In the boxing ring blue corner, we have that supermodel of electric sedans, the scrumptious, sublime Lucid Air, quite possibly the most beautiful four-door to roll on four wheels.
And an impressive EV too, with a battery range of up to 520 miles, and a range-topping Sapphire model packing 1,234 horsepower with the ability to slingshot from zero to 60 in, whoa, 1.89 seconds.
But over in the red corner is arguably the Air’s fiercest and and most-formidable rival, an EV with equal supermodel beauty, a still-impressive 450-mile range. But with the big bonus of three rows of seats, room for up to seven grown-ups, and the load-carrying space of a UHaul truck.
May I present the 2026 Lucid Gravity SUV.
Our love affair with load-lugging, XL-sized SUVs means that it doesn’t take rocket science to predict this new Gravity will quickly become Lucid’s top-seller. And deservedly so. It blends swooning style with real practicality, and best-of-the-best battery technology. Competitive pricing too; think $79,900 for the entry Touring, and $94,900 for the Grand Touring I’ve been driving.
See it in the metal and, while not as show-stopping, style-wise, as the Air, it’s still a head-spinner, with that high waist, swoopy roofline and swept-back windshield.
No, it’s not really an SUV in the traditional, boxy, Caddy Escalade fashion. Dare I say it, it’s more of a minivan, or crossover like the old Mercedes R-Class.
It certainly feels minivan-esque when you pop open that high-lifting tailgate. Those third-row seats, quite-brilliantly, fold flat directly into the floor, kinda like Chrysler’s Stow ‘n Go seats. Now fold the second row pews and you have a load space as flat as the Everglades.
Just look at the numbers. With the seats tucked away, the Gravity offers a cavernous 114 cubic feet of cargo space. And the beauty here is that the load height is sedan-like, so no hernias lifting-in that big box from Best Buy. Want more? There’s an 8.1 cubic-foot “frunk” up front.
There are some sweet interior improvements too compared with the Air. The show-stopper is the new, curved 34-inch-wide 6k OLED touchscreen that sprawls across the dash, with a 12.6-inch tablet-like OLED display below it.
Together they can deliver what Lucid calls its “Sanctuary” experience. Need to re-charge your brain while you stop to re-charge the car? Hit the Sanctuary button and zen-like scenes play on the big screens – I liked the billowy clouds.
You might want to reserve the Sanctuary experience for night-time, or at least cloudy days. In the searing midday Florida sun, sunlight floods through the Gravity’s massive glass roof washing-out the screens. And with no electro-chromatic dimming, or simple sunshade, the top of your head gets broiled.
Time to drive. And here this new, built-in-Arizona Gravity is a masterpiece in motion. Yes, you get that rock-out-of-a-catapult acceleration that comes with most big-battery EVs.
The dual-motor Gravity Grand Touring however, with its impressive 828 horsepower and 909 lb-ft of torque, catapults to 60mph from standstill in just 3.4 seconds. The kids will think you’ve taken them to Disney.
This supercar-like performance is matched, impressively, by supercar-like handling, which is, to me, what sets the Gravity apart. With its trick rear-axle steering, adaptive air springs with three levels of stiffness, and steering hardware similar to Porsche’s 911, this thing carves curves like it’s being vacuumed to the blacktop.
It can go the distance too with its real-world range of up to 450 miles, honking 123 kWh battery, and new Tesla-style charging port that lets you add up to 200 miles of range in under 11 minutes.
There’s certainly no shortage of rivals in this booming sector of the EV market: BMW’s iX, Rivian’s R1S, Cadillac’s Vistiq, and Tesla’s Model X. For now though, this new Lucid is the Rocky Marciano of EVs.
