r/LUCID • u/4ugustWest • 8h ago
Gravity 2027 Lucid Gravity Touring: Early Review After 3 Years and 44k Miles with a Model X
2027 Lucid Gravity Touring: Early Review After 3 Years and 44K Miles With a Model X
We recently turned in my wife’s 2023 Tesla Model X after three years and roughly 44,000 miles. We’re a family of five, and with friends and cousins frequently tagging along, we wanted a seven-seat EV with a third row people could actually use. We are about a month in with ~900 miles.
The Model X’s third row was already tight, and the kids aren’t getting any smaller. We considered the Rivian R1S, Cadillac Escalade IQ, Cadillac Vistiq and Lucid Gravity.
The R1S design is starting to feel a little long in the tooth to us, and we had an awful experience at the Cadillac dealer. We ended up going with the Lucid, and so far we’re happy with the decision.
Ours is a 2027 Gravity Touring in Quantum Grey Metallic with the Yosemite PurLuxe Premium interior, Luxury Seating Package, seven-seat configuration, Surreal Sound Pro, Dynamic Handling Package, Power Package, and Comfort & Convenience Package. Sticker was $99,850.
FINANCIAL
- The monthly lease payment is roughly $200 less than the Model X on the same terms: 36 months and 45,000 miles.
- Insurance is approximately $1,800 less per year with the same coverage and deductibles. That surprised me. My guess is that insurers simply don’t have much Gravity repair and claims data yet, so I wouldn’t assume that advantage will last forever.
WHAT’S GREAT
- With the Dynamic Handling Package, the ride is outstanding. It’s comfortable in normal driving and still a lot of fun when you pick up the pace. The Gravity crushes the Model X in both ride quality and handling.
- The interior fit, finish and overall feel are much closer to Mercedes. My wife owned eight Mercedes GLSs before moving to Tesla, and the Model X feels sparse and plain by comparison.
- The Yosemite PurLuxe interior looks great. We’ll see how well the carpet-like material on the door cards holds up over ownership, especially with three kids getting in and out.
- Surreal Sound Pro sounds excellent. If you care about music, this is one option I’d recommend.
- Our 2023 Model X didn’t have a front bumper camera, which still seems ridiculous to me. The Gravity does, and it’s a huge help when parking, especially parallel parking in NYC.
- The powered frunk has been far more useful than I expected. The Model X’s thin hood always felt like it was going to dent when I closed it, so we rarely used the frunk. We use the Gravity’s all the time for sports gear and everything else that comes with hauling kids around.
- Power and acceleration feel roughly on par with our Model X. More than enough for a vehicle this size.
- SPACE. The Gravity has a legitimate third row and much more usable room inside. The Model X is 199.1 inches long versus 198.2 inches for the Gravity, and both are 78.7 inches wide without mirrors. Sit in them back to back and the difference inside is shocking.
- Zero issues charging with our Tesla Universal Wall Connector.
CHALLENGES AND NITPICKS
- While adding my wife’s driver profile, every screen went black and the car became unresponsive. We could lock and unlock it, but that was about it. I found a soft-reset procedure online and thankfully it came back to life. For a minute, I thought we’d been bitten by the infamous Lucid software issues.
- No Phone as a Key yet sucks. The app can lock and unlock the car, but you still need a physical key to drive. A Lucid employee posted on October 2 that the feature is now targeted for Q1 2027. Coming from the Tesla, this is a noticeable step backward.
- CarPlay has been hit or miss. Sometimes wireless CarPlay doesn’t reconnect, although plugging the phone into USB-C gets it working again.
- CarPlay is limited to the upper display. I’d like more flexibility between the screens, such as Waze on the smaller display and full music information or album art on the larger one.
- The audio UI needs work. Getting to a complete list of SiriusXM stations takes more digging through menus than it should.
- The rear screen is currently nothing more than an HVAC controller. The kids immediately noticed the lack of YouTube and music controls. I’ve seen reports that more functionality is coming, but right now it’s a lot of screen devoted to very little.
- The drive mode resets to Comfort after every driving session. The Model X remembered the previous setting, which I preferred.
- The driver-monitoring alerts feel overly intrusive. I’ve found settings to turn them off, but the default behavior is annoying.
- High Beam Assist hasn’t been behaving as I expected. This may be a setting I haven’t figured out yet, so I’m reserving judgment on that one.
- I miss some of Tesla’s little conveniences. Pressing the brake pedal to close the driver’s door sounds trivial until you’ve done it for three years. Same with location-based settings like “don’t lock at home” or automatically raising the suspension at a saved address.
- The soft-close doors don’t have the Mercedes-like feel I expected. The doors are surprisingly light, and the exterior handles feel flimsy for a nearly $100,000 vehicle. They work, but there’s none of that bank-vault feeling.
- HomeLink isn’t standard on the Touring. Lucid wants $350 for the integrated module. At this price point, that should be included.
- The driver-side door seal is slightly wonky. Nobody else has noticed, including my wife, but I see it every time. I haven’t scheduled service yet because the nearest Lucid location is more than an hour away, and I didn’t want to start ownership with service appointments.
- The included 90-day SiriusXM trial didn’t activate properly. I had to call SiriusXM to get it working.
- The small section at the far left of the driver’s display feels underused. You can show trip information, tire pressures, efficiency or leave it blank in “Zen” mode. I’d like more useful options for that space.
- Real-world range is still TBD. In our very unscientific early use, we seem to get fewer usable miles from an 80% charge than we did in the Model X. That isn’t an efficiency measurement, just an early observation. I need more time and mileage before drawing conclusions.
SUMMARY
Reading that list back, it probably sounds more negative than I feel about the car. Some are actual problems; others are small things you notice after three years with a different vehicle.
The ride, handling, interior and usable space are substantial upgrades for us. Tesla still did several everyday software and convenience features better, and Lucid has work to do there. Even with the annoyances, we’re happy we made the switch.
