When will Gravity be available to test drive (Northern NJ)

[JackH]

We live close to the Short Hills Mall. Anyone have any idea when the Gravity will be available to see and test drive out here? Trying to stop my wife from buying a MB EQS SUV. She's getting impatient.

Thanks in advance!

Jack

 

[msaunders9430]

EQS!? OMG!

Short answer: Nobody really knows for sure.
Long answer: Some have been given a general "time of year" response from a sales advisor. Consider calling your closest studio to get a response since the availability is based on each studio. Here is one thread to consider: https://lucidowners.com/threads/any-updates-on-ggt-delivery-date.11028/

Additional threads to consider for info: https://lucidowners.com/threads/gravity-delivery-discussion.10959/ and https://lucidowners.com/threads/gravity-orders-discussion.10481/

 

[Blue Lectroid]

I have been told repeatedly that Short Hills will get their Gravities for test drives in March. That was from local sales personnel, not directly from Corporate.

 

[jri]

I have been told repeatedly that Short Hills will get their Gravities for test drives in March. That was from local sales personnel, not directly from Corporate.

I’ve been told the same, by the end of March.

 

[hmp10]

We live close to the Short Hills Mall. Anyone have any idea when the Gravity will be available to see and test drive out here? Trying to stop my wife from buying a MB EQS SUV. She's getting impatient.

Thanks in advance!

Jack

I have looked inside an EQS SUV at our local MB dealership, and I have sat in a Gravity at the Miami Worldcenter studio. The Gravity slays the EQS in interior room and cargo space -- not to mention considerably more power and sports car handling chops (according to test drives by three seasoned independent reviewers, see below).

You and your wife owe it to yourselves to see what Lucid can offer before you commit to an EQS.

If it will help convince her to wait, here are three videos worth watching:

. . . and beginning at the 12:50 time mark:

 

[Amster]

I'm waiting for this too, so please post it on the forum when they have one. Not for me, but for my cousin. He lives not too far from the Short Hills mall, and I'm pretty sure that if he drives the Gravity I won't be the only Lucid owner in the family.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

Will do!

 

[EVCar]

I'm driving a base EQS SUV as a loaner right now. The handling has much to be desired.
Could be related to the fact that the tires were so under-inflated (35 psi vs. 47 recommended).
On another note, I inadvertently charged it to 100% and interestingly did not observe any difference in braking, regen, etc.

 

[hmp10]

I'm driving a base EQS SUV as a loaner right now. The handling has much to be desired.
Could be related to the fact that the tires were so under-inflated (35 psi vs. 47 recommended).
On another note, I inadvertently charged it to 100% and interestingly did not observe any difference in braking, regen, etc.

Mercedes (all the German brands, in fact) program their regenerative/friction braking interface differently from Tesla and Lucid, which do not use blended braking. I. e., friction braking engages in the Lucid only when you press the brake pedal. In a Mercedes, friction braking can be blended in at any point, even without touching the brake pedal. You were using friction braking at 100% charge, although you would not have noticed it.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

Mercedes (all the German brands, in fact) program their regenerative/friction braking interface differently from Tesla and Lucid, which do not use blended braking. I. e., friction braking engages in the Lucid only when you press the brake pedal. In a Mercedes, friction braking can be blended in at any point, even without touching the brake pedal. You were using friction braking at 100% charge, although you would not have noticed it.

Tesla does have the option to blend friction to simulate regenerative braking when the batteries are full and/or cold…

 

[AZLucidGuy]

I’ve been told the same, by the end of March.

I was told by sales folks in the Scottsdale Studio that a Gravity would be in the studio and would be available for test drives in JANUARY… we will see.

 

[CraZ8]

I can’t for the life of me figure out why it would take 2 months to get a Gravity for the showroom and maybe a test drive unit for say ten locations scattered around the country in major population areas. I imagine the factory has converted to an 80 percent gravity run since these are produced on the same production line correct? And even considering a slow ramp up how long to produce 20 cars designated for dealers ( I mean shouldn’t this be your first priority, priming the pump for sales?) they are producing Gravitys now. It should be two weeks not two months. Lost opportunities for sure.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

Because they are not fully ramped up for Gravity production. The first production Gravities went to folks very close to the organization…employees, their family and friends. People who understand there will be rough edges, incomplete software, rattles, panel gap issues, etc. Based on feedback from them and early reviews of vehicles at that level of readiness from a select group of auto press reviewers (who also understood that these were near final versions, but not customer ready vehicles) they are making tweaks and adjustments.

The NEXT group of vehicles are the ones that are going to studios for test drives (as opposed to the few out there at various locations that are for show only) and THEY ARE NOT ALL FINISHED YET.

Only THEN are actual, final production cars going to start being delivered to customers…likely in the late March / April time frame.

Peter Rawlinson has telegraphed this numerous times in numerous interviews going back to the early Fall of last year. Lucid learned from the launch of Air NOT to deliver vehicles to end users until they are really dialed in and so they opted for this slow roll out this time. What is amazing to me is that many of the very same folks that chastised Lucid for delivering Air too early with too many bugs, incomplete functionality, hardware issues, etc. are now complaining that the launch of Gravity is taking too long.

Talk about damned if you do and damned if you don’t?!? Folks, you cannot have it both ways.

And to those who will jump on this post with “that would be fine if Lucid just clearly communicated this.” They did, through the CEO of the company in at least three public interviews that I’ve seen. We may not like having to wait for Gravity to be available, but perhaps that is the lesser of the evils considering how lambasted Lucid was (perhaps rightly so) for its initial roll out of Air…

 

[hmp10]

The first production Gravities went to folks very close to the organization…employees, their family and friends. People who understand there will be rough edges, incomplete software, rattles, panel gap issues, etc. Based on feedback from them and early reviews of vehicles at that level of readiness from a select group of auto press reviewers (who also understood that these were near final versions, but not customer ready vehicles) they are making tweaks and adjustments . . . .

Lucid learned from the launch of Air NOT to deliver vehicles to end users until they are really dialed in and so they opted for this slow roll out this time.

If both are true, those two statements are contradictory and might suggest a problem.

Remember that Lucid held a highly-publicized event on December 30 bannered as the start of deliveries to customers of their cars. If those cars were not the delivery of final production versions of their cars to real end users, Lucid has possibly left itself open to a class action strike suit by an enterprising lawyer for material misrepresentations to the market.

I have said several times and still agree that Lucid should not repeat the missteps of the premature Air deliveries with the Gravity.

Nor should they pretend that real deliveries have started when they have not just to meet some self-imposed publicity deadline.

I think there would be real wisdom in putting some late pre-production cars in the hands of regular customers to gather feedback for final production tweaking, if that is, in fact, what is happening. But Lucid's marketing effort can sometimes get ahead of itself.

In this case, suggesting that real deliveries of final cars has started and then going radio silent to all others who have placed orders is creating more consternation than just saying that deliveries will not start until everything is nailed down.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

If both are true, those two statements are contradictory and might suggest a problem.

Remember that Lucid held a highly-publicized event on December 30 bannered as the start of deliveries to customers of their cars. If those cars were not the delivery of final production versions of their cars to real end users, Lucid has possibly left itself open to a class action strike suit by an enterprising lawyer for material misrepresentations to the market.

I have said several times and still agree that Lucid should not repeat the missteps of the premature Air deliveries with the Gravity.

Nor should they pretend that real deliveries have started when they have not just to meet some self-imposed publicity deadline.

I think there would be real wisdom in putting some late pre-production cars in the hands of regular customers to gather feedback for final production tweaking, if that is, in fact, what is happening. But Lucid's marketing effort can sometimes get ahead of itself.

In this case, suggesting that real deliveries of final cars has started and then going radio silent to all others who have placed orders is creating more consternation than just saying that deliveries will not start until everything is nailed down.

Those first deliveries were REAL. The people getting those cars paid for them and they came off of the production line. That does not mean that following those deliveries they cannot (or should not) make tweaks based on feedback of those initial production models.

MANY manufacturers of complex products use a similar strategy when ramping up new productions / production methods.

And again, Peter Rawlinson has been explicit about what is going on (as I laid out in my previous post). I understand from so many of your posts how frustrating you have found this process and feel for you, however from my perspective, the company is broadly following the roadmap it laid out months ago.

 

[msaunders9430]

I don't recall reading any feedback from employees, families, or friends who received a Gravity that it was a "near final version" or not "customer ready".
The Gravities provided to reviewers were pre-production versions. Kyle Connor stated that. So, we're talking about two different groups here: reviewers with pre-production versions and early customers with final versions.

As for tweaks, we know those are inevitable for the production versions.

As for taking 2 months to get production versions to studios, unless you're in the industry, you may not be able to "figure out" why it takes 2 months.
It is possible that Lucid is using the feedback from the 9 Gravities delivered at the end of 2024 to make tweaks to those headed to studios.
Only Lucid knows. Some have posted they were told their studios would have studio models this month which makes it within 1 month of the first customer deliveries.

IMO, radio silence is unacceptable. And yet, we know the communication between Lucid marketing and studio sales staff can use some improvement. Also unacceptable.
Taking 2 months to make tweaks is not.
Members not being able to figure out why it takes 2 months is not a Lucid issue. It's a member issue that few of us can probably help with.

 

[msaunders9430]

We live close to the Short Hills Mall. Anyone have any idea when the Gravity will be available to see and test drive out here? Trying to stop my wife from buying a MB EQS SUV. She's getting impatient.

Thanks in advance!

Jack

You probably know already, but you could do a short term lease on the EQS if you need a car now or your wife is ready to get the buyer process done.

Lease for 18 months. Gravity s/b ready by then. I'm not a fan of leasing, but if I was in your position, I'd lease since I know there's another car I may like better and which may meet my needs better.

 

[hmp10]

IMO, radio silence is unacceptable. And yet, we know the communication between Lucid marketing and studio sales staff can use some improvement. Also unacceptable.
Taking 2 months to make tweaks is not.
Members not being able to figure out why it takes 2 months is not a Lucid issue. It's a member issue that few of us can probably help with.

Exactly.

As I've posted several times, I got an early-production Air, and I don't want an early-production Gravity for just the reasons that Lucid is now doing a slow rollout -- something with which I entirely agree.

It's not the manufacturing schedule that bothers me. It's the communication about other issues.

We should remember that Lucid said it was not going to take reservations for the Gravity but instead go straight to orders so that customers would not have prolonged periods of waiting in the dark. And there have been some odd moments along the way if that were the goal.

Lucid announced pricing for both the Grand Touring and the Touring, but they opened orders only for the Grand Touring. Announcing pricing for both suggests a pretty good idea of the content differences between the two, but absolutely nothing has been disclosed on that front. Yet people who know they want a Gravity but would prefer or can only afford the less expensive model if its content were acceptable have no idea whether to wait the year or so Lucid is saying it will take the Touring to arrive. When will they know the specs of the Touring and thus whether to wait to order, especially if they're dealing with lease timing on other vehicles or have other pressing needs?

And then there's the small but interesting issue about Lunar Titanium, a color that has been on the show circuit for over a year. Why is it not yet available to order? And when will it be?

And why were delivery advisors contacting people within hours of orders being placed to say they were available to answer questions but then have absolutely no information that wasn't on the Lucid website -- and sometimes not even that?

 

[hmp10]

I don't recall reading any feedback from employees, families, or friends who received a Gravity that it was a "near final version" or not "customer ready".

Have you seen any feedback at all other than impressions conveyed to a forum member during a lunch? My impression is that they're under a press embargo for some reason.

 

[msaunders9430]

Have you seen any feedback at all other than impressions conveyed to a forum member during a lunch? My impression is that they're under a press embargo for some reason.

None.
Only the impressions you referenced.