It’s no secret that it’s tough going for any electric newcomer. For lots of brands, both startup and legacy, it’s been last-man-standing when it comes to just who can actually get a compelling EV product to market. And there's always the question of whether what's in the oven is even what people are metaphorically hungry for anymore. The economy is wonky, people are scared, and federal incentives to both build and buy EVs have been cut off at the knees.
Nevertheless, brands gotta keep going, no? Especially brands like Lucid Motors, an EV-only luxury brand aiming to usurp the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Lucid’s fooled around with the very good (but sometimes glitchy) Air sedan. The Air is great, but let’s face it—it’s a big luxury sedan in a world where sedan buyers are becoming fewer and fewer.
Lucid's latest model, the Gravity, promises to right the ship with wider appeal, in the form of a three-row luxury SUV.
For the next two weeks (and slightly beyond), a few of the staff here at InsideEVs will have the chance to put the car through its paces. I’ve got first dibs this week down here in Ohio, and then Editor-in-Chief Patrick George and my colleague Suvrat Kothari will get a go at Lucid’s three-row SUV in New York.
Our Gravity loans may slightly differ in color or possibly optional equipment, but it looks like they’ll all follow the same baseline Grand Touring trim. This means our cars will have a base price of at least $94,900 (before destination fee). These SUVs come with a dual motor setup fed by a 123-kilowatt-hour battery, good for an EPA estimated 450 miles of range.
Oh, and the Gravity isn’t a slowpoke, either. This thing has an electric motor at each end, good for a combined output of 828 horsepower. This quiet behemoth’s sprint to 60 mph comes in about 3.5 seconds.
This is a very important model for Lucid. As stated before, the Air sedan’s an amazing car, despite its flaws. And one of its biggest flaws is just that it's not an SUV. For the troubled brand, the Gravity has to pop off, for its own sake.
We’re all excited to put some miles behind the wheel of the Gravity SUV. What would you like to know about the Lucid Gravity? Feel free to sound off in the comments below.
