We will argue endlessly about what precisely was the world’s first luxurious efficiency SUV, however I make the case that the Mercedes-Benz ML55 AMG of the early 2000s introduced the idea to life. Powered by a 5.4-liter V8 creating 342 horsepower, it represented the primary try and meld three opposing personas: a sensible SUV, a luxurious merchandise, and a efficiency automotive.
Within the intervening 25 years, technological developments have allowed the efficiency luxurious SUV to flourish. What these machines can now do from a pace perspective, whether or not speaking about these from BMW’s M division and even the reluctant entrant that’s the Ferrari Purosangue, the tremendous SUV idea has advanced far past what anybody might’ve envisioned on the flip of the century.
The 2026 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring, the model’s first SUV, isn’t outwardly tremendous. The carmaker doesn’t plan to promote it primarily as a efficiency mannequin like its $249,000 Air Sapphire. As an alternative, the $94,900 Grand Touring is merely an introduction to the Lucid SUV, with a cheaper $79,900 Touring trim resulting from arrive later this 12 months and extra highly effective variants to observe.
But, whereas the Gravity could be Lucid’s first try at constructing a high-riding household hauler, my first drive by way of the twisting mountain roads of Los Olivos, CA, and some laps of a personal dust monitor show that whereas it could not outwardly be a luxurious efficiency SUV, it manages to mix these opposing personas higher than most.
Slightly smack speak at a brand new automotive launch is to be anticipated, however Lucid doesn’t waste time mincing phrases. Quite than taking jabs at “our rivals” on a presentation and solely vaguely alluding to what these rivals could be, the California-based model introduced out a Cadillac Escalade IQ, a BMW X7, a Rivian R1S, and a Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV. For those who’re questioning the place the Tesla Mannequin X is, it’s MIA.
Nonetheless, slightly than inform us that the Gravity has a smaller turning radius than its rivals due to its rear-axle steering system, it had us attempt all of them again to again to expertise it for ourselves. Lucid’s newest completes a flip in as little as 38 ft, in comparison with the IQ’s 39.4-ft determine and the R1S’s 41.3-ft radius.
It’s an analogous story when showcasing the Gravity’s cupboard space. Its five-seater configuration gives 120 cubic ft with its rear seats folded. This additionally determine takes into consideration the Lucid’s entrance storage compartment. Step as much as the seven-seater, and that determine drops to 114.3 cu-ft, which remains to be sufficient to beat the Mercedes-Benz, the Rivian, the lacking Tesla, and the BMW.
Solely the large Cadillac Escalade IQ comes shut with its 119.1 cu-ft determine, which it additionally achieves with all seats folded. Nonetheless, the Gravity matches its seating and cupboard space whereas being 26 inches shorter and 4 inches narrower, with a roofline that’s 11 inches decrease. The actual elephant within the room is the Caddy’s 9,134-pound curb weight, a staggering 3,230 lb greater than the five-seater Gravity’s 5,904-lb determine (6,048 lb for the seven-seater).
Though this SUV shares structural elements with its sedan sibling, it incorporates loads of new {hardware}, akin to its battery pack, electrical motors, charging system, and thermal system.
In a best-case situation, a Gravity with seating for 5 outfitted with staggered 20 and 21-inch wheels covers an EPA-estimated 450 miles, made potential by its 123-kilowatt-hour battery pack. The Grand Touring incorporates a 926-volt system that permits it to quick cost at as much as 400 kilowatts. Geared up with a brand new NACS port with entry to the broader community through adapters, the Gravity will cost as much as 225 kW hooked to Tesla v3 {hardware}. At max pace, it’ll acquire 200 miles of vary in simply over 10 minutes.
With ample seating and cupboard space and a few of the finest vary/charging figures in its class, that’s the sensible SUV persona lined. However what about luxurious?
This $94,900 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring is the one trim accessible, no less than for now. A $79,900 Touring mannequin is because of observe later this 12 months, and a Dream Version with a rumored over 1,000 hp is predicted quickly after to carry the spot of the range-topping mannequin, no less than till a Sapphire-like trim arrives. As such, we’re what’ll ultimately be a mid-level model of the Gravity as its lineup expands.
Nonetheless, whereas the Air leaned closely right into a screen-dense format, the Gravity doubles down with an enormous 6K-resolution OLED 34-inch central show that mixes the driving force’s instrument cluster and this automotive’s central infotainment display. A smaller 11-inch HD OLED display lives on the dashboard and incorporates bodily switches for the controls you work together with most, akin to this automotive’s A/C settings. A 3rd seven-inch display gives local weather adjustment for these within the second row.
A cluster of screens isn’t essentially synonymous with luxurious, see the Bugatti Tourbillon and the lengths it goes to keep away from them. Nonetheless, for such a automobile outlined by its software program, they’re important to the expertise the Lucid Gravity Grand Touring goals to ship.
As I settle behind its squared-off wheel for the primary time, a call made so you may have an unobstructed view of the principle show, it’s all a bit overwhelming. It takes a couple of minutes to search out the place this SUV’s controls and changes cover, particularly as they differ fully from rivals. Nonetheless, this foreignness creates the sense that you just’re not driving simply one other luxurious SUV from established manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi. The Gravity feels contemporary in a phase that’s gone stale by intently copying one another’s homework.
There’s loads to love from a supplies standpoint as nicely. At launch, the Lucid Gravity Grand Touring is offered with 4 pre-configured inside themes modeled after numerous areas of the Californian open air. Construct high quality feels wonderful, and the cabin stays properly remoted from extra wind and street noise at greater speeds. Nonetheless, don’t anticipate vibrant coloration choices to return any time quickly. It’s an analogous story when contemplating this automotive’s exterior palette, which is decidedly muted, with the very best of the bunch being the Aurora Inexperienced shade my tester wears.
As groundbreaking because the Gravity is when it comes to expertise and its packaging, I think its exterior design shall be too polarizing for the normal luxurious SUV purchaser. Whereas Lucid undoubtedly primarily targets a tech-forward buyer, it wants to maneuver models, which suggests additionally changing the Vary Rover and G-Wagen crowd. And whereas the carmaker did make an effort to adorn this SUV with a smooth aesthetic, the Gravity suffers from minivan-like proportions, a vibe that doesn’t scream “luxurious merchandise.”
Nonetheless, should you’re into it, the Lucid Gravity Grand Touring makes up floor with its three-chamber air suspension, provided as a part of the $2,900 Dynamic Dealing with Bundle. It rises to supply as much as 9.3 inches of floor clearance in its highest setting, practically matching a Mercedes-Benz G550. In its sportiest setting, it’ll squat down to five.2 inches to raised match the dealing with traits of the Air sedan.
Within the softest Clean mode, it rides superbly, effortlessly absorbing street imperfections whereas transmitting nearly no harshness to its passengers over rougher street surfaces. Paired with a well-isolated cabin, the Gravity is virtually faultless if a luxurious driving expertise is what you’re after.
For individuals who need extra, nonetheless, the Gravity has a last ace: its skill to morph into an precise efficiency automobile. As troublesome as that could be to imagine now that you just’ve discovered how a lot tech, house, and weight is packed into this three-row SUV, a drive on a winding mountain street chasing Lucid’s Senior Director of Chassis & Car Dynamic Engineering, David Lickfold, proved that not even a $249,000 Air Sapphire with 1,234 hp can go away the Gravity behind.
This turns into extra plausible as you be taught that the Lucid Gravity Grand Touring develops 828 hp and 909 pound-feet of torque, break up between two electrical motors that ship that energy to all 4 wheels. Flat out, this close to 6,000-lb SUV sprints to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds, besting even a rear-drive Lamborghini Huracan EVO Spyder.
Alongside its air suspension, which drops within the center Swift setting and actually squats in probably the most aggressive Dash mode, the Gravity will get its stopping energy from six-piston Brembo brakes up entrance with a four-piston set within the rear. It’ll torque vector utilizing its brakes and places the ability down through Lucid’s in-house developed traction management system.
On a again street, its straight-line efficiency is dramatic, as anticipated from most EVs. What’s stunning, nonetheless, is simply how nicely the Lucid Gravity Grand Touring tackles the bends. It modifications path like one thing that weighs 1,000 fewer kilos. Concurrently, its steering, regardless of being electrically assisted, is exact, fast, and even picks up a good bit of weight below load. It’s a feat no BMW M automotive, Audi RS product, or any of AMG’s newest appear to match. It’s Porsche-like in its tuning, which, so far as electrical steering goes, is the very best within the enterprise.
As a result of Lucid means that you can regulate your regenerative braking settings independently out of your drive mode, you possibly can fine-tune how a lot you need to assist this SUV’s brakes when the street begins to wind. After a couple of minutes of operating at an honest tempo with no regen enabled, nonetheless, I did really feel the brakes start to wrestle, such are the constraints of a virtually 6,000-lb automobile on a mountain street.
Whereas the Gravity’s trip high quality suffers within the high Dash setting, it pays dividends concerning backroad efficiency. It’s steady at pace and effortlessly settles its weight as you transition from bend to bend. In the direction of the tip of my time on the twisty street, as I approached the ultimate cease of the day, I used to be left feeling {that a} household SUV shouldn’t be this fast in a straight line, so agile within the bends, or so partaking to drive, but the Gravity manages it.
Though not but accessible, Lucid plans to supply a devoted off-road mode for the Gravity as a part of a software program replace to additional improve this SUV’s capabilities. For now, nonetheless, with a personal monitor at my disposal and a prototype model of this drive setting, a fast run on dust rapidly morphed into an impromptu drift session. Lucid’s engineers had talked about that the Gravity has a rear-biased energy distribution. Nonetheless, right here it’s evident as this household hauler kicks up clouds of dust, hangs its tail out, and, with loads of energy, reaches excessive angles whereas sideways.
Its fast steering comes into play, permitting you to make fast corrections whereas getting a transparent sense of precisely the place its entrance wheels level at any given second. Once more, the sensation that an SUV shouldn’t be this athletic or this thrilling to drive creeps in once more. Take into account the Gravity’s sporting credentials confirmed.
As you probably picked up within the earlier parts of this piece, the Lucid Gravity Grand Touring is a technological powerhouse, one the carmaker goals to enhance by way of common updates. From an electrical household SUV perspective, Gravity excels due to its segment-leading storage and passenger house alongside its wonderful vary and electrical effectivity.
For those who see it as a luxurious merchandise, Lucid’s first SUV impresses with its tech-filled cabin, wonderful materials decisions, and well-isolated cabin. Paired with an opulent air suspension setup, the ensuing driving expertise feels luxurious, even when its minivan-like appears to be like don’t fairly reinforce the sensation.
Nonetheless, what’s most stunning is how genuinely sporty the Grand Touring manages to be. Its weight and measurement make it tremendously fast, thrilling to drive, and outrageously succesful. It seems like a correct efficiency automobile in a method that almost all rivals don’t.
The Gravity manages to separate its personalities in methods the ML55 AMG that kicked off the phase might solely dream of. Lucid’s second act doesn’t simply present how far the efficiency SUV has come; it enters the house prepared to guide it.
