2026 Lucid Gravity First Drive Review: Pulling Us In

The Lucid Air was the company’s first effort at a mass-produced car, and despite a few quality issues, the luxury sedan has seen nearly universal acclaim. But to succeed in the modern car market, you must offer an SUV, which is exactly what Lucid Motors is doing with the Gravity. The two- or three-row crossover is just 2.3 inches longer overall than the Air, yet it promises a massive cabin and impressive aerodynamics to help it fit in with its space- and electricity-efficient sedan sibling.

The 2026 Lucid Gravity promises to offer SUV shoppers the same engineering and packaging prowess as the Air, as well as a few key technology and charging enhancements that should make it even easier to live with on a daily basis. Currently offered only in Grand Touring trim with a $94,900 starting price, the Gravity will eventually come in a cheaper Touring trim. For now, however, we spent a day driving Lucid’s first SUV in the hills around Los Olivos, California, and came away massively impressed with the company’s sophomore effort.

First Drive events provide our initial impressions of a vehicle in a restricted environment under certain time constraints. Keep an eye on DrivingOnRoad for our comprehensive Test Drive review which will follow soon.

What Is The Lucid Gravity?

The 2026 Lucid Gravity is the second model and first crossover offered by California-based EV manufacturer Lucid Motors. Riding on a 119.5-inch wheelbase, the Gravity shares much of its platform and technology with the Air sedan. Its 123-kilowatt-hour battery pack is slightly larger than the Air Grand Touring’s 118-kWh unit, and its standard dual electric motors produce 828 horsepower between them (up slightly over the 819-hp Air GT). The taller Gravity isn’t quite as aerodynamic as the slinky, slippery Air, but its 0.24 coefficient of drag is tied for the best number of any SUV on the planet (alongside its most obvious competitor, the Tesla Model X).

Inside, the Lucid Gravity offers seating for five as standard, although a third row is a $2,900 option that brings total passenger count to seven. The Gravity has the same graceful, organic styling cues inside and out as the sedan, but its technology brings a few big changes to the table. Facing the driver is a panoramic 34-inch display comprising the instrument cluster, secondary vehicle controls, and upper infotainment screen. A lower 12.7-inch “Pilot Panel” touchscreen provides redundant controls for much of the infotainment system. In addition to giving the Gravity a bit more digital real estate for its displays, Lucid mercifully added a row of physical toggle switches to the bottom of the Pilot Panel, and the software running the system is faster and more responsive.

It’s A Great EV, Too

One of the Gravity’s most significant points in its favor is a very advanced EV architecture. The SUV runs on a 1,000-volt/500-volt electrical system, which enables DC fast charging of up to 400 kilowatts. The Gravity is also one of the first vehicles on the market with a native NACS port, allowing it to take advantage of Tesla’s expansive Supercharger network. And thanks to its high-voltage electrical components, the Gravity can maintain peak charging earlier and longer than a Model X – meaning it charges faster than its rival, even without the home field advantage. Once appropriate DC fast chargers start showing up, Lucid says the Gravity will add 200 miles of range in less than 11 minutes, but even now, it’ll do an 80-percent charge at a 350-volt unit (meaning 360 miles of range) in about 30 minutes.

Exterior Design: Minivan-Meets-SUV

The Lucid Gravity is immediately recognizable as a member of the family, with a pair of narrow headlights appearing under a full-width piece of brightwork on the nose – in either shiny Platinum or darkened Stealth finish. The Gravity’s roofline also takes a note from the Citroen DS in the cantilevered D-pillar and roof spoiler, while the rear end features the Air’s wing-shaped taillight panel, though simplified to a razor-thin LED strip on the Gravity. Soft body contours and sophisticated air curtains channel the wind around the SUV for reduced drag, and the available 22-inch front and 23-inch rear wheels of our tester gave the Gravity a planted, secure stance.

It’s possible, however, that some buyers will look at the Lucid and think “minivan.” The long, low proportions and short nose recall other oddball crossovers like the bygone Mercedes-Benz R-Class, and the rear end throws lots of Chrysler Pacifica energy. Unlike the rugged Rivian R1S, the Lucid Gravity is more of a pavement offering with some all-weather capability, though the automaker does claim some rough-road talent via a soon-to-be-released Terrain mode that enables some commendable dirty donuts.

Interior: The Lucid Air Perfected

When it debuted, the Lucid Air’s interior was a triumph of unique styling and color combinations, a trend the Gravity continues to great effect. The freestanding panoramic display flows beautifully into the dashboard, and the smallish steering wheel – positioned below the gauge cluster for better visibility – gives the Gravity a futuristic vibe that’s also easy to get used to. The cupholders and wireless phone charger live beneath a sliding pane of fluted, frosted glass, a gorgeous detail that recalls mid-century modern furniture and design, but the rest of the cabin is utterly modern.

The standard Purluxe faux-leather interior is a convincing dupe of the real thing, finished with a top layer of bioplastic to make the material more recyclable and sustainable. Our tester had the optional leather interior, with the seats and door panels finished in a gorgeous shade of taupe that Lucid calls “Ojai” – each cabin option invokes a California destination, like the caramel “Tahoe” leather or the slate gray “Yosemite” Purluxe. Soft-touch plastics and sustainably sourced burl walnut trim abound in the Gravity, although there were some inconsistent panel gaps and misaligned trim pieces in our tester.

Space For Everyone

Our tester offered genuine adult-size room in every row of seats. The front row is obviously the most commodious, with massaging, heated, and ventilated seats improving comfort further. The second-row bench (captain’s chairs may arrive as an option later this year) is similarly spacious, and it slides fore and aft to allow for more cargo or third-row room. Thanks to Lucid’s efficient packaging – the front and rear motors are very small, and the optional rear-axle steering takes up much less space than competitors – the third row of seats is still plenty spacious, with a low floor that allows for a good seating position without sacrificing headroom. In fact, there’s only an inch less noggin space back there than the second row of an Air sedan.

Cargo room is also commendable. Alongside an 8.0-cubic-foot frunk, there’s 21.3 cubic feet of space behind the third row, rising to 56.2 cubes with it folded. Drop all the seats, and you’re left with 106.2 cubic feet of cargo space inside the vehicle. The Gravity is so well-packaged that despite measuring more than two feet shorter overall than the Cadillac Escalade IQ, it still offers nearly as much total space.

Infotainment: Doing Digital The Right Way

Like the Lucid Air, the 2026 Gravity’s top display handles wiper, headlight, and door lock controls on the far left side, an instrument cluster in the middle, and a combination navigation/audio display on the right side. However, the Gravity introduces a new way of interacting with the displays via a pair of D-pads on the steering wheel spokes. The touch-sensitive slider pads give the driver a different way to interact with the infotainment and on-board computer, and they seemed responsive and easy to operate after only a few minutes of familiarization.

Furthermore, the Gravity’s lower center display lives above a volume tumbler and a row of six toggles – a fan speed and temperature adjustment for both the driver and front passenger, as well as a pair of reconfigurable switches that come from the factory as seat heating and ventilation controls. The physical redundancy is wonderful, as it means the driver or passenger can make quick adjustments without digging into the touchscreen. And when the car is parked, “Lucid Sanctuary” mode offers an immersive display of some of the world’s most beautiful locations, accompanied by soothing music or ambient sounds.

Powertrain & Driving: Built By And For Enthusiasts

Lucid is a company of car enthusiasts. Each of its suspension and powertrain engineers either come from the world of motorsport or have a bizarrely varied collection of cool cars – Director of Chassis and Vehicle Dynamics David Lickfold once owned a Peugeot 205 GTI, F-body Chevy Camaro, and BMW E36 M3 – so it should come as no surprise that the Gravity drives with all the authority that its name suggests. Of course, there’s no ignoring the 828-hp, 909–lb-ft elephant in the room, and the Lucid SUV launches to 60 miles per hour in a company-claimed 3.4 seconds – a number we believe may even be conservative. Better still, the compact electric motors (which preserve much of the SUV’s prodigious interior room) still provide plenty of thrust even at higher speeds. EVs can sometimes taper off on the freeway, but the Gravity can still pass and merge with the best of ’em.

The standard air suspension is a master class of ride and handling balance, with none of the bounciness that some of its ilk exhibit over bad pavement. Go for the Performance package, as our tester was equipped, and you get an adaptive suspension with three drive modes, as well as rear-axle steering that controls each wheel independently to reduce the turning circle. Even in their firmest “Sprint” setting, the optional adaptive springs still provide a reasonably smooth ride, with matters only improving in the Smooth and Swift modes.

A Nearly Perfect Dance Partner

That last mode is the Gravity’s ideal, in your author’s opinion. The Swift setting opens up a slightly sharper throttle that’s still benign enough to tame the horses on offer, while the suspension becomes a BMW E39–aping balance of comfort and buttoned-down agility. Push the 2026 Gravity on a challenging road, and it will reward you with excellent turn-in and neutral handling; and with the regenerative brakes in their most aggressive setting, it becomes easy to drive curvy roads with only the skinny pedal. That’s a good thing, too, because the brake pedal is squishy and non-linear in its travel – the only chink in the Gravity’s excellent armor. It will be important to learn how to use regen effectively; you’ll like the car a lot more if you do.

Verdict & Pricing: Dearly Beloved

While the cheaper Air sedan is offered in entry-level Pure, middle Touring, and flagship Grand Touring trims, the Gravity only gets the latter option for now. It costs $94,900 to start, and optioned like our tester with $1,000 Aurora Green paint, staggered 22-inch front and 23-inch rear wheels, $4,200 worth of leather interior, and every single option package ticked, it came to a grand total of $124,750. If our experience with the Air is any indication, the standard suspension setup is probably good enough for most customers, which would save $2,900. We might also be tempted to skip the $3,200 tech package, which includes a head-up display, enhanced ambient lighting, and three 120-volt power outlets. Even so, at nearly $125,000, the Gravity feels like an excellent option in the premium EV space.

There are still a few issues to work out – Lucid needs to step up its build quality and even out its misaligned trim panels if it wants to be taken seriously as a real luxury automaker – but the Gravity is in a class of one insofar as the driving experience is concerned. It’s also remarkably spacious, beating out much larger vehicles for passenger comfort and cargo-carrying ability, and there’s no denying the appeal of its Supercharger-friendly charge port and bladder-busting range. Unlike some EVs, which feel like computers and science projects with wheels, the Lucid Gravity is a brilliant automobile first and foremost, with some great technology to boot.