Lucid Gravity Test Drive at Menlo Park Pop-Up
Finally got to test drive the Gravity around "home turf" on 7/3/26 during a pop up event Lucid had at the Menlo Park Mall, NJ. It was a 2026 GT without the handling package, about 30 minutes (15 minutes each), and it was 105F, clear skies, real feel was 115F.
Took my EV hater friend who does audio mixing on the side (important for later). We also checked out the Rivian R2 since we were in the area, because why not.
The first thing I noticed immediately were the door handles, they seemed a little loose feeling; when I first opened the door I couldn't tell how much pressure I needed to actually engage the opening mechanism. Maybe because there isn't much articulation in the lever? Or is it more like a pressure switch?
But once inside, everything looked very well made and out together, high-quality. It was easy for me to get comfortable, the haptic buttons worked well, and I engaged the cooled seats and the massage function and left it on for the rest of the ride (wave massage was amazing).
I must say, even though it was absolutely blazing outside, I did not ever feel hot in the car. It was set to auto 70 and it was quite pleasant. The tint on the roof did a great job managing heat. There was tint all around the vehicle and it was noticeable to me as there was a slight warm hue all around, especially on the passenger glass roof.
The pedal feel and driving dynamics were interesting. The pedal felt very firm, and the way it correlated to me was 50% pedal push = 50% power instead of it building power gradually. Idk, love hate thing there. Making turns and smashing the pedal on the on ramp felt great though, the body was very composed and sway/porpoising was very minimal. Even though our tester didn't have the 3 chamber air suspension, the car felt plenty comfortable, composed, and quiet, even over rough concrete roads, I was very impressed.
Visibility was surprisingly good all around, even though the A pillar is thick, understandably so. I liked the squircle steering wheel and the way the UI was. I think it was 3.5 or something, one version before the latest.
The biggest issue my friend had was that, even though the tester had the upgraded audio, it still wasn't great. He said that there was no bass sub 70hz, the type you "feel". He said he liked the audio in the R2 better because it had more of the low bass, but it still wasn't that great in the R2 either. We did try sanctuary mode and the audio there was amazing, so maybe it's input dependent? If so, that's unfortunate.
TLDR: Great product, love/hate accelerator, subpar audio for regular audio connections.