Lucid Motors said it will deploy “more than 100” Gravity vehicles equipped with Nuro’s Level 4 autonomous driving technology over the coming months as part of ongoing testing and validation for its robotaxi program with Uber.
The development follows a July partnership under which Uber plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in both Lucid and Nuro and deploy Lucid-built robotaxis exclusively on its ride-hailing platform.
The companies said back then the service was expected to begin operating in “a major US city” from late 2026.
When asked which city will host the pilot, Lucid’s interim CEO Marc Winterhoff said Uber would make that decision.
Nuro confirmed in a LinkedIn post this Wednesday that the San Francisco Bay Area will be the first market to receive the Uber-exclusive service.
“On-road development with our Robotaxi Engineering Fleet is now underway, marking the start of an exciting new chapter in our Global Robotaxi Program,” Nuro said.
The company added that over 100 Gravity test vehicles will be used as the companies advance through the next phase.
“On-road development with our Robotaxi Engineering Fleet is now underway, marking the start of an exciting new chapter in our Global Robotaxi Program,” Nuro added in the post.
Lucid delivered its first engineering prototype to Nuro in September for testing, marking an early step toward building the eventual fleet that will operate exclusively on Uber’s app.
The prototype was assembled at Lucid’s Arizona plant and later transported to Nuro’s headquarters in Newark, California, where engineers integrated the autonomous systems.
Nuro, backed by SoftBank, Chipotle, and Toyota’s Woven Capital, will handle the installation and calibration of sensors and self-driving hardware.
In August, the company raised $203 million in a funding round led by Uber and Nvidia to support “the scaling of Nuro’s AI-first autonomous technology and the growth of its commercial partnerships.”
The startup operates a 2021-built test facility in Las Vegas designed to replicate real-world traffic conditions.
There, Nuro recreates complex scenarios — from pedestrians appearing suddenly at night to erratic cyclists, work zones, and traffic light failures — to validate its self-driving system, known as the Nuro Driver.
Lucid said its first robotaxi prototype was already operating autonomously at Nuro’s Las Vegas proving grounds as of mid-July.
Nuro completed the installation of Level 4 systems on the first Lucid-based robotaxi — a Gravity SUV — less than two months after the partnership was announced.
As part of the deal, Uber placed an order for at least 20,000 Gravity SUVs to be delivered over six years.
Winterhoff said Lucid aims to expand that number significantly.
“Twenty thousand [units] is a good number. But at the same time, when you look at the details of the agreement, it’s over six years. It’s not that big of a number,” he said. “We want that number to be much bigger than that.”
While the Gravity’s average selling price in the US is around $120,000, Lucid has not disclosed the pricing structure agreed with Uber for the fleet order. The size of Uber’s investment in Nuro has also not been disclosed.
