Electric vehicle (EV) builder Lucid used the Los Angeles Auto Show today to unveil an all-new vehicle with some innovative space solutions that it calls an SUV. The 2025 Lucid Gravity would probably qualify as a minivan if the company added sliding doors. But we won’t quarrel with vehicle categorization much, because there’s a lot to like in this one and most of us probably won’t be able to afford it, whatever it’s called.
Lucid says prices will start “under $80,000” and offers no further details. “Production is expected to begin in late 2024,” the company says.
About Lucid
A California-based startup, Lucid is an EV-only automaker. Its first claim to fame was range. The Air sedan – the only Lucid for sale today – gets up to 520 miles between charges in its longest-range form. That currently makes it the longest-range EV.
Its second was speed. The high-performance Air Sapphire makes 1,234 horsepower (cute) and gets from 0-60 mph in less than two seconds on stock tires – something even the Tesla Model S Plaid can’t do. It’s Formula 1 car acceleration with seating for five.
But Lucid is one of several recent EV startups trying to outrun financial problems. Starting up a new automaker is notoriously a near-impossible business challenge. Several young EV builders have produced exceptional products but may not survive to see them grow common. Lucid is largely afloat thanks to an influx of investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and may need a second successful product to turn that into sustainability.
440 Miles, Rapid Charging (If You Can Find It)
The Gravity could be that second product. It’s a 3-row SUV with a range of up to 440 miles between charges. Lucid has kept performance and power figures private for now, but odds seem good that it uses the Air’s motors, which could give it anywhere between 440 and 1,234 horsepower depending on trim level. Lucid promises a 0-60 mph time under 3.5 seconds.
A 900-volt EV architecture, Lucid says, lets it “add up to 200 miles of range in about 15 minutes” at a Level 3 fast charger. But, we should note, few public chargers today can provide electricity as fast as the Gravity can accept it. Owners won’t get that charging speed often until America’s EV infrastructure catches up.
As for design, it’s an SUV, but in person, it seems to share a minivan’s proportions.
In a year when most SUV designers have leaned into angular, burly, boxy design themes, the Gravity isn’t afraid of a curve. It shares the Air’s wide, thin LED line where the clamshell hood meets the front fascia. High wheel arches over wheels that look at least 20 inches do a little to reduce its visual bulk.
Innovative Interior
Inside, though, is where designers did their best work.
Perhaps their most thoughtful innovation is the layout of the steering wheel and screens. The wheel itself is a squircle. Yeah, a squircle. You’ve never heard of a squircle? It’s half square, half circle. This one’s a bit wider than it is tall, so perhaps it’s a rectircle.
Kelley Blue Book editors are the reason autocorrect drinks.
The rectircle wheel is mounted beneath the driver’s instrument screen. It doesn’t block the screen. This may be the only car on the market where you can easily see all the information on the screen at all times.
That screen is 34 inches wide, arcing over the middle of the dash. It sits above a second touchscreen that handles entertainment and climate functions.
The other remarkable feature, from sitting inside it, is the roof. It’s one immense expanse of glass. Adjustable tinting means you can give your rear seat passengers an uninterrupted view of the stars or block out the sun.
Both second and third-row seats fold completely flat into the floor.
That gives it a full 112 cubic feet of cargo space – an immense number. But it lacks the frunk (that’s a front truck, autocorrect) that some EVs give you. Instead, that space is given to a bench seat.
Yes, parents with kids’ soccer games on the schedule, you can pop the hood and sit on a comfortable bench with the car’s hood over you like a roof, providing shade.
More Questions About the Company Than The Car
The Gravity is full of interesting ideas. Whether it will succeed is probably a matter of the company’s ability to survive long enough to make buying one practical in much of the country.
We look forward to bringing you more observations about the car when we get the chance to test it. But your decision on buying one may come down to your trust in Lucid’s future as a company.
