West Palm Beach Gravity Event

[Andretex]

Just got back from the West Palm Beach event. It was nice to see the Gravity up close - Dream edition. The car is really nice. I am very interested in buying one. We did not get a chance to sit inside, that was a bummer.

On the good side, I did meet @hmp10. Nice to meet you, Mike.

Anyway I had fun talking with other Lucid owners and staff. They told us that production should start this summer. Sales should start last quarter of 2024 with the 2025 model. They did say the Dream edition will most likely go first.

I charged last night and drove to work then to West Palm and back. I drove 70 or so on the highway, AC on and 80 degrees outside. Total drive today was 149 miles at 4.2 m/kwh. Pretty good.

 

[SubSailor]

I was looking forward to seeing some people there. But ok, I will take pics. (and try to sit inside when they are not looking.)

When we went to the Casa Grande factory tour, Peter actually had the attendants remove the ropes and let us all get inside the Gravity. He and one of the Lucid employees sat in the frunk with that special adapter piece. Pretty cool. He is a real interesting person and really dedicated to the engineering aspects of the Lucid brand.

 

[xponents]

@hmp10 s visual observations on legroom and other things should be very interesting, waiting for that!

 

[hmp10]

On the good side, I did meet @hmp10. Nice to meet you, Mike.

Same here, Andretex. You're the first other Lucid owner I've met in person, and it was a great venue for a meeting. (I was already in our Air leaving a restaurant last Friday evening when someone drove up behind us in an Air and stopped to talk to the rest of the dinner party who were not yet in the car. He asked one of them if they were on the Lucid forum, and they answered that I was but failed to ask which forum and what his handle is. The chat ended and he drove off before I even knew it was going on.)

 

[hydbob]

Same here, Andretex. You're the first other Lucid owner I've met in person, and it was a great venue for a meeting. (I was already in our Air leaving a restaurant last Friday evening when someone drove up behind us in an Air and stopped to talk to the rest of the dinner party who were not yet in the car. He asked one of them if they were on the Lucid forum, and they answered that I was but failed to ask which forum and what his handle is. The chat ended and he drove off before I even knew it was going on.)

There's another forum?

 

[xponents]

There's another forum?

That forum is completely dead, it’s useless. Besides, we were the only ones to be called out in an updates release notes, so even Lucid themselves dont care about the other forum! We’ve asserted dominance..

 

[hmp10]

@hmp10 s visual observations on legroom and other things should be very interesting, waiting for that!

I was not able to get closer than about 5' to the car, and the Tahoe interior was dark in a softly lit showroom. From what I could see, though, the third-row legroom was surprisingly good, and the second row looked easily adequate, with a good leg drop and maybe some good toe room under the front seats. I asked about the toe room, but with the black carpet it was too difficult to discern. The sales guy tried to illuminate it with his cell phone flashlight, but even that didn't suffice. He said he thought it was about 5" but was not sure how far the front seats were positioned fore/aft. (Even the sales people dared not get too near the car, saying it had cost $1.5MM to build. One sales guy offered to try to open the rear hatch and frunk, but he first had to wait for a regional exec who was on a call to get permission.)

Now . . . my visual observations:

I have always lusted after that Art Deco automotive tour de force, the Stout Scarab. As soon as I rounded the front end of the Gravity and caught sight of its side profile, the Scarab jumped immediately to mind, with its blunt nose transitioning to a downward sweeping profile ending in a tucked tail. As @AirDoll said, pictures don't do it justice. It is easily the most handsome SUV I've ever seen. As they did with the Air, the Lucid design team has managed to capture the essence of another great era of auto design in a thoroughly modern -- even futuristic -- form.

Take a look at the Scarab:

Now, at the Gravity. They may be almost a century apart, but the Scarab design DNA lives on in the Gravity:

The Scarab has been called the world's first minivan, and it was America's loss that its space utilization didn't catch on until the Germans came up with the VW bus. I mean, just look at that interior. Like no other car since, the Gravity has taken the space concept that aeronautical designer William Bushnell Stout pioneered in his groundbreaking car and turned it into a visual masterpiece for our era.

To those who catch me trying to push my way to the front of the ordering line, I ask now that you please excuse me.

 

[xponents]

I was not able to get closer than about 5' to the car, and the Tahoe interior was dark in a softly lit showroom. From what I could see, though, the third-row legroom was surprisingly good, and the second row looked easily adequate, with a good leg drop and maybe some good toe room under the front seats. I asked about the toe room, but with the black carpet it was too difficult to discern. The sales guy tried to illuminate it with his cell phone flashlight, but even that didn't suffice. He said he thought it was about 5" but was not sure how far the front seats were positioned fore/aft. (Even the sales people dared not get too near the car, saying it had cost $1.5MM to build. One sales guy offered to try to open the rear hatch and frunk, but he first had to wait for a regional exec who was on a call to get permission.)

Now . . . my visual observations:

I have always lusted after that Art Deco automotive tour de force, the Stout Scarab. As soon as I rounded the front end of the Gravity and caught sight of its side profile, the Scarab jumped immediately to mind, with its blunt nose transitioning to a downward sweeping profile ending in a tucked tail. As @AirDoll said, pictures don't do it justice. It is easily the most handsome SUV I've ever seen. As they did with the Air, the Lucid design team has managed to capture the essence of another great era of auto design in a thoroughly modern -- even futuristic -- form.

Take a look at the Scarab:

View attachment 18997

Now, at the Gravity. They may be almost a century apart, but the Scarab design DNA lives on in the Gravity:

View attachment 18998

The Scarab has been called the world's first minivan, and it was America's loss that its space utilization didn't catch on until the Germans came up with the VW bus. I mean, just look at that interior. Like no other car since, the Gravity has taken the space concept that aeronautical designer William Bushnell Stout pioneered in his groundbreaking car and turned it into a visual masterpiece for its era.

View attachment 18999

To those who catch me trying to push my way to the front of the ordering line, I ask now that you please excuse me.

Thank you for the very detailed observations. If you were shocked about the third row space, even coming from a Honda Odyssey, that must mean amazing things. As for the scarab, I too noted the shortly sweeping nose, and initially thought that it enhanced the proportions very nicely. I did not however make the connection between those two, as I have very limited knowledge about the stout! What I did make a connection to was the Bel Air wagons of 57 (which i also have a model of in my room), as the short and sloping nose you can see from a front-on perspective is very similar, although the Bel Air is more dramatic. The chrome accents on the Chevy are also loosely similar to the Gravity, except lowered and made bigger (due to it being a wagon and a gas powered car, respectively). Pretty much every other aspect of the car is not very similar, though.

The shoulder lines and concave door panels, as with the Air, are simply stunning and quite easily some of the best metalwork I have seen on any car. The silver design features pair quite nicely with those, too. I'd stay firm on the belief that Lucid's design and ethos is among the best in the entire world, not even limited to car companies alone (apple would be a nice competitor to lucid in that area). I absolutely cannot wait for the midsize car, with those sexy haunches we have already seen!

P.S: What is up with that interior on the Stout?? It looks way more modern than it actually is, and those material choices are simply amazing! Only seen the exterior so far... sexy rear end it has! (it was also aerodynamic, which is how i first found out about the car 2 years ago)

 

[hmp10]

If you were shocked about the third row space, even coming from a Honda Odyssey, that must mean amazing things.

Remember, though, that I was not able to sit in the car. But from what I could see, it tracked what @hydbob had posted earlier: the third row betters the Odyssey's for legroom, but the second row not so much. One of the sales guys said the Gravity was designed to have the same amount of legroom in the second and third rows, but he was not clear how second-row fore/aft positioning affected that.

Here's the best shot I could capture of the third-row legroom, but I do not know how far the second row (second shot) was pushed forward to get it . . . or how the front seat was positioned to create the second row legroom. This is one of the reasons there is no substitute for trying on a car for yourself.

My partner and I had an interesting conversation on the way home. We so liked what we saw today that we have resolved to order a Dream Edition while they are available even if we can't physically try one on. Then, if the second- and third-row seating pose any issues, we may keep our Odyssey. (There's also that niggling worry about road trips to regions that are not well served by DC fast chargers, especially when his kids come visiting from Poland and want to explore the American outback.)

So, what would go? The Tesla Model S Plaid. It just keeps losing ground as new things come out.

 

[Adnillien]

I am curious about the the toe room in the second raw since there are battery modules under the front seats. That seems like it gives good depth for the second row but may limit toe room under the front seats.

 

[hmp10]

I am curious about the the toe room in the second raw since there are battery modules under the front seats. That seems like it gives good depth for the second row but may limit toe room under the front seats.

There are battery modules under the second-row floorboard, just as in the large-pack Airs. The leg drop in the Gravity comes from the height of the cabin and the seating, not from the lowering of the floorboard. The stacked modules under the front seats are positioned to the front of the seat bottoms, thus creating a few inches of toe space under the rear overhang of the front seats.

 

[hmp10]

If it helps at all, it is a different silver than the Cosmos Silver and is beautiful in person (I too, would not personally choose silver to purchase) and the Gravity is well worth seeing in person even without being able to sit inside it. Pictures don’t do it justice.

There have been a few silvers I have liked, especially those with brownish overtones. However, most silver cars look a little too much like raw steel for me, and silver cars are among the least visible to other drivers in certain conditions. Oddly, though, I particularly like darker gray cars even though they have the same visibility issue . . . and that has been reduced with modern cars that run daytime lights.

Aurora Green with Ojai is the combo

From what I could see from the L.A. Auto show photos, that's the combo toward which I'm leaning. And quite a few reviewers commented on the beauty of the Aurora Green. Does the Ojai leather have a slightly greenish tint? It appears to in the few internet photos I've found.

I'm seeing a lot of new cars with variants of green on the roads lately, so that must be the new automotive color fashion, as these things run in cycles. The reason I was hoping the car at West Palm would be the Aurora was so that I could see it in the flesh. At my age I can remember another fashion cycle of things green, which ran the gamut from some attractive olive-toned cars to those truly alarming "avocado" appliances (right down there with the era's competing "coppertone" and "harvest gold" fads).

Yosemite looks better but it's non leather

Now that the Naugahyde fad is safely behind us and "leatherette" is mostly relegated to low-end bar stools, I've become interested in the newest synthetic leathers. There is a Japanese company that makes a fabric that emulates leather, and it is remarkably soft, durable, breathable, and cleanable. It was an upgrade over Nappa leather on some theater seating I bought, and after seven years of service it still looks brand new and retains its original suppleness. No one would realize it wasn't calfskin except for the absence of the signature smell. Particularly for a light-colored car upholstery fabric, a good synthetic leather might be worth consideration.

 

[xponents]

There have been a few silvers I have liked, especially those with brownish overtones. However, most silver cars look a little too much like raw steel for me, and silver cars are among the least visible to other drivers in certain conditions. Oddly, though, I particularly like darker gray cars even though they have the same visibility issue . . . and that has been reduced with modern cars that run daytime lights.

I assume the Cybertruck shows up in every nightmare you have then? I very much liked the Gravity silver as it had those brown undertones you also liked, see below:

From what I could see from the L.A. Auto show photos, that's the combo toward which I'm leaning. And quite a few reviewers commented on the beauty of the Aurora Green. Does the Ojai leather have a slightly greenish tint? It appears to in the few internet photos I've found.

I was under the impression that it had a yellowish tint, which would pair quite nicely. Could you share the pictures you found online?

I'm seeing a lot of new cars with variants of green on the roads lately, so that must be the new automotive color fashion, as these things run in cycles. The reason I was hoping the car at West Palm would be the Aurora was so that I could see it in the flesh. At my age I can remember another fashion cycle of things green, which ran the gamut from some attractive olive-toned cars to those truly alarming "avocado" appliances (right down there with the era's competing "coppertone" and "harvest gold" fads).

The British have always kept it in fashion for their cars, in a similar manner to Rosso Corsa! Foreign manufacturers have largely shied away from it though, but there is a recent uprise as you have noted. Our EV9 had a green option that looked absolutely terrible, for reference. I quite like dark, olive-ish greens, like BMW's Individual Aurora Green.

Now that the Naugahyde fad is safely behind us and "leatherette" is mostly relegated to low-end bar stools, I've become interested in the newest synthetic leathers. There is a Japanese company that makes a fabric that emulates leather, and it is remarkably soft, durable, breathable, and cleanable. It was an upgrade over Nappa leather on some theater seating I bought, and after seven years of service it still looks brand new and retains its original suppleness. No one would realize it wasn't calfskin except for the absence of the signature smell. Particularly for a light-colored car upholstery fabric, a good synthetic leather might be worth consideration.

Synthetic materials are very quickly matching or even beating normal leathers (although there are some REALLY terrible ones). Air's with Purluxe feel about as good as their nappa leather countertops, although the looks are degraded (to me) as it does not develop a patina. Our EV9 also has a pretty smooth synthetic leather, though I'll miss the new car smell dearly. However, isn't Yosemite some kind of dedicated fabric instead of a material trying to emulate leather (synthetic leather)? That was what I gleaned from the pictures, anyways.

 

[hydbob]

There have been a few silvers I have liked, especially those with brownish overtones. However, most silver cars look a little too much like raw steel for me, and silver cars are among the least visible to other drivers in certain conditions. Oddly, though, I particularly like darker gray cars even though they have the same visibility issue . . . and that has been reduced with modern cars that run daytime lights.



From what I could see from the L.A. Auto show photos, that's the combo toward which I'm leaning. And quite a few reviewers commented on the beauty of the Aurora Green. Does the Ojai leather have a slightly greenish tint? It appears to in the few internet photos I've found.

I'm seeing a lot of new cars with variants of green on the roads lately, so that must be the new automotive color fashion, as these things run in cycles. The reason I was hoping the car at West Palm would be the Aurora was so that I could see it in the flesh. At my age I can remember another fashion cycle of things green, which ran the gamut from some attractive olive-toned cars to those truly alarming "avocado" appliances (right down there with the era's competing "coppertone" and "harvest gold" fads).



Now that the Naugahyde fad is safely behind us and "leatherette" is mostly relegated to low-end bar stools, I've become interested in the newest synthetic leathers. There is a Japanese company that makes a fabric that emulates leather, and it is remarkably soft, durable, breathable, and cleanable. It was an upgrade over Nappa leather on some theater seating I bought, and after seven years of service it still looks brand new and retains its original suppleness. No one would realize it wasn't calfskin except for the absence of the signature smell. Particularly for a light-colored car upholstery fabric, a good synthetic leather might be worth consideration.

My assumption is that they would be using the same source as they did for Pureluxe, which was admittedly pretty nice, but it doesn't compare with the leather we have in our DEs.

 

[hmp10]

I was under the impression that it [Ojai] had a yellowish tint, which would pair quite nicely. Could you share the pictures you found online?

The interior color board for the Gravity is shown in this Kyle Conner video beginning at 11:26. (Since there are only three of these show cars built so far, I was hoping the color boards would travel with the cars as they do the studio circuit. If they could build three cars I really don't see why they couldn't have easily assembled three colors boards.)

Here is the Ojai and the Yosemite. To me, the Ojai seems to have a greenish tint, at least on my computer screen:

At 15:11 in the video you can also see the three exterior color samples that are going to be unique to the Gravity. Again, I don't know why these couldn't travel around with the show cars:

 

[hydbob]

The interior color board for the Gravity is shown in this Kyle Conner video beginning at 11:26:

Here is the Ojai and the Yosemite. To me, the Ojai seems to have a greenish tint, at least on my computer screen:

View attachment 19014View attachment 19015

It's more tan(brown) than than Tahoe (orange) in hue.

 

[hmp10]

BTW, the three exterior colors (in the order shown in the picture above) that will be unique to the Gravity are Aurora Green, Lunar Titanium, and Supernova Bronze. The Air colors will also be available on the Gravity (except, I suppose, for the Sapphire Blue at this point.)

 

[hmp10]

It's more tan(brown) than than Tahoe (orange) in hue.

That's good. I was thinking it might be similar to Rivian's Forest Edge interior, which has a definite green cast.

 

[xponents]

That's good. I was thinking it might be similar to Rivian's Forest Edge interior, which has a definite green cast.

On my laptop's screen, it looks kind of like a light "mud" color, which is a good thing. I would have ideally liked a bit more contrast between Ojai and Aurora Green, so I'd still have to go with the Tahoe! If it is really tan as @hydbob says (but which the picture does not support), then it would look good. Is the Tahoe it similar to how it is in the Air? (which I found to look somewhat like the london tan interior of jaguars and pre l460 range rovers)

 

[hmp10]

There was another interesting feature I noticed in the showroom. Unlike the Air, the Gravity doors have "skirts" that wrap under the lower sill. This means that any mud and dirt one might pick up in off-roading will not be on the sill where it could get on one's clothes. Rivian did the same thing with their design for the same reason.