The Press Embargo Has Been Lifted

[hmp10]

I looked at this video of the table a few times... I'm not sure if it actually malfunctioned... I think it was actually down as far as it could go with his right knee under the table. It looks like it's resting on his leg.

Oh you're totally right! His knee *is* under it! He moves it out of the way right after he stows the table. You're totally right that it is resting on his knee.

Fake news @hmp10! lol

I think you both need to look again. The table hits a hard stop, not something like a knee. He then spends a couple of seconds looking and feeling behind it trying to find what it is caught on, something he would not have done if it was blocked by his knee. Also, his knee is off to the side, and it is below the level of the table, anyway . . . and if the table can't be put into position with a person's knee under it (he was not a giant), then it's a design flaw.

 

[DrLucid]

@hmp10 I see that it got stuck when he was lifting it and was a little wonky and he was trying to get it straight for a brief second. But it’s an easy fix before you get the car out of the showroom. Don’t think they need to postpone it for weeks or month for that small accessory defect.

 

[hmp10]

@hmp10 I see that it got stuck when he was lifting it and was a little wonky and he was trying to get it straight for a brief second. But it’s an easy fix before you get the car out of the showroom. Don’t think they need to postpone it for weeks or month for that small accessory defect.

I agree it's probably an easy fix. But my point was twofold: (1) features that you can be fairly certain the press is going to try out should have been checked before turning cars over to the press, and (2) whether easy or difficult to fix, cars at this price point should not be put into the hands of customers with malfunctioning accessories. Remember that I was not originally arguing that the Gravity should have no problems (every new model I've ever bought has had them), nor was I arguing that a wonky lap table alone would justify a big delay; I was arguing that Lucid would be wise to delay customer deliveries until as many things are sorted out as is reasonably possible. Just in Tuesday's reviews we saw a badly ill-fitting door panel, an abnormally noisy seat motor, a malfunctioning lap table, and no HUDs operating. My post was in the context of a disagreement between a poster who thinks deliveries should start now and me, who thinks the production line is not yet ready for prime time.

 

[hmp10]

One more edit to the above (got timed out again). A written review on Tuesday also reported key fob issues with the Gravity that had overtones of the Air key fob mess, something Lucid had assured would be addressed with different hardware in the Gravity. That issue plagued all the early Air press reviews, remained a background refrain in press reports for months afterward, and still plagues some Air owners today. The Gravity really, really needs to slay that beast before the deliveries land.

 

[DrLucid]

I agree it's probably an easy fix. But my point was twofold: (1) features that you can be fairly certain the press is going to try out should have been checked before turning cars over to the press, and (2) whether easy or difficult to fix, cars at this price point should not be put into the hands of customers with malfunctioning accessories. Remember that I was not originally arguing that the Gravity should have no problems (every new model I've ever bought has had them); I was arguing that Lucid would be wise to delay customer deliveries until such things are sorted out as much as is reasonably possible.

@hmp10 ,Your intent has always been clear since I joined the forum—you want Lucid to succeed and reach its full potential, much like many others here.

As for the video in question, it’s entirely possible the issue stemmed from rough handling rather than a manufacturing flaw. It did appear that the individual may have pulled it in an unintended way, which could have caused the problem.

That said, Lucid has already proven its engineering chops with the Air, a vehicle we all admire for its driving dynamics and innovation. I’m confident the Gravity will be another strong entry. Minor issues are bound to crop up, and if Tesla was able to move over half a million vehicles in 2023 despite various imperfections—road noise, panel gaps, and handling critiques among them—then Lucid’s trajectory could be very promising as they expand the lineup with Gravity and eventually a mid-range model.

P.S. – This isn’t a knock on Tesla. I have great respect for what they’ve accomplished as pioneers in the EV space.

 

[HC_79]

One more edit to the above (got timed out again). A written review on Tuesday also reported key fob issues with the Gravity that had overtones of the Air key fob mess, something Lucid had assured would be addressed with different hardware in the Gravity. That issue plagued all the early Air press reviews, remained a background refrain in press reports for months afterward, and still plagues some Air owners today. The Gravity really, really needs to slay that beast before the deliveries land.

Damn…. Couple of noisy seats, one tray issue and one issue with a fob not opening a car. Yep, best they delay for 6 months. Better yet, maybe they should scrap the 2026 model and just aim for a 2027 next year. Plays well into the “Compromise Nothing” I guess.

 

[hmp10]

Damn…. Couple of noisy seats, one tray issue and one issue with a fob not opening a car. Yep, best they delay for 6 months. Better yet, maybe they should scrap the 2026 model and just aim for a 2027 next year. Plays well into the “Compromise Nothing” I guess.

We're talking a car well into Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche pricing here.

If Lucid were to bend to your demands and deliver your Gravity in the next couple of weeks, I can only assume we wouldn't be hearing any gripes from you about malfunctioning accessories, inoperable software features, or not being able to get into the car, right?

 

[hmp10]

As for the video in question, it’s entirely possible the issue stemmed from rough handling rather than a manufacturing flaw. It did appear that the individual may have pulled it in an unintended way, which could have caused the problem.

That did occur to me. But think about it . . . this is a feature that a lot of kids will be using.

 

[DrLucid]

We can teach the kids to be gentle and they learn it easily.
with adults- when you post money and but you treat it differently from when you are trying to find faults with it by not being gentle.

 

[PetevB]

Take a look at this video review from last week's event at the 11:55 mark where a second-row folding table jammed halfway down:

I’ve read that the tray table angle is dependent on the seat angle. Meaning if the front seat is tilted forward the rear tray table is tilted upwards when all the way down. They’re using a fish-eye lens in the video and we can’t see the front seat angle well, but my take watching the video was that’s what’s happening here. Maybe someone with a car (hint) can confirm if I’m understanding correctly or not.

 

[DrZorro]

Damn…. Couple of noisy seats, one tray issue and one issue with a fob not opening a car. Yep, best they delay for 6 months. Better yet, maybe they should scrap the 2026 model and just aim for a 2027 next year. Plays well into the “Compromise Nothing” I guess.

On the topic of the tray tables...Honestly, my biggest concern with them is not the mechanism malfunctioning...but moreso that they have a "scissor point" within the mechanism. I can just see little kids getting fingers injured from opening and closing the tray.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

Respectfully, when I go to the NY Auto Show next week, I GUARANTEE that I can find numerous imperfections on EVERY Mercedes, BMW and Porsche (along with every other brand for that matter) at the Show.

Every human endeavor is imperfect. I was just looking at a recent S-Class Merc in a parking lot yesterday that had a couple of terrible panel gaps…it’s just the way things are. The insistence that Lucid is held to a level of perfection beyond humanly possible just makes no sense to me.

In the scheme of life these little things just don’t matter. No one has cancer, is losing a limb, is starving. A motor is noisy. A tray table is wonky. A panel gap is imperfect — all on a $100,000+ vehicle that none of us remotely needs to live an extraordinary life. I just cannot spend my energy on things so meaningless in the broader context.

Does it MATTER if a seat motor is a bit noisy?!? Why????

 

[Pragmatic]

Does it MATTER if a seat motor is a bit noisy?!? Why????

It can when it's your car. If every time the seat moved with easy entry I heard a loud or rough sounding motor it would start to grate on me.
My charge port does not reliably close (maybe 1/3 of the time). Not a big deal. But, having to get out of the car after starting to drive away from charging when it's below zero or snowing or pouring rain starts getting annoying after awhile.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

It can when it's your car. If every time the seat moved with easy entry I heard a loud or rough sounding motor it would start to grate on me.

It would not bother me at all at the level of the noise in the videos I have seen. We are not talking about a grating, horrible noise that sounds like something broken. There's merely a hum and a reviewer pointed out that it "is a bit noisy." Come on, that's just not a thing and if it is a thing (IMHO), it is with the reviewer and / or the person who lets it bother them and chooses to focus on it.

Your charge port door not working? THAT is completely different. It is an intermittent issue that is preventing the functionality of the car. That would bother me too and I would insist on getting it fixed.

 

[msaunders9430]

I’ve read that the tray table angle is dependent on the seat angle. Meaning if the front seat is tilted forward the rear tray table is tilted upwards when all the way down. They’re using a fish-eye lens in the video and we can’t see the front seat angle well, but my take watching the video was that’s what’s happening here. Maybe someone with a car (hint) can confirm if I’m understanding correctly or not.

Seat angle may be factor with the table angle. If you look at the 11:08 mark of this video, the tray table isn't angled up as much as in the previous video. However, the seat angle seems about the same as in the previous video. As suggested by @PetevB perhaps someone (@borski ; skip the hinting ) can confirm or refute.

Or this may be an inconsistency of table operation between vehicles (aka a flaw).

 

[msaunders9430]

Seat angle may be factor with the table angle. If you look at the 11:08 mark of this video, the tray table isn't angled up as much as in the previous video. However, the seat angle seems about the same as in the previous video. As suggested by @PetevB perhaps someone (@borski ; skip the hinting ) can confirm or refute.

Or this may be an inconsistency of table operation between vehicles (aka a flaw).

Correction: Inconsistency of operation between vehicles (aka a quality control issue).

 

[hmp10]

Does it MATTER if a seat motor is a bit noisy?!? Why????

Let's leave aside the question of whether it signals something near or entering failure mode -- something that is a distinct possibility since only the motor on one side of the car was making that noise at New York.

The reality is that when people pay well over $100,000 for a vehicle, they have certain expectations that it will convey a sense of quality and luxury. A seat motor noisy enough to have drawn comments from more than one reviewer will not meet those expectations.

I might agree that a noisy seat motor in a $35,000 car is to be expected. When we're talking vehicles in the $125K range, I think the standard is different.

 

[El Bee]

I may be an outlier on this, but I'm thinking about pulling the decals off the Gravity Dream before the PPF goes on.

I’m not a fan of the Bear badging. Declined it on my AGT and pray it is also optional on the GDE!

 

[PCorkett]

Has there been any opinions shared on the quality of the air conditioning? I found in the Air it always struggled to cool the cabin relative to my expectations.

 

[borski]

Has there been any opinions shared on the quality of the air conditioning? I found in the Air it always struggled to cool the cabin relative to my expectations.

It is much better than the Air.