Lucid Gravity First Drive: Electric SUV that does not compromise

Lucid has spent years Working on your second EV -The -like SUV, similar to a van, designed to be the killer of the category that can take a market share of the likes of other luxury EVs and people with internal combustion, such as the Rivian R1s, Cadillac Escalade IQ, BMW X7 and Audi Q8.

Thehe Supported by a Saudi company The goal was to create an SUV without compromise – an exalted target that other car manufacturers had tried and failed before. After a first driving in EV, which has a starting price of $ 96,550, it is clear that the company has done more than just focusing on luxury touches. Although there are many.

Lucid gravity can simply be over-engineering at best. EV is loaded with technology and upgrades from its predecessor – Lucid Air Sedan. Peter Rowlinson, former CEO and CTO, former CTO, Who stepped aside in February, He may not be in the company anymore, but his engineering fingerprints are everywhere in the new clear gravity.

And while customers can never see the technology under the proverbial hood, they will test it.

Lucid Gravity has up to 450 miles from the EPA rating range, zero to 60 mph under 3.5 seconds, and loading time not heard about current EVS. Gravity can charge up to 200 miles in just 11 minutes at DC fast loading, according to the company, thanks to a new rear engine that uses the rear engine as a transformer to increase charging.

All this luxury, technology and space come with a price. The price of the vehicle varies between 96,550 for the Grand Touring two -line gasket to $ 99,450 for the three -row version. A more cheaper tour model is expected to arrive later this year.

Lucid Gravity’s technical interiors

The engineers working on gravity took the learned from them Lucid Air Sapphire and Lucid Air to create the new Gen 2 system of the company, which is the basis of SUV. This includes a new battery, developed in partnership with Panasonic (which Lucid says it offers a 40% improvement in charging speed over a competitive set), a new drive unit, a new thermal system and a new charge system.

In particular, engineers have created a system that allows Lucid Gravity to charge with 225 kW per 500-volt architecture (which is the basis of Tesla V3 charges) and up to 400 kW per 1000-volt charges (which are below the new V4 Charslars, which is

To do this, engineers used the motor and the gravity inverter as a transformer to strengthen 500-volt charging to the required battery voltage without adding additional hardware. They also implement the inclusion and charging for the system so that the owners do not have to be raised with payment and starting a fee on certain charging devices.

EV Loading Innovation

The changes are part of the North America loading standard of Tesla, which was released last year. The declaration of the standard came at a time when the development of gravity was almost complete.

The updated standard required a significant rethinking of the foundations of gravity when it was approximately 70% developed in late 2022 and early 2023, according to Emad Della, Powretrain’s senior vice president at Lucid.

“When I joined in 2015, the 400-volt was the most modern,” Delala said. “We quickly realized that we had to bring it out to the next level,” he continued, “so we developed a new technology that made it possible to load through inherited architecture for charging 500 volts through future architecture to charge with 1000 volts. What we learned from AIR in 2021 has been completely changed.”

The team behind Gravity also made a number of hardware changes to add reduction, maintain its entertainment system, and allow the company to eventually add more automated driving functions to its advanced driver support system.

The company uses NVIDIA’s Orin-X processors to perceive AI and video processing for its advanced driver support system, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8295 for Infotinmount and Infineon TC397 for vehicle dynamics and control of the body.

Today, gravity offers what is known as automated driving at Level 2, a system that automates some of the driving, but still requires the driver to pay attention. Lucid aims to ultimately offer level 3 or L3, which usually offers hands, eye -making on highways under certain conditions.

His forthcoming Dream Drive 2 Pro, upgrading to his Asas comes soon, according to the company, and will offer features such as visualization of up to five trafficking bands, curve speed control, lane change, rash warning and automatic parking.

Lucid Gravity: load and passenger space

The gravity is designed so that it is spacious for the occupants and their load. Both engineers and designers have achieved this goal. The interior is cavernous inside with a huge 120 cubic feet of interior space, which Lucid says is 40% more than the closest competitor.

It turns out that the efforts to avoid fuses helped them get there.

The company wanted to find a way not to use fuses, as they need to be available regularly and replaced when they blow, and they tend to occupy a valuable interior space that can be used for loads and passengers, according to Jean-Philip Gothier, the head of software engineering at Lucid.

Instead, Lucid decided to use diffusers in gravity, which are essentially electronic switches. These diffusers are reset automatically when the car is cashed, react faster to shorts in the system, remove the potential error when installing a fuse with the wrong amperage during replacement and allow the fuse box to be buried deeper inside the vehicle instead of entering the interior. Diffusers can also power unnecessary systems and reduce parasitic losses in the vehicle.

To prove that gravity was more spacious than its competitors, the EV manufacturer arranges Cadillac Escalade IQ, EQS-Benz, Rivian R1s and the BMW X7 of Los Olivios, California. Reporters were challenged to take boxes that performed gravity (including his spacious Fruk) and arranged them in EQS SUV.

It was an impossible task and there was no other close competitor at hand. A colleague journalist, who is 6-foot, 6-inch, managed to lie down in the back of gravity comfortably and close the back hatch without any problems.

A clear gravity on the road

The gravity is large and measures a huge 198.2 inches with a length and width of 87.2 inches. This puts EV SUV just below the size of Chevrolet Puburban. However, the vehicle is massive, which helps to strengthen the interior.

Usually, the full-time all-terrain vehicle with this type of print tend to be booms inside and gigantic roles-halomites on the road, which makes them uncomfortable to rush, especially on winding roads.

Not so with clear gravity.

I was driving gravity from Nipomo, California, on the central shore along the Kuyama highway and Tepusquet Road, steep, a lane, sharply meandering road, to Los Olivis for my test driving and it was surprisingly enjoyable and, I dare to say, fun driving.

Gravity is heavy (6000 pounds in the three -row option I was driving). I felt some of this weight on the road. However, after putting the vehicle in its comfortable setting, known as “smooth”, it handled a highway cruise and wide cleaners with ease.

I switched it to quickly for Tepusquet Road, and adaptive shock absorbers and air springs ate the rough waves and curves without disturbing the car, or to get nasty roles at any time. It was so smooth on this winding road in the quick setting that my passenger was asleep.

Gravity gets the rear wheel control when equipped with the dynamic package (which adds about $, 2900 to the base price), which gives you an additional 3 degrees to the steering wheel of the rear wheel-as well as outside the phase, depending on how fast (or slow) you are moving.

This rear wheel steering wheel increases the flexibility of the vehicle and takes less than the road, as it moves on single mountain roads and even the dirt track I tried on a local ranch where Lucid created a rally cross for us.

Even when it is pushed (and sliding) through the dirt, gravity remained remarkably flat and comfortable. And yes, you can make a very light off-road with gravity, as it receives a 7-inch clearance on Earth, which can reach the 9 inches of clearance when it is raised.

One of the surprising things I liked most about gravity was the so-called “Squircal” steering wheel. After driving other vehicles with (stupid) strands, the wheel of the square circle makes the gravity feel even more flexible and responsive, and the electric assisted trunk and steering are regulated to be absolutely in place: where you direct the wheel, the vehicle passes without any mush.

Lucid also adjusts one pedal drive to make it so intuitive that I didn’t have to touch the brake once along the winding roads around Los Olivis.

Everything that is clear that after more than four years in development, the seven-path all-electric SUV provides a remarkable scope and efficiency, agility and functionality for a wealthy buyer who is looking for a “American” vehicle that is not Tesla.