Lucid Gravity First Drive: An electric SUV that doesn’t make compromises | TechCrunch

Lucid has spent years running on its 2nd EV — an opulent van-like SUV designed to be the class killer that might take marketplace proportion from the likes of alternative luxurious EV and interior combustion folks haulers just like the Rivian R1S, Cadillac Escalade IQ, BMW X7, and Audi Q8.

The Saudi-backed corporate’s goal was once to create an SUV with out compromise — a lofty objective different automakers have attempted and failed at sooner than. After a primary force within the EV, which has a beginning worth of $96,550, it’s transparent the corporate did extra than simply focal point on sumptuous touches. Even supposing there are lots.

The Lucid Gravity would possibly simply be over-engineering at its highest. The EV is loaded with tech and upgrades from its predecessor, the Lucid Air sedan. Peter Rawlinson, the previous Lucid CEO and CTO, who stepped apart in February, would possibly not be on the corporate, however his engineering fingerprints are all over the place the brand new Lucid Gravity.

And whilst shoppers would possibly by no means see the tech underneath the proverbial hood, they are going to revel in it.

The Lucid Gravity has as much as 450 miles of EPA-rated vary, a 0 to 60 mph time underneath 3.5 seconds, and charging occasions which can be remarkable for present EVs. The Gravity can payment as much as 200 miles in simply 11 mins on DC speedy charging, in line with the corporate, due to a brand new spice up mode that leverages the rear motor as a transformer to spice up charging.

All of this luxurious, tech, and spaciousness do include a worth. The automobile’s price ticket levels between 96,550 for the two-row Grand Traveling trim to $99,450 for the three-row model. A “less expensive” $81,550 Traveling style is anticipated to reach later this yr.

Lucid Gravity’s tech guts

Engineers running on Gravity took what they discovered from Lucid Air Sapphire and the Lucid Air, to create the corporate’s new Gen 2 machine that underpins the SUV. That features a new battery evolved in partnership with Panasonic (which Lucid says gives a 40% charging velocity development over the aggressive set) , a brand new force unit, a brand new thermal machine, and a brand new charging machine. 

In particular, engineers created a machine that permits the Lucid Gravity to payment at 225 kW on 500-volt structure (which underpins Tesla’s V3 chargers) chargers and at as much as 400 kW on 1000-volt chargers (which underpins Tesla’s new V4 chargers which can be because of roll out this yr). 

To do that, engineers used the Gravity’s motor and inverter as a transformer to spice up 500-volt charging to the battery’s required voltage with out including additional {hardware}. In addition they carried out plug-and-charge for the machine in order that house owners don’t need to fuss with fee and payment initiation at sure chargers. 

EV charging innovation

The adjustments are a part of Tesla’s North American Charging same old that got here out remaining yr. The announcement of the usual got here at a time when the improvement of the Gravity was once just about whole. 

The up to date same old required an important rethinking of the underpinnings of the Gravity when it was once kind of 70% evolved in overdue 2022 and early 2023, in line with Emad Delala, the senior vice chairman of powertrain at Lucid. 

“Once I joined in 2015, 400-volt was once cutting-edge,” Delala stated. “Temporarily, we discovered that we had to take it to the following degree,” he persisted, “So we evolved a brand new era that enabled charging thru a legacy 500-volt charging structure thru a long term 1000-volt charging structure. What we discovered from Air in 2021 has been totally modified.”

The workforce in the back of Gravity additionally made various {hardware} adjustments so as to add in redundancy, fortify its infotainment machine, and to permit the corporate to in the end upload extra automatic riding options to its complex motive force help machine. 

The corporate is the usage of NVIDIA’s Orin-X processors for AI belief and video processing for its complex motive force help machine, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8295 for infotainment, and Infineon TC397 for automobile dynamics and frame keep an eye on. 

As of late, the Gravity gives what’s referred to as Degree 2 automatic riding, a machine that automates probably the most riding, however nonetheless calls for the motive force to concentrate. Lucid is aiming to in the end be offering Degree 3, or L3, which most often gives hands-off, eyes-off riding at the highways in sure prerequisites.

Its upcoming Dream Power 2 Professional, an improve to its ASAS is coming quickly, in line with the corporate, and can be offering options like visualization of as much as 5 lanes of site visitors, curve velocity keep an eye on, lane exchange help, curb rash alert, and automatic parking.

Lucid Gravity: shipment and passenger area

The Gravity was once designed to be spacious for occupants and their shipment. And engineers and architects accomplished that objective. The internal is cavernous within with a whopping 120 cubic ft of internal area, which Lucid says is 40% greater than the nearest competitor. 

It seems an effort to keep away from fuses helped them get there. 

The corporate sought after to have the opportunity not to use fuses since they want to be ceaselessly accessed and changed after they blow, and they generally tend to take in treasured internal area which may be used for shipment and passengers, in line with Jean-Phillipe Gauthier, the top of instrument engineering at Lucid. 

As an alternative, Lucid made up our minds to make use of diffusers within the Gravity, that are necessarily digital switches. Those diffusers reset routinely when the auto is cycled off, reply sooner to shorts within the machine, get rid of the prospective error of putting in a fuse with the fallacious amperage all the way through substitute and make allowance the fuse field to be buried deeper throughout the automobile as a substitute of encroaching on internal area. Diffusers can even energy down unneeded methods and scale back parasitic losses within the automobile. 

To turn out the Gravity was once roomier than its competition, the EV maker coated up a Cadillac Escalade IQ, Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, Rivian R1S and BMW X7 available on the tournament in Los Olivios, California. Journalists have been challenged to take bins that stuffed the Gravity (together with its spacious frunk) and stack them into the EQS SUV. 

It was once an inconceivable process and with out a different shut competitor available. One fellow journalist who occurs to be 6-foot, 6-inches was once in a position to lie down within the rear of the Gravity conveniently and shut the rear hatch with none problems. 

Lucid Gravity at the street

The Gravity is huge and measures a whopping 198.2 inches in duration and 87.2 inches broad. That places the EV SUV moderately under the Chevrolet Suburban in length. Nonetheless, the automobile is very large, which is helping spice up the internal area.

Normally, full-size SUVs with that more or less footprint have a tendency to be boomy within and massive rollie-pollies at the street, making them uncomfortable to hustle, particularly on winding roads. 

Now not so with the Lucid Gravity.

I drove the Gravity from Nipomo, California at the Central Coast alongside Cuyama Freeway and Tepusquet Street, a steep, one-lane, sharply winding street, to Los Olivos for my take a look at force and it was once unusually relaxing and, dare I say, a laugh to force.  

The Gravity is heavy (6,000-plus kilos within the three-row possibility I drove). I did really feel a few of that weight at the street. Then again, after I positioned the automobile in its convenience atmosphere referred to as “Easy,” it treated freeway cruising and broad sweepers conveniently. 

I toggled it as much as Swift for Tepusquet Street, and the adaptive dampers and air springs consumed the tough undulations and curves with out unsettling the automobile, or getting nauseatingly rolly at any level. It was once so clean on that winding street within the Swift atmosphere that my passenger fell asleep.  

The Gravity will get rear wheel steerage when geared up with the Dynamic Package deal (which provides round $,2900 to the bottom worth), which provides you with an extra 3-degrees of rear wheel steerage — each in segment and out of segment relying on how temporarily (or slowly) you’re shifting. 

That rear wheel steer will increase the agility of the automobile and take in much less of the street because it drives on single-lane mountain roads or even dust monitor, which I did check out at an area ranch the place Lucid arrange a rally pass revel in for us. 

Even if driven (and sliding) throughout the dust, the Gravity stayed remarkably flat and comfy. And sure, you’ll do a little very mild off-roading with the Gravity because it will get 7-inches of floor clearance that may move as much as 9-plus inches of clearance when raised. 

Probably the most sudden issues that I preferred essentially the most about Gravity was once the so-called “squircal” steerage wheel. Having pushed different automobiles with (dumb) yokes, the squared-off circle wheel makes the Gravity really feel much more agile and responsive, and the electrically-assisted rack and pinion steerage is adjusted to be completely spot on: the place you level the wheel, the automobile is going with none mushiness.  

Lucid additionally tuned one pedal force to be so intuitive that I didn’t have to the touch the brake as soon as at the winding roads round Los Olivos. 

All in, it’s transparent that once greater than 4 years in building, the seven-passenger all-electric SUV delivers outstanding vary and potency, agility, and capability for a rich purchaser in search of an “American-made” automobile that isn’t a Tesla.