Not content simply launching an all-new EV with more than 1,000 horsepower and expected EPA range of more than 500 miles, the mad geniuses at Lucid Motors are cooking up a new SUV, because of course they are, and today’s market dictates they offer one. It’s called the Lucid Gravity.
Little official information is available at this point beyond these two key items: First, the Gravity looks wider and will of course be much taller than the Lucid Air sedan, but it will sit on the same stretched-wheelbase skateboard platform so the SUV/CUV’s length should be close to identical. (Perhaps somebody whispered in our ear that the Gravity is less than an inch (15 mm) longer than the Air—who’s to say?) Second, VP of Design Derek Jenkins is an off-roading enthusiast who has built a hot-rod VW-powered dune buggy, so it’s safe to assume the Gravity will have some serious off-road chops.
In the carefully lit teaser shots Lucid released, both the grille and rear end have been obscured. You can be absolutely certain that the front will have the same (or damn close enough) light signature as the Air. When you’re establishing an all-new brand, the vehicles need to look alike, or at least design teams feel strongly that they do. We’d guess that the Gravity’s intake openings up front will be larger than those on the Air, if only because there’s more mass on the snout. Also, an SUV is likely heavier and certainly blockier than a sedan, so the motors may need additional cooling to work harder. It also looks like the massive piece of glass that forms both windshield and roof is carried over from the Air, although we expect, as on the Air, a metal roof will also be available.
You also can’t see exactly what’s going on out back, but the massive clamshell opening from the Air would be a nice signature to adopt across the lineup, reconfigured here from more of a trunk lid to a hatch. Because the Gravity will borrow heavily from the Air, the world’s largest taillight likely also makes an appearance here—you can basically see it even in the disguised photos. That said, the Gravity is expected to be wider than the Air, so maybe the single-piece taillight gets even bigger? We shall see.
Now to what we can see: Check out them chunky fenders! The Air comes on 285-width tires, and these look to be fatter—we’ll guess 325. As such, the Gravity’s metal has swelled. It looks pretty tough, especially with the (probably) plastic fender cladding. The effect makes the Gravity look more muscular than the svelte Air.
Powertrains should be identical: dual motors good for 1,080 horsepower at launch, with single- and tri-motor variants coming later, all powered by a 113-kWh battery pack. Still, an SUV should look tougher than a sedan. Like the Air, the Gravity should feature an air suspension, and like Range Rovers thus equipped, it should use said adjustable suspension to great effect away from pavement—think increased ground clearance at the touch of a button. We know Jenkins currently owns a Range Rover, which works exactly that way.
One cool touch is how the A-pillars seem to drop through the flat-looking hood. It’s a cool, utilitarian effect, and it helps to highlight another Lucid design signature: the massive aluminum roof adornment. We also really like how the C-pillar resolves into the body on the Gravity, the C-pillar being the only real weakness of the Air’s design. Turns out that fastback sedans with trunks instead of hatches frequently have compromised, disjointed C-pillars (looking at you, Cadillac CT5). Here, it looks smart and well-integrated. We’ll assume the wheels and mirrors are just concept-car/prototype fluff, and discount those as items that won’t reach production exactly as shown here. And finally, that’s just a travel box on the roof, not a backup battery. No word on when the Gravity drops (zing!), but color us intrigued.
