HUGE RANGE, HIGH EXPECTATIONS

LUCID'S FIRST SUV IS A WORTHY SEQUEL TO THE AIR, BUT WILL IT SELL?

- WORDS ALEX LEANSE PHOTOGRAPHY DARREN MARTIN

To say the Lucid Gravity must outdo the Air sedan is an understatement. This new luxury electric SUV needs to advance from its excellent yet idiosyncratic forebear. More important, it must sell well enough to support its struggling maker. Lucid has long needed an SUV but didn't cobble one together just to get something to market. Our first sample indicates the wait will be worth it for drivers—but for Lucid?

Lucid's top brass told us the Gravity was a more difficult undertaking than the Air, as if making what might be the world's best electric sedan wasn't hard enough. We respect the team’s challenge in creating a vehicle that shows a lineage to its predecessor while expanding its approaches to design, technology, and engineering.

The more Lucid informed us about the Gravity, the less it seemed like the Air.

There isa clear aesthetic relation, yet the SUV grows to accommodate up to seven passengers and their things. In the cabin, Lucid again uses colors that pay tribute to its California roots while integrating tougher-wearing materials. The arrangement of the digital displays looks familiar, but the hardware is new; the 34.0-inch dashboard display is now a single uninterrupted touchscreen, while the panel below is horizontally oriented.