Test-Driving The 2026 Lucid Gravity, A Supercar In SUV Form

Forbes

15-04-2025

Rally racing the new Lucid Gravity Grand Touring at top speed through a dirt field.
The second EV from Lucid Motors began early customer deliveries late last year, just under four years after the debut of the Air sedan. Dubbed Gravity, the Air's successor builds on everything that made the sedan so great, still packed with Lucid's world-beating electric powertrain but now boasting the newfound size and capability of an SUV.
To many customers, however, the body shape may resemble a minivan more than a true 4x4, so to prove the Gravity's SUV bonafides, Lucid invited select media to a surprisingly wide-ranging drive program in Southern California. On familiar roads, I pushed a 2026 Gravity in Grand Touring trim at a pace typically reserved for six and seven-figure supercars. And without a doubt, this seven-seater can legitimately keep up with just about anything on the road today, with some of the best suspension and steering imaginable—not to mention up to 450 miles of EPA-estimated range.
The Gravity's long roofline and underbody aerodynamics contribute to a 0.24 drag coefficient.
That range comes thanks to a 123-kilowatt-hour battery pack, as well as the next generations of Lucid's motors, charging and thermal management systems. The entire package adds up to right around 6,000 pounds, depending on configuration, and yet the wizards at Lucid somehow mask all that mass with ease.
Of course, dual electric motors pumping out an almost unbelievable 828 horsepower and 909 lb-ft of torque help to make any car seem light. And the Gravity's straightline acceleration can undoubtedly snap necks back into headrests. But the steering, which shares many similar external supplier components with a Porsche 911, might just be the best electrically-assisted setup in the world. I even adjusted to the funky 'squircle' steering wheel quickly.
Squircle steering wheel improves visibility of the 34-inch OLED display.
The significant weight and all-wheel-drive layout may contribute to the communication from road surface to driver hand, but Lucid also brought Grand Tourings equipped with the Dynamic Handling Package that adds triple-chamber air suspension and rear-axle steering. The latter, in particular, bucks most industry trends by turning the rear wheels in the opposite direction to the fronts all the way up to 50 miles per hour in the Gravity's Smooth drive mode, and 60 miles per hour in Swift and Sprint. At higher speeds, the rear wheels then turn in phase with the fronts.
The countersteering helps to give the Gravity an excellent turning radius, which Lucid showed off versus the competition by actually bringing a Rivian R1S, (function() { function createUniqueId() { return 'xxxxxxxx-xxxx-4xxx-yxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx'.replace(/[xy]/g, function(c) { var r = Math.random() * 16 | 0, v = c == 'x' ? r : (r & 0x3 | 0x8); return v.toString(16); }); } const randId = createUniqueId(); document.getElementsByClassName('fbs-cnx')[0].setAttribute('id', randId); document.getElementById(randId).removeAttribute('class'); (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.elements.video/tr/si?token=' + '44f947fb-a5ce-41f1-a4fc-78dcf31c262a' + '&cid=' + '62cec241-7d09-4462-afc2-f72f8d8ef40a'; cnxel.cmd.push(function () { cnxel({ playerId: '44f947fb-a5ce-41f1-a4fc-78dcf31c262a', playlistId: 'cce06289-75b9-40f5-8676-50e517ab7eb5', }).render(randId); }); })(); %20-%20Cadillac%20-%20Escalade%20IQ&utm_term=new%20escalade%20iq&utm_creative=724310751020&utm_adgroupid=173068930473&store=&utm_campaign=TVM327118DIVNANEW%20MODEL%20-%20CUSTOM%20-%203%20-%20APOLLO&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAApbIaOp6zQTOyQ_iw5yAFqlLqcWdp&gclid=CjwKCAjwwe2_BhBEEiwAM1I7sXXGIxGvhC-EcAuFsH3GTiJttOn1dPjP0n5iT8LR5fbhFYBhsFLLahoC5hgQAvD_BwE">Cadillac Escalade IQ, BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV for comparison. I packed the 120 cubic feet of total cargo capacity almost full of cardboard boxes and stretched out on the flat floor with both rows of seats folded down to make room for a form-fit air mattress. The third-row spaciousness, especially, sets the Gravity apart—with more room than all but the enormous Escalade, which absolutely dwarfs the Gravity's exterior dimensions.
The Gravity's cavernous cargo capacity on full display.
Still, for skeptics like me who doubt whether the Gravity can serve as a true camping or adventure vehicle, take note. After the rip (but not roaring) road drive, I took the EV into some dirt. At first, the demonstrations included mild testing, doing donuts at low speeds and climbing a staged hillock of dirt in a horse ring.
And in fairness, the Gravity performed just fine in such a controlled environment, with the air suspension jacked up to 9.3 inches of ground clearance using an experimental Terrain mode that Lucid plans to push out to customer cars via an over-the-air (OTA) update in the coming weeks.
The Gravity looks best with the air suspension lifted as high as possible.
But next, the kid gloves came off in serious fashion. On a coned circuit spanning an enormous field, Lucid set the Gravity loose at speeds typically reserved for lifted rally cars. Fully drifting through corners, sideways with all four tires scrabbling for grip, backing into corners and sensing the computer feeding in power to the wheels based on traction and stability control software, I grinned and shook my head in disbelief simultaneously. Toeing my left foot at the brake pedal helped to initiate some rotation, though I also used recuperation to do so, which Lucid programs to provide up to 0.3 g of braking and 250 kilowatts of battery charging.
All on standard Michelin Primacy Tour all-season tires, too, not even any kind of knobby all-terrains mounted on the staggered 21- and 22-inch wheels. The performance truly stood out as impressive, even if exactly zero buyers will ever push a six-figure electric SUV anywhere near as hard while off-roading. Hauling the family up to a remote campsite seems like a much more realistic proposition, especially because the Gravity now comes with a NACS charge port to access Tesla's extensive Supercharger network. Drawing a circle of 450 miles from every Supercharger in the USA will cover much of the United States (though in fairness, Superchargers will not be able to max out the Gravity's 400-kilowatt charge capability, which can add 200 miles of range in just over 10 minutes on a more potent charger).
Efficient use of space creates a large third row.
Meanwhile, driving on regular roads before turning into the dirt reveals the Gravity's more luxurious side, from within the comfort of a smooth and serene (and enormous) passenger compartment. Lucid claims the next-gen motors put out 20 decibels less, and neither wind nor road hum appears to increase much either. The new UX 3.0 user interface works well for the most part, though some features still require digging through a few menus to locate. And a digital detox mode allows for a simpler experience, even if I doubt the seriousness of including a mindfulness app in a car.
Of course, emotional appeal still remains the most critical consideration for most buyers at the Gravity Grand Touring's price point, which starts at $94,900. Will this Lucid's obvious superiority from a rational perspective be able to offset the minivan-esque styling? Taste is certainly subjective—even if the upright design manages a drag coefficient of just 0.24. What's not a question is that the Gravity's all-around capability establishes a new era in electric SUV engineering.