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

[bryway]

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.

Tick... Tock... only seven more days left in the month

Predicting anything (showroom arrival, test drives, actual delivery to customers) is a dark art at this point. At least this forum keeps us all occupied while we test our patience for news.

 

[bryway]

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…

This makes a LOT of sense -- especially the cautious approach to rollout.

We're all "gimme gimme gimme" but are also massively online, and deeply critical of the slightest imperfection, so a delivery too soon, full of flaws, would be widely covered and a disaster for Lucid. I really want this brand to succeed, and want Gravity to help propel Lucid through 2025 so mid-size can take on the mainstream. Tesla just introduced a modest update to their midsize SUV (best selling in the industry); no significant bump in overall design, comfort, range, efficiency (that charging curve ), etc. Lucid has an opening here to do something great. Just have to get Gravity ramped

 

[bryway]

[snip...]

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.

[snip...]

From my perspective, I think they did what they said they were going to do. They could have taken reservations the day they unveiled the final production intent Gravity in Winter 2023, making people wait until November 2024 to actually configure and order. Now that would have been a prolonged period of waiting in the dark. I guess it all depends on the definition of 'prolonged period' . Years vs months

But I do agree with you. Reading tea leaves is frustrating. Their comms leave a lot to be desired.

 

[DrLucid]

As per the information I received from the DA the production ready gravities will be in the showrooms in March.
So taking that into consideration I’m guessing deliveries will be starting in April/ May.

 

[HC_79]

As per the information I received from the DA the production ready gravities will be in the showrooms in March.
So taking that into consideration I’m guessing deliveries will be starting in April/ May.

Making people wait almost half a year after opening orders is pathetic. It’s taking 3 to 4 months to get cars into showrooms? C’mon! If getting them into showrooms was the top priority, they shouldn’t have opened ordering until all the cars were in the showrooms and Lucid was genuinely ready to take orders and deliver something.

Now it makes perfect sense why the Touring is later this year. Lucid was fully aware that they wouldn’t be able to deliver any Gravity’s for quite some time after opening orders.

If the showroom was top priority then those 9 delivered should’ve gone to the showrooms. Instead, It was purely done as an end of quarter PR stunt.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

Making people wait almost half a year after opening orders is pathetic. It’s taking 3 to 4 months to get cars into showrooms? C’mon! If getting them into showrooms was the top priority, they shouldn’t have opened ordering until all the cars were in the showrooms and Lucid was genuinely ready to take orders and deliver something.

Now it makes perfect sense why the Touring is later this year. Lucid was fully aware that they wouldn’t be able to deliver any Gravity’s for quite some time after opening orders.

If the showroom was top priority then those 9 delivered should’ve gone to the showrooms. Instead, It was purely done as an end of quarter PR stunt.

Respectfully…

Tesla Model S
Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model Y
Polestar 3
Polestar 4
Volvo EX90

These are just quick off the top of my head examples of cars where deposits were taken far longer than 3-4 months before they arrived in showrooms…

 

[HC_79]

Respectfully…

Tesla Model S
Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model Y
Polestar 3
Polestar 4
Volvo EX90

These are just quick off the top of my head examples of cars where deposits were taken far longer than 3-4 months before they arrived in showrooms…

Most of these if not all were “reservations”. Lucid made such a song and dance about not doing reservations because they didn’t want people to wait. They even called out other manufacturers for doing so. Lucid has no one else but themselves to blame for setting this false expectation.

Furthermore, Air started delivering at end of October 2021 and in November & December Lucid delivered 125 with all the supply chain issues that came with it. This ramp up is worse than the Air and that’s saying a lot. At this stage of the game the new Model Y is going to be delivered before the Gravity and they only announced that the last two weeks!

 

[Blue Lectroid]

Most of these if not all were “reservations”. Lucid made such a song and dance about not doing reservations because they didn’t want people to wait. They even called out other manufacturers for doing so. Lucid has no one else but themselves to blame for setting this false expectation.

Furthermore, Air started delivering at end of October 2021 and in November & December Lucid delivered 125 with all the supply chain issues that came with it. This ramp up is worse than the Air and that’s saying a lot. At this stage of the game the new Model Y is going to be delivered before the Gravity and they only announced that the last two weeks!

I give up, you win. It’s the worst EV rollout In history, Lucid has deceived us all and forced us to deposit a token amount of refundable deposit money under the guise of calling it an order rather than a reservation. I am selling my Air tomorrow along with my LCID stock and calling it a day.

I say the above tongue in cheek…but seriously, I just cannot bring myself to get the least bit worked up over whether the Gravity is in showrooms this month, next month or in April. Nor do full on deliveries starting now or in June matter one bit in the grand scheme of life.

Volvo missed their promised delivery date for the EX90 by over 9 months — I know, I had one on order. I decided to cancel because in my case I wanted out of my Tesla M3P sooner. It didn’t stress me out for even a minute. You have the same option with your Gravity “order.” Polestar did the same with the Polestar 4 and let’s not even talk about Tesla’s promised timelines!! Stuff happens despite the best intentions of well meaning people.

 

[AZLucidGuy]

Making people wait almost half a year after opening orders is pathetic. It’s taking 3 to 4 months to get cars into showrooms? C’mon! If getting them into showrooms was the top priority, they shouldn’t have opened ordering until all the cars were in the showrooms and Lucid was genuinely ready to take orders and deliver something.

Now it makes perfect sense why the Touring is later this year. Lucid was fully aware that they wouldn’t be able to deliver any Gravity’s for quite some time after opening orders.

If the showroom was top priority then those 9 delivered should’ve gone to the showrooms. Instead, It was purely done as an end of quarter PR stunt.

Well Tesla opened Cybertruck orders and took deposits YEARS before the cars were in the showroom.

Respectfully…

Tesla Model S
Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model Y
Polestar 3
Polestar 4
Volvo EX90

These are just quick off the top of my head examples of cars where deposits were taken far longer than 3-4 months before they arrived in showrooms…

Add to the list…

Tesla Cybertruck
Tesla new roadster… $50,000 deposits taken over the past 5 years. Not a single car delivered. None in showrooms either.

 

[mnat]

Most of these if not all were “reservations”. Lucid made such a song and dance about not doing reservations because they didn’t want people to wait. They even called out other manufacturers for doing so. Lucid has no one else but themselves to blame for setting this false expectation.

Furthermore, Air started delivering at end of October 2021 and in November & December Lucid delivered 125 with all the supply chain issues that came with it. This ramp up is worse than the Air and that’s saying a lot. At this stage of the game the new Model Y is going to be delivered before the Gravity and they only announced that the last two weeks!

There’s just really no reason why they can’t communicate something. People who placed orders could have leases expiring or other reasons why knowing a rough timeline would be helpful.

When they opened the orders I don’t think anyone was thinking that March or April would be the first significant wave of deliveries.

 

[msaunders9430]

When they opened the orders I don’t think anyone was thinking that March or April would be the first significant wave of deliveries.

I cannot say I was expecting "the first significant wave of deliveries" in January or February 2025.
It would have been a nice surprise, but based on the statements below from Peter during the Nov. 7 earnings call, I'm not surprised.
Disappointed yes, because I want a Gravity Touring, but I'm good because I know what's at stake.

Peter: We need to get the quality right and take a judicious and very prudent approach to meet customer expectations with the quality as we ramp up. I anticipate we will be manufacturing ramp-up quality mindset constrained in that ramp-up, not constrained by market demand. And then we'll transition to the touring at some stage late next year when we deem appropriate.

Some communication on customer deliveries would definitely be nice. We should here something during the next earnings call next month.

I believe they are doing exactly what Peter said, taking a "judicious and very prudent approach to meeting customer expectations with quality".
A significant wave of deliveries now would be nice and yet, if those Gravities were delivered with quality issues below customer expectations, this forum and other forums along with YouTube would be lit up with complaints.

If I'm Lucid and I can choose between complaints about deliveries taking longer than some customers expect, but the end product is high quality that customers and reviewers are raving about or find acceptable vs. quick deliveries to excited customers with more quality issues than customers are expecting and reviewers are pouncing. I take the former.

 

[Blue Lectroid]

When they opened the orders I don’t think anyone was thinking that March or April would be the first significant wave of deliveries.

Why would no one think that when the CEO of the company said there would be an extremely slow production ramp (not even delivery ramp) in Q1 2025 the same day pricing was announced and in multiple interviews since?

I mean really, I get how excited everyone is to get their Gravities, but give Lucid a break…they are doing exactly what Peter telegraphed.

This is a great interview (one of many). If you just want to skip to the production ramp discussion, jump to around the 5:30 mark. And, please remember that deliveries follow production by 3-4 weeks usually.

 

[AZLucidGuy]

I cannot say I was expecting "the first significant wave of deliveries" in January or February 2025.
It would have been a nice surprise, but based on the statements below from Peter during the Nov. 7 earnings call, I'm not surprised.
Disappointed yes, because I want a Gravity Touring, but I'm good because I know what's at stake.

Peter: We need to get the quality right and take a judicious and very prudent approach to meet customer expectations with the quality as we ramp up. I anticipate we will be manufacturing ramp-up quality mindset constrained in that ramp-up, not constrained by market demand. And then we'll transition to the touring at some stage late next year when we deem appropriate.

Some communication on customer deliveries would definitely be nice. We should here something during the next earnings call next month.

I believe they are doing exactly what Peter said, taking a "judicious and very prudent approach to meeting customer expectations with quality".
A significant wave of deliveries now would be nice and yet, if those Gravities were delivered with quality issues below customer expectations, this forum and other forums along with YouTube would be lit up with complaints.

If I'm Lucid and I can choose between complaints about deliveries taking longer than some customers expect, but the end product is high quality that customers and reviewers are raving about or find acceptable vs. quick deliveries to excited customers with more quality issues than customers are expecting and reviewers are pouncing. I take the former.

I agree also Peter has set the bar extremely high for Gravity calling it on many occasions the “Best SUV on the planet.” So it had better be true when test drives and more deliveries occur. Remember, Lucid marketing is also using the lofty tagline “Compromise Nothing”.

In view of these expectations, let’s take a breath and allow Peter and his team at Lucid to get it right and meet expectations for quality and performance. That includes software performance. Tricky to do.

 

[DrLucid]

With all due respect , lucid team is working hard to get things to be the best without compromise. Nobody on this forum who booked GGT has a doubt. But as mentioned earlier by others, lucid set a precedence by saying they are not going to be like other car manufacturers and deliver soon after reservations opened up.
Even in the interview that’s shared above Peter said deliveries will be slow in the first quarter and then will increase the pace.
Just because those who made GGT reservations are frustrated lucid is not going to rush its production.
The issue many of us have is the lack of communication. If emails with communications were sent to the customers the server’s won’t crash. It’s the lack of communication which is the issue. We do need to plan. There are leases that need to be extended for some, etc etc

 

[HC_79]

I also like how the responses are “Well Peter said this on the earnings call” or “Peter said this in an interview” so just suck it up an wait.

Tell me, what normal customer who places an order is dialing in to earnings calls and trawling business websites and YouTube for interviews the CEO is doing? Probably very few!

Then for the things customers can easily find (aka Lucid’s website) it’s a completely different picture. Its orders open, road to Gravity finale, deliveries started.

Surely the defenders can see why people are getting frustrated. It seems the left hand isn’t speaking to the right at Lucid

 

[gladtbx]

Why would no one think that when the CEO of the company said there would be an extremely slow production ramp (not even delivery ramp) in Q1 2025 the same day pricing was announced and in multiple interviews since?

I mean really, I get how excited everyone is to get their Gravities, but give Lucid a break…they are doing exactly what Peter telegraphed.

This is a great interview (one of many). If you just want to skip to the production ramp discussion, jump to around the 5:30 mark. And, please remember that deliveries follow production by 3-4 weeks usually.

The longer the break, the more likely people will quote "we were on a break" line from Ross. Gravity is like Rachel, she is beautiful, but if she can't communicate clearly what the expectations are, no one can live in the dark forever.

 

[msaunders9430]

I also like how the responses are “Well Peter said this on the earnings call” or “Peter said this in an interview” so just suck it up an wait.

Tell me, what normal customer who places an order is dialing in to earnings calls and trawling business websites and YouTube for interviews the CEO is doing? Probably very few!

Statements made during earnings calls are facts being shared with those "normal customers" not dialing into them.
That's the beauty of this forum; a variety of members with various levels of knowledge.
Facts/knowledge can often help with understanding situations.

However, there are some who don't care for facts that can explain why something is occurring.
They just want what they want even if there is a known reason why they are not getting what they want.
Humans being human. "I feel what I feel, I want what I want, and I want everyone to know it whether it makes sense or not".

"Suck it up and wait"? Nope. Post away with your opinions, complaints, anger, etc. to your hearts content. Go for it. Free speech.
Another beauty of this forum that will continue as the deliveries increase. Humans being human. Let's go!

Me personally, not defending Lucid.
They don't pay me enough to do that.
Embrace the frustration and enjoy your day.

 

[msaunders9430]

The longer the break, the more likely people will quote "we were on a break" line from Ross. Gravity is like Rachel, she is beautiful, but if she can't communicate clearly what the expectations are, no one can live in the dark forever.

Ross was a dope.
I've seen Gravity. I've sat in Gravity. Rachel is no Gravity.

Seriously, I get your point.
Looks only gets you so far.
If you can't communicate, we go a problem.

 

[hmp10]

As this discussion has gotten more heated and posters have moved to their corners, I think some of the nuance of the discussion has been lost.

There is actually not much disagreement that Lucid should take the time required to get the Gravity completely nailed down. Nor is there much disagreement that Rawlinson did make it clear the production ramp would be slow and would really not get underway until Q1 of 2025. The disagreements revolve more around communications about other issues and the timing of those communications.

While Rawlinson has explained why the deliveries will come slowly, he has not explained what the main differences will be between the Grand Touring and the Touring, although final pricing has been announced for both. As we've seen from some posts on this forum, that is a real issue for some potential buyers who, for whatever reason, are facing an imminent buying decision. They can't or don't want to pay the price of a Grand Touring, but don't know whether the Touring will have the range and other features they want -- or even have any idea when those answers will be coming. Surely by now, in order to set final pricing for the Touring, Lucid must at least know what size battery pack and motor configuration it will have, two factors that will loom large for many buyers in deciding whether the Touring will fit their needs or if they need to move on now with another brand.

Also, as far as anyone here can say, there has been no public feedback from any of the nine customers who received cars at year end. That's decidedly odd for a launch as closely watched as this one both by this forum and by the press, leading to assumptions they must be under an information embargo. But, if these actually were final deliveries of completely finished cars, what would be the justification for imposing an embargo? Lucid certainly has not been shy about putting the press behind the wheels of Gravities going back as far as early test mules a year and a half ago. I don't want an early-production Gravity myself, but I am certainly interested in hearing the impressions of those customers who got one. When the first Airs were delivered at a special event in October 2021, we were hearing from the new owners within a few days, both on the two Lucid forums and in the press. It's been almost a month of silence from the new Gravity owners.

 

[HC_79]

When the first Airs were delivered at a special event in October 2021, we were hearing from the new owners within a few days, both on the two Lucid forums and in the press. It's been almost a month of silence from the new Gravity owners.

It’s because they probably didn’t go to “real” customers, it was basically a PR stunt for quarter end. Whether they’re under NDA or not if they’re employees they’ll be very reluctant to to release anything online, good or bad.

For example, I won’t post anything online for or about the company I work for. We have social media policies in place and it’s simply not worth the headache if you post something and gets taken the wrong way or goes viral.