other deals seem increasingly appealing, especially considering the potential savings of $15,000 to $20,000 with brands like Volvo and Polestar.

This EV Credit could be eliminated in the very near future, and it’s likely one of the primary reasons why people are jumping into lucrative Air lease deals. The longer Lucid delays the delivery of Gravity the higher the risk that the credit could be gone, and they certainly don’t have the financial cushion to offer a substantial amount of incentives given their current cash burn.

It doesn't really seem like Lucid cares though. When asked on the earnings call about people cancelling due to waiting the response came across as "we don't really care" because he said something along the lines of "we've got more orders of Gravity than we anticipated". So what, you're prepared to lose orders because you have buffer now that was above your forecasting? Every order should be fulfilled and not treated like "well as long as we hit our forecast we're good". How about smashing it out the park for once and going above your forecast!