Lucid Motors has started rolling out its second product line and the all-new Gravity line is likely to determine whether the struggling start-off takes to the air or comes crashing back to earth. The first version of the electric SUV will start at $96,550, with lower-priced trims to follow late next year.
The Lucid Gravity will go up against the Tesla Model X, Rivian R1S and other 3-row EVs coming from the likes of Cadillac, BMW and others.
As legend has it, Sir Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity when an apple fell on his head. EV startup Lucid Motors hopes to defy that law by getting a big lift from the new Gravity SUV that is just now starting to roll off the company’s U.S. assembly line.
“Today marks an exciting landmark for our company,” Lucid announced in a tweet on X, the former Twitter. “Production of the Lucid Gravity is now underway at our factory in Arizona.”
Gravity is Lucid’s second product line and, according to industry analysts, is destined to be its most important, targeting a much larger potential market than the original Lucid Air sedan. That said, Gravity is itself seen as a bridge product with the even more critical – and affordable Earth SUV – expected to reach market around 2026.
What it is
The Lucid Gravity will be offered in multiple trim packages, with different seating and powertrain configurations.
Lucid’s first offering, the Air sedan, has generated solid reviews but only marginal sales, the Irvine, California-based automaker on track to deliver around 9,000 this year.
Targeting competitors such as the Tesla Model X, Gravity will be offered in a variety of configurations, including two-row, five-seat and three-row, seven-seat cabins. There’ll be a number of different trim packages and, as with the Air sedan, buyers will have a variety of different powertrain options to choose from.
That could see packages making as much as 1,000 horsepower – or more – and delivering in the mid-400 miles of range, depending upon the battery pack.
At launch, Lucid will offer the Grand Touring package which will come in a three-row configuration and draw power from a twin-motor driveline producing a combined 800-hp, it revealed.
Pricing
The Gravity has a range of 440 miles on a full charge, although not with people in the frunk.
Lucid is again targeting the premium segment of the EV market with Gravity, and high-line versions to come are expected to push well above the $100,000 mark, company officials have indicated, keeping it much in line with what Tesla has done with the Model X.
At the other end, Lucid will add an entry Touring package that is expected to start at $79,900 once it joins the line-up late in 2025. Add to that $1,650 in delivery fees.
The initial product line, the Gravity Grand Touring, will come in at a starting price of $96,550 plus delivery fees, the automaker now has confirmed. It is a well-equipped package, like the Air Grand Touring, with a 440-mile EPA-estimated range. That’s more than what the Tesla SUV, as well as the Rivian R1S SUV can deliver, making it the longest-range all-electric crossover available in the U.S.
More Lucid News
- Price Cuts – and Saudi Cash – Shore Up Lucid
- First Look: Lucid Gravity
- Lucid’s Model Y Fighter, the Earth, Set to Launch in Late 2026
What’s next for Lucid
Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson’s big bet will come with the launch of the smaller, more affordable Earth in a couple years.
While the first retail versions of the Gravity SUV are now rolling down the Arizona assembly line Lucid hasn’t said when it plans to hand keys over to the first buyers. That’s not expect to happen until sometime next month.
Over the course of the next year the automaker will accelerate production and, late in 2025, add still more variants, including an extreme performance model that should reach 1,000 hp or more, in line with the top Air trim packages.
But, even by bringing out an SUV, Lucid isn’t expected to get into the mainstream with the current pricing plans for Gravity. Tesla, the giant of the electric vehicle market, doesn’t release sales numbers for its biggest SUV but combines them with the original Model S sedan and new Cybertruck pickup. Based on what it has released Model X sales are forecast to be in the low 5-figure range this year.
Defying Gravity
If anything, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson and other officials have billed Gravity as the vehicle that generates broader awareness for the brand and enough new revenue to shore up its bottom line until the truly mid-market Lucid Earth arrives.
The company has been running deeply in the red, with a net loss of $950 million during the third quarter and another large deficit forecast for the final three months of the year. Lucid’s cash horde has been dwindling, slipping to $1.9 billion at the end of September. It has continued operations primarily with the backing of an investment group led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund. The oil-rich kingdom now holds a majority stake in Lucid. Investors have taken a beating this year. Lucid stock now down by half since the beginning of 2024.
Observers now expect to see Lucid reduce the cash burn associated with launching Gravity. But it will still be spending heavily on its planned Model Y fighter.
“We’re already competing with Tesla,” Rawlinson said during a second-quarter earnings call in May. “But, wait until our midsize comes out in late ’26; that’s when we’ll have a car at $48,000-$50,000, and that is the big one, the one that’s going to be really exciting.”
At 79.900 to 100,000 they will continue to be a niche player.