We won't really know about the Lucid Air until customers get their hands on the first production models, with first deliveries scheduled for later this month. Early reviews are promising, and the company says its second act is on track for release in 2023. That's the Gravity crossover, which will be built on the same platform as the Air, the Lucid Electric Advanced Platform (LEAP). VP of Design Derek Jenkins told Automotive News that the Gravity will be a thematic complement to the sedan as a city-living SUV, with a "strength and robustness" to its design and "respectable ground clearance," but it won't be "a rock-crawler."

We've seen the Gravity in European patent filings, in surreptitious shots from a video shoot for the Air, and in teaser images from Lucid. The crossover's relation to the sedan is clear, and it wears Lucid's design language just as well. Rumor has it the Gravity will be wider than the Air (!), but less than an inch longer.

The Air separated itself from the pack by being a sedan in a crossover world, and on top of that, an electric sedan in a year of electric pickups and SUVs. Lucid did that because it doesn't need enormous volume relative to the entire industry to be successful, and a sedan with amazing specs would be more impressive than a crossover with merely good specs.

The Gravity, however, will be rolling onto the market with a number of other electric people haulers — the Ford Explorer and Hyundai Ioniq 7 on the mass-market end, for instance, the design-led Volvo XC90 Recharge, the Cadillac Escalade EV, Jeep Wagoneer electric, Mercedes EQS SUV, Lincoln, Lexus, and Range Rover EV crossovers on the luxury end. Jenkins suggested the Gravity could be more upscale than the Air, which sounds like a Range Rover fighter to us.So far, though, only the Gravity among them will be offered with a mid-range dual-motor 1,080-horsepower powertrain. A tri-motor package lifts horsepower to about 1,300 ponies. CEO Peter Rawlinson having said the Gravity will deliver similar efficiency and performance as the Air, Jenkins saying the vehicle has to have exceptional range, which "means 400 miles plus" since it will "be a family workhorse in a lot of cases."

Lucid's already working on what comes after the Gravity as well, including another platform for vehicles at a lower price point, and a range of electric goods over the next decade that start with LEAP technology but span "a whole range of product possibilities," even those beyond automobiles.

Can an SUV be as efficient as a sedan? That was the promise Lucid made when it revealed the Gravity, the SUV in which it made its biggest bets for high sales volumes. According to the BEV maker, the SUV is now in a new "phase of development, now testing on public roads throughout the US." That means it may be pretty close to its world premiere.

Most automakers only announce public tests with lightly disguised prototypes when they want to drive attention to a new product. It has very little to do with development needs and everything to owe to marketing strategies. Just check the camo: it has the name of the company and icons for Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. People will share pictures of the prototypes on social media, journalists will write about such images, and the nameplate Gravity will receive a lot of publicity. Aware of that, let's seize the opportunity to share what we already know about Lucid's seven-seater.

It is very unlikely that a taller and heavier vehicle than the Air will present the same range or efficiency numbers as the electric sedan. That said, using the Lucid Electric Advanced Platform (LEAP) should only ensure that it will be a very efficient electric SUV. Lucid promises it will be the SUV with more electric range for sale. For those shopping for that kind of car, it may be more than enough. They will applaud if the Gravity manages to deliver more than 400 miles of range. Although 500 miles are possible, getting there will be a massive technical challenge.

The LEAP will give the Gravity the same power and battery pack possibilities. Expect to see the same derivatives as well, including the Sapphire. What may be unique in the electric SUV – at least for a brief period – is the new Glass Cockpit high-resolution displays, which will come with the new generation of Lucid UX, the company's software. The Air should get the same equipment in its 2024 model year.

Lucid initially expected to sell 20,000 units of the Air in 2022, but the production number was 7,180 units. With 4,369 deliveries last year, the company still had 2,811 to hand to customers. In Q1 2023, it manufactured 2,314 more units. Still, it delivered only 1,406 BEVs, which raised the volume of vehicles in the inventory to 3,719: 9,494 BEVs made from 2022 until now and 5,775 customers getting them in the sale period.


As those numbers already include sales in Europe – deliveries there started in December 2022 – it would be risky to say all these cars are in transit to reach their customers. Although it is safe to assume some are, others may just have been refused by their buyers. The explanation may be more complex than just that, and Lucid may prefer not to comment on the reason for its increasing inventory.

What matters is that the company was planning to sell around 49,000 vehicles in 2023 before it reduced these estimates. The Air would respond for approximately 36,000 units, and Lucid would sell 12,000 Gravities. In 2024, the electric SUV would already overtake the sedan with 49,000 units against 41,000 Airs, for a total of 90,000 vehicles. Considering the current sales pace, we probably will not see these numbers anytime soon for Lucid.


To make matters worse, the BEV maker is facing very similar issues to those that currently plague Tesla, such as paint frailty, 12V battery failures, trim defects, and more. For a company that delayed its official commercial debut to ensure the Air would be impeccable, that was a massive blow. The economy's situation and higher interest rates do not help either. It may be the case that a vehicle with a higher sales potential is everything Lucid needs. The Air would do pretty well in China – a market that loves sedans – but we have yet to hear about any such plans.

Although SUVs are much more attractive to customers nowadays, the Gravity should also be more expensive than the Air, which may be another hurdle in Lucid's path. If Tesla's experience can help us with that, the Model Y is also more expensive than the Model 3 and presents much better sales numbers. Lucid clearly hopes that this is also the case with the Air and the Gravity.

These marketing stunts usually last two to three months, so it would be fair to say the Gravity will make its premiere in the third quarter of the year. As that depends on industrial capacity and what suppliers can do, do not be surprised if it takes a little longer. That would be a good opportunity for Lucid to fix the Air issues before Gravity owners also experience them.

September 20, 2020. That's when Lucid announced an SUV was on the way, and it would be called Gravity. Much has happened in the world since then – emphasis on the word much – but precious little has percolated from Lucid with regards to the Gravity. Until now, that is.

Fresh off the social media teaser train is a snap announcement from the California-based EV brand. Save the date for November 16, because that's when Gravity "makes contact," just in time for the Los Angeles Auto Show.

What else do we know about the Lucid Gravity? The teaser post confirms production will begin in late 2024, so there's still quite some time before folks will have a go behind the wheel. The last time we heard from Lucid, a reveal in 2023 with production for 2024 was all we had, so there's at least some narrowing of the timeframe at this point.

As for the teaser photo, we aren't privy to anything we haven't seen already. A slim horizontal taillight is nestled into a wide rear gate with a distinctly narrower greenhouse above. A teaser video released in April 2023 offered a reasonably clear view of the electric SUV, and by that, we mean some crisp angles at the front and rear of a prototype in action. We were denied a clear look at the Gravity in profile, though the video did offer a far-off perspective. So while we haven't definitively seen it from all sides, we've seen enough to know there's certainly a family resemblance to the Air.

Inside, Lucid is planning a configurable people mover with either two-row or three-row seating. There will be space for up to seven people, and being Lucid, extreme performance is also part of the package. Presumably, we will learn more about the mechanicals next month, but to this point, Lucid has promised a supercar experience behind the wheel. Considering the Air is among the quickest-accelerating production vehicles in the world, there's little reason to doubt the Gravity will follow suit. Outside of sheer performance, Lucid also promises segment-leading range and efficiency.

Californian startup Lucid took a bold approach for its introduction to the world, launching in 2021 with the phenomenal Air, a large electric luxury sedan that entered a small, competitive segment of the auto market. Despite garnering tons of acclaim—including from me—the Air has been a slow seller and the brand has been losing a ton of money. Enter the new Lucid Gravity, a three-row SUV with super promising specs that will hopefully turn the company’s fortunes around.

Surprisingly, the Gravity rides on a totally new platform that was developed specifically for SUVs instead of just sharing the Air’s architecture. It also uses next-gen versions of Lucid’s motors, which are the most power dense production units in the world, and an updated 900-volt electrical architecture. In its top trim Lucid says the Gravity will hit 60 mph in under 3.5 seconds, have a payload capacity of more than 1,500 pounds and be able to tow at least 6,000 pounds. There’s an optional adaptive air suspension package that Lucid calls Zero Gravity, which will have manual height adjustments to assist with off-roading. Lucid says the Gravity has a new battery pack that’s smaller, lighter and uses fewer precious materials, though no specs have been given. Using a 350-kW fast charger the Gravity will be able to gain 200 miles of range in just 15 minutes, and it should take less energy to charge than current Lucids.

As we’ve come to expect from Lucid, the standout figure is the Gravity’s range. Lucid is targeting a maximum range of over 440 miles for the Gravity’s top trim, which not only is far beyond any other electric SUV, but is greater than every other EV period save for the Lucid Air. That figure is even more impressive when compared to the longest range versions of other three-row SUVs—the Kia EV9 (304 miles), Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV (305 miles), Rivian R1S (352 miles) and Tesla Model X (348 miles)—and those ranges are mostly reserved for the lower-powered trims.

Helping achieve that massive range is a drag coefficient of just 0.24, which matches the Model X and bests every other three-row SUV (and most SUVs period). Unlike the Model X, though, the Gravity didn’t have to resort to a slippery coupe-like profile to achieve that figure, instead going for a traditional two-box silhouette. While Lucid hasn’t given any dimensions yet the Gravity looks very long, with a stubby nose and short front overhang, a gently sloping low roofline that ends in a dramatic rear spoiler, and a generous rear overhang. Broad shoulders, big wheels that tapering roof give the Gravity a really hot stance, especially when viewed from the rear. The design of the Gravity has evolved quite a bit from the initial concept that was teased in 2020, but it sticks closely to the design language established by the Air sedan. It’s got an aluminum blade up front that acts like a furrowed brow for the LED headlights just like on the Air, and the taillights are almost identical to the Air’s as well. The Gravity’s roof is finished in a contrasting aluminum finish, with some interesting trim at the floating D-pillar. The Gravity’s doors are frameless, and the side glass looks super flush.

Space is paramount to any three-row SUV, and the Gravity has it in spades. The second and third rows both fold flat to provide more than 112 cubic feet of cargo space, 30 cubic feet more than the EV9 and only 10 cubic feet shy of a Chevy Tahoe. The Gravity also has a huge frunk, with a large front opening and hinges that hold the hood at a near-90-degree angle so that people can sit and lounge in the frunk.

The second-row bench slides fore and aft for more legroom, and passengers in the middle seats can use tray tables that deploy from the front seatbacks. The Gravity’s panoramic sunroof stretches all the way back to the third row, and the windshield flows seamlessly into a pano roof panel as in the Air. (It doesn’t seem like the Air’s annoying sun visors have been redesigned, though.) All of Lucid’s images of the Gravity show a three-seat bench for the second row, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a pair of captain’s chairs are optional.

One of the biggest gripes with the Air has been Lucid’s infotainment system. While stunning to look at, it had lots of teething issues ranging from software bugs and missing features to just plain bad user functionality. Over-the-air updates have fixed a lot of the problems, but it’s still not perfect. The Gravity introduces Lucid’s next-generation user interface and control setup, and it looks to be much improved.

A curved 34-inch display sits atop the dashboard, and it appears as one seamless screen instead of three units put together like in the Air. The left half of the screen sits in front of the driver and acts as the gauge cluster, while the right half is touch-operated and is used for navigation, media or Apple CarPlay. Left of the gauges are touch controls for commonly used functions like the lights, defroster and tailgate, and the Gravity has a physical stalk for the wipers and turn signals. The steering wheel is a new squircle shape, and it has new touchpads to control the infotainment and cruise control that look much nicer than the Air’s annoying switches.

One of the Air’s coolest features is the Pilot Panel, a separate vertically oriented touchscreen in the center console that can be hidden away in the dash at the touch of a button. Sadly the Gravity’s Pilot Panel doesn’t seem to hide away, but it’s much larger and shaped like a tablet, and the menus have been redesigned to be much easier to use at a glance. There’s a new control bar at the bottom of the screen to easily access different settings, and the base of the screen has physical switches for the climate controls and volume.

Beyond the technology, the Gravity’s interior has a lot of cool design touches. There’s real wood and aluminum trim, and Lucid mixes fancy leather with sustainable materials like alpaca wool. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like the Gravity will have split color schemes for the interior like the Air, but lots of color is used throughout and the seats have cool stitching and perforation patterns. The center console has a glass cover that slides open to reveal the cupholders and storage cubbies, and Lucid’s cute bear logo is used in a few places.

Production of the Gravity will begin in late 2024 at the same Arizona factory that currently builds the Air. Lucid says the Gravity will start at under $80,000 for the base model, aligning it with the Air, though the top-end Dream Edition will likely come in around $150,000. We’ve got our boots on the ground at the LA auto show where the Gravity is making its public debut, so we’ll hopefully learn more details soon. Fingers crossed there will be a high-performance Sapphire model, too.