I Test Drove The New Lucid Gravity GT Today, As A Mercedes S-Class Owner, I'm Shocked By The Ride Quality, HVAC Performance, And Storage Space

Lucid’s Gravity is a well-aimed uppercut to the jaw of the luxury status quo, and somehow, they’ve done it without spilling their drink, losing their cool, or breaking into the cold sweat of overpromised under-delivered hype. Born in the echo chamber of Silicon Valley, a place where most automotive dreams die on pitch decks and buzzwords, Lucid has taken the Tesla template and reshaped it into something more deliberate, more grown-up. The Air sedan was the proof of concept. The Gravity SUV? That’s the move that might put them on the board as serious long-haul players.

And there’s no better proof of that than the voice of a dyed-in-the-wool luxury buyer. One Mercedes S-Class owner took to Reddit’s r/Lucid community this week to offer a no-BS take after driving the Gravity GT:

“I finally got a chance to test drive a Gravity GT and I'm very impressed with the ride, fit & finish, sound system, and comfort of this car. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with it, but I did get to drive it in traffic to try it out. Some impressions.

It's a very hot day in the Carolinas (90s) with the sun blazing down. Yet inside it was cool and comfortable. The glass roof provided plenty of protection from the sun. I was worried about this one, but it's certainly fine. Likewise, the HVAC is very powerful & quiet. Plenty of cold air in the front & back. I really like that there are real knobs for the vent control.

Some of the city streets were mapped, so I briefly got to try the ADAS as currently provided. It worked well handling the traffic, and I liked how it was displayed.

I was concerned about the sound system, but it's as good, if not better than the Burmester in the Merc, though I didn't get a chance to try out loud bass.

We also have a Range Rover, and I think the Gravity had more storage in the back with the seats down. Even more so if you didn't take the 3rd seat option. And this isn't counting the frunk.

It had the optional seating pad in the frunk. I'm not sure I'd get this. Takes up some room and has limited options for use.

This vehicle came with the 3rd seat option. It's definitely a kid space, though, if you can manage to get back there, a not-large adult wouldn't have an issue. I wouldn't get this option as I don't need it.

There's a motor option that moves the 2nd seat forward for access to the 3rd seat. That one gave me a bit of a pause. I wonder if they leave it out if you don't opt for the seats.

The doors didn't close with a tight thump, but they were pretty good. I didn't notice any rattles, though we probably didn't go past 45mph.

In terms of driving, I don't think I've driven a vehicle that drives as well as this one, including the current S-class. I didn't get a chance to experience the power, but I knew it was there.

All and all, very nice for a vehicle that's just starting production. I didn't really get a chance for a deep dive with the vehicle where there have been issues with the Air, but right now, it would be a vehicle I'd seriously consider buying as my next ride.”

You don’t just get that kind of reaction from someone used to rolling in Stuttgart's finest unless the machine actually delivers. This wasn’t a Tesla fanboy with a YouTube affiliate code; this was a longtime Benz buyer walking away shocked that something American, electric, and not wearing a three-pointed star had quietly matched or exceeded what’s long been the gold standard in luxury sedans. Reddit user u/No_Report_4781 pointed out that many early Gravity builds feature soft-close doors, addressing one of the few knocks from the original post, while another user, Similar-Swordfish-50, chimed in with a mic-drop of his own: “I bought the Gravity Dream because the Maybach SUV had low range, looked terrible to me, and was overpriced.”

Lucid CEO Shake-Up: Peter Rawlinson’s Move, Interim Leadership & 2025 Production Goals

• In late February 2025, Lucid announced that CEO Peter Rawlinson resigned, moving into a Strategic Technical Advisor role to the Board Chairman 
• The company appointed COO Marc Winterhoff as Interim CEO, launching a hunt for a permanent replacement 
• Rawlinson, who joined as CEO in 2019 and had previously led engineering at Tesla, remains with Lucid to guide technical development 
• The leadership shake‑up came amid financial pressures—Lucid aims to build 20,000 vehicles in 2025 and tighten its quarterly losses

Lucid didn’t trip into this by accident. They’ve been playing chess while the rest of the market’s still setting up the board. 

The Air arrived not as a compliance car or tech demo, but as a direct challenger to the S-Class, the A8, and the Model S, and it had the specs to back it up: over 1,100 hp, more than 500 miles of range, and a cabin that split the difference between Bauhaus minimalism and old-school American opulence. The Gravity builds on that same ethos, only now it’s packaged into a versatile, three-row SUV that fits better into the lives of buyers with kids, dogs, bikes, and Costco runs. It's a big swing, but it's a clean hit.

Where Lucid continues to impress is in its real-world sensibility, a rare trait in a segment full of software bugs and overpromised OTA fixes. Topcat5’s post paints a picture of a brutally hot Carolina day, 92 degrees and humid, where the Gravity’s climate system didn’t just cope, it excelled. “Both the Gravity and the Air were sitting there in the parking lot keeping themselves cooled,” he wrote. “The Air was a bit louder, but not bad. Especially compared to something like a Rivian.” 

Lucid Gravity’s Real-World Luxury: Superior HVAC, Intuitive ADAS UX & Thoughtful Cabin Design

That real-world refinement, quiet HVAC, clean UX on the ADAS displays, and even thoughtful physical knobs for vents, signals that Lucid is paying attention not just to the brochure, but to the ownership experience.

And that attention to detail extends to packaging. One of Gravity’s secret weapons is its use of space. Fold the seats flat, and you get more storage than a Range Rover. Skip the optional third row, and it’s positively cavernous, and that's before you even count the frunk. In the words of A Girl’s Guide to Cars, “It’s like a minivan that was somehow born as a luxury SUV instead.” Reddit user topcat5 echoed this sentiment: “We also have a Range Rover, and I think the Gravity had more storage in the back with the seats down.” What Lucid has done here is take the SUV format and clean-sheet it for electric architecture, with no awkward battery bulges or shoehorned layouts. This is EV packaging done right.

Lucid Gravity SUV Specs Breakdown: Dimensions, 124 kWh Battery, 828 hp Performance & Notable Quirks

• The Gravity measures about 198.2 in (length) × 78.7 in (width) × 65.2 in (height), with a 119.5‑inch wheelbase, placing it firmly in the full-size SUV category 
• It has an estimated curb weight of around 6,150 lb (2,800 kg), largely due to its sizable 124 kWh battery pack, dual-motor AWD delivering up to 828 hp and 909 lb‑ft of torque, offering supercar-level performance 

Still, it’s not all roses and champagne. There are minor quirks, a motorized second-row seat mechanism that gave topcat5 “a bit of a pause,” and some uncertainty around third-row space being more “kid-sized.” But there’s no sign of structural or mechanical teething. No rattles. No thuds. No tech tantrums. Similar-Swordfish-50 did admit there are “some gremlins to work out,” but followed that up with praise for the software being better than expected. In a world where rushed EVs regularly make headlines for recalls and bricked infotainment, Lucid’s maturity here is genuinely impressive.

And then there’s the elephant in the luxury showroom: value retention. A comment from gadgetluva cuts to the bone: “The great thing about Mercedes EVs is how much they’ve depreciated in a short time.” The EQS, once billed as Mercedes’ electric savior, is already hitting used car lots at 60% of its MSRP. Lucid’s clean sheet, the no-compromise approach, might not just yield better cars; it might yield cars that hold value because they weren’t compromised, to begin with. That’s the kind of long-term vision the segment desperately needs.

So, while it’s too early to declare Gravity an unqualified success, one thing is becoming clear: Lucid isn’t dabbling in luxury. They’re rewriting their playbook. And if a brand can convince an S-Class owner to consider jumping ship, not because of ideology, but because of engineering, then something serious is going on. The Gravity isn’t just good “for an EV.” It’s good, full stop. In a segment defined by legacy, Lucid’s earned its place at the table, not with gimmicks, but with execution.

Image Sources: Lucid Media Center

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.