Autobayng News Team
When the aliens finally find us, they’ll probably start zapping us to smithereens from something that looks a whole lot like a Lucid Gravity. But this futuristic spaceship of an electric vehicle doesn’t just look the part.
Inside and out, it’s one of the most technologically forward-thinking EVs on American roads today—and that made it a clear choice for our 2026 Breakthrough EV of the Year Awards.
(This story is part of the Breakthrough Awards, our series on 2025’s best EVs. Only one will be our Breakthrough EV of the Year. Read the other stories here.)
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Why The Lucid Gravity Is An InsideEVs Editor’s Choice
Lucid Motors’s second-ever model, the Gravity takes everything that made the startup’s Air sedan class-leading and packages it into a bigger, all-around more capable EV. What you end up with is a battery-powered vehicle that really can do it all: It’s a road-trip monster, a canyon carver, a straight-line demon, a moving-day champion and a three-row family hauler all in one.
The Gravity does have its drawbacks, too. But first, the good.
2026 InsideEVs Breakthrough Awards Editor’s Choice: Lucid Gravity
Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs
Lucid’s family SUV knocks the critical EV stuff out of the park. A staggering 450 miles of EPA-rated range in top-spec Grand Touring guise lands the Gravity in a very small club. And, thanks to Lucid’s laser-focus on efficiency, this large SUV manages that with a 123-kilowatt-hour battery pack, saving weight, cost and space compared to many competitors. The Cadillac Escalade IQ needs an extra Tesla Model Y’s worth of battery cells extra to accomplish a similar feat.
2026 Gravity Touring
If you want the absolute peak of what the Gravity has to offer, get the Grand Touring. But for around $15,000 less, the Touring offers the same incredible packaging and driving experience, with less range and slower charging. It’s probably the one we’d buy.
What’s more, the Gravity charges faster than any other EV in America. With a peak charge rate of 400 kilowatts, it’s able to add 200 miles of EPA range in around 11 minutes. Chalk that up to the slimmed-down battery and a practically unheard-of 926-volt architecture. (Most electric cars operate at around 400V or 800V.) 2026 InsideEVs Breakthrough Awards Editor’s Choice: Lucid Gravity Photo by: Patrick George
The specs on the Touring model I tested aren’t quite as eye-popping, but they’re impressive nonetheless: 300 kW fast charging, plus up to 337 miles of range from an 89 kWh battery pack. (Deputy Editor Mack Hogan charged his Touring tester from 22% to 65% in 19 minutes.)
Haters may knock the Gravity’s minivan-like design, but I bet they’ll shut right up once they climb inside. First off, the Gravity’s interior feels elegantly styled and high-end, apart from a few squeaks and some materials that felt a bit chintzy for a six-figure car. It’s remarkably comfy, too.
On top of that, the Gravity has this clown-car quality to it; it feels far bigger inside than you’d expect. Inspect the cavernous cargo area, pop the frunk or stretch out in the second row and you’ll find yourself thinking, “where exactly did they fit all the important stuff, like the motors?”
2026 InsideEVs Breakthrough Awards Editor’s Choice: Lucid Gravity
Photo by: Patrick George
The truth is it’s all there. Everything is just crammed in so ingeniously that it seems like not a single square inch was wasted. One of my favorite examples: The third row doesn’t just fold flat like a clamshell—it origamis away into a sub-floor area when you don’t need it. That means when you are using it, you get a huge bonus cargo space that can fit a duffel bag or two.
Given how big and functional the Gravity is, it has no business being such a blast to drive. That may be the single most impressive thing about this vehicle. Other large EVs lumber. The Gravity glides.
“The Gravity is one of the best-driving SUVs ever made, with smooth, predictable handling and actually engaging dynamics,” Mack said. “It was laugh-out-loud fun on a California canyon road and just as comfortable on the highway.” 2026 InsideEVs Breakthrough Awards Editor’s Choice: Lucid Gravity Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
He nails what amazed me about the Gravity as well: its versatility. Select Smooth mode, and you can eat up highway miles in utter comfort. Dial it up to Sprint, unlocking over 800 horsepower and over 800 pound-feet of torque in the Grand Touring model, and you can have a grand old time on some backroads.
While so many EVs can really only get your juices flowing in a straight line, the Gravity pairs all that power with snappy, direct steering and excellent chassis tuning. The height-adjustable air suspension also offers a far larger range of motion than on most rival EVs, allowing you to jack the Gravity up for dirt-road adventures and slam it back down for high-speed cornering.
Why The Gravity Isn’t Our Winner
Although the Gravity is a technological marvel and an extremely cool machine, it couldn’t quite break through to the top of this year’s pack. One reason: While the Gravity’s screen-heavy user interface is fairly intuitive, feature-packed and graphically striking, its in-cabin tech didn’t always work as advertised. 2026 InsideEVs Breakthrough Awards Editor’s Choice: Lucid Gravity Photo by: Patrick George
Kevin Williams had serious issues getting his tester to recognize its key, something Lucid said it was working on and later addressed in a software update. On one leg of a road trip, I found myself stabbing the steering wheel-mounted cruise control buttons several times to register one click. That miraculously resolved itself on another drive, but Mack had the same issue. I noticed other display glitches here and there too—like two windows overlaid by mistake, and Mack had the entire speedometer and gear display fail.
The software gremlins we encountered during testing made it tougher to give this otherwise exceptional vehicle our top award. Lucid, for its part, says it’s making headway on addressing the bugs.
“We still have more work to do, but we are making steady progress,” Lucid spokesperson Justin Berkowitz said in an email. “I’m pleased to tell you that since the InsideEVs team experienced the Lucid Gravity, virtually everything you encountered has been resolved via over-the-air software updates, and we’re working through the remainder with our hardware suppliers.”
So, in our next test, the Gravity may very well feel more polished. But in our experience thus far, it’s not quite there yet. 2026 InsideEVs Breakthrough Awards Editor’s Choice: Lucid Gravity Photo by: Patrick George
Moreover, the InsideEVs Breakthrough Awards are all about commending the cars that push this market forward and break down barriers to EV adoption. While the Gravity’s technology and overall approach to EV design may trickle down into more accessible cars down the road—like the startup’s $50,000 crossover coming out next year—right now all of that innovation costs a pretty penny: $81,550 for the Touring model or $96,550 for the Grand Touring before any options. It’s tough to move the needle for EVs in a major way at six figures.
Today, there are plenty of impressive, high-dollar electric cars from Porsche, Rivian and the like in that price bracket. What the American market is clamoring for are great-value electric options that people can realistically afford. That’s what our winner delivers. Plus, while it’s no UFO, the cheerful little EV actually turned more heads than the Gravity.
Lucid Gravity Touring / Grand Touring
As-Tested Price $104,700 (Touring)
Base Price $81,550 / $96,550
Battery 89 kWh / 123 kWh
Charge Time 200 miles in 15 min / 11 min
Drive Type Dual-motor AWD
EV Range 337 miles / 450 miles
Output 560 hp / 828 hp
Maximum torque 811 lb-ft / 909 lb-ft
Speed 0-60 MPH 4.0 seconds / 3.4 seconds
Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com
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