One of the most prominent Tesla enthusiasts on social media with nearly one million followers on X, praised Lucid Motors‘ new Gravity SUV for its design and efficiency but called the absence of advanced autonomous driving technology a critical flaw.
Sawyer Merritt published a video review on Friday on X after spending a week driving a fully spec’d $120,000 Lucid Gravity Grand Touring.
“The only issue is it’s sort of a deal-breaker for me in that it doesn’t have FSD,” Merritt said in the review, referring to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software. “And I use FSD on my Tesla everywhere I go now. It’s such a capable system and this thing just can’t do that.”
The Gravity Grand Touring that Merritt tested was heavily optioned at approximately $123,000, well above the model’s $94,900 starting price.
The company loaned the vehicle to Merritt for the week-long test without payment or sponsorship, according to the Tesla shareholder and content creator.
Lucid plans to begin production next month of a cheaper Gravity Touring model priced from $79,900 after struggling to ramp up manufacturing of the high-end trim.
Highway-Only Limitations
Merritt tested the Gravity in daily driving scenarios over the course of a week, running errands and evaluating the vehicle’s technology features.
He found Lucid‘s Dream Drive assistance system adequate for highway use but vastly inferior to Tesla’s autonomous capabilities, which can navigate city streets, make turns and handle complex traffic situations.
“I find that Tesla’s FSD system is far more capable on the highway,” Merritt said. “It also transitions between lanes a lot more smoothly than the Lucid system does. And you can’t use the Lucid system like on normal roads. I tried. It’s not going to do turns or anything. It’s really just meant for the highway.”
The limitation is particularly notable given that Lucid charges $6,750 for its Dream Drive 2 Pro package, which the company markets as “future-capable ADAS hardware for driving and parking.”
“Honestly, I would skip that, I don’t think it’s worth it right now,” Merritt said. “Really you’re just paying $7,000 for the Dream Drive 2 Pro upgrade for future capability. But who knows when that’s going to come.”
Key Fob Failures Echo Owner Complaints
Merritt also experienced a problem that has plagued numerous Gravity owners: a malfunctioning key fob. Throughout his week-long test, the key consistently failed to work.
“Also, the key is not working. It hasn’t worked basically the entire time I’ve had this car, for some reason,” Merritt said. “Whether it be the trunk, or front button, or the lock or unlock buttons. Not sure what that’s about.”
The complaint echoes widespread issues reported by Gravity owners on social media and owner forums over recent months, with many receiving “key not detected” alerts when attempting to use their vehicles.
The problem became significant enough that Lucid began offering key fob firmware updates wirelessly through its mobile app on October 30, though Merritt’s experience suggests the issue persists for some vehicles.
Software Quality Concerns
Beyond the key fob and autonomous driving gap, Merritt criticized software performance issues that he encountered throughout the week.
“The software in this car is pretty buggy,” Merritt said, noting instances where the system froze when he attempted to adjust seat configurations.
He also pointed to navigation glitches where the map would fail to update properly while controlling other functions, though turn-by-turn directions continued working.
The interface lag extended to other systems as well. “The animations are pretty nice but again can be laggy at times,” he said, demonstrating the 360-degree parking camera system that responded slowly to inputs.
Merritt also expressed disappointment with the blind spot monitoring cameras, calling the image quality “surprisingly low quality” and noting they were “very difficult to see out of” at night, with footage appearing “very fuzzy, very grainy looking.”
“Don’t like that on a vehicle of this price point,” he said.
Design Draws Mixed Reactions
The exterior styling generated an unexpected observation from Merritt, who said the longer he drove the Gravity, the more it felt like a minivan rather than an SUV — though he didn’t consider that entirely negative.
“I don’t mean that in a bad way. I actually think it works pretty well,” he said. “I got a lot more looks driving this thing around than I was expecting.”
However, certain design elements drew criticism. “The only thing I don’t like actually is this sort of unibrow looking trim piece on the front here,” he said, referring to a horizontal element across the vehicle’s front fascia.
Interior Critique
Inside, Merritt found high-quality materials in some areas but questioned certain choices for a vehicle approaching $125,000 as equipped.
He took issue with sun visors that attach directly to the windshield with battery-powered mirrors requiring periodic battery replacement, calling the design “kind of weird.”
The audio system, despite featuring 22 speakers and Dolby Atmos capability as part of a $2,900 upgrade, disappointed him.
“It’s good, but it’s just lacking bass, I feel like. The bass in my Model Y is much better than the bass in this car, which isn’t great considering this is a $120,000 plus car,” Merritt said.
He also criticized the absence of ambient interior lighting as standard equipment, noting it requires a $3,500 technology package upgrade.
“On a vehicle of this price point ambient lighting like that should be standard. I don’t know why you need to pay more to upgrade,” he said, adding that the cabin felt “too dark at night.”
Scratchy plastic on the center console also drew his ire. “I don’t like the scratchy plastic here. It feels cheap for the vehicle of this price point,” he said.
Bright Spots
Despite the criticisms, Merritt praised several features, including the massage function.
“The massaging seats in this thing are some of the best massaging seats I’ve ever seen actually or ever experienced in a car. They don’t feel like a little mouse is pushing on your back with their little hands. They’re actually effective,” he said.
The air suspension impressed him with its range, dropping from nine inches of ground clearance to just five inches.
“It’ll get all the way down to five inches of ground clearance, which is lower than most sedans actually,” he noted. “This will go from five inches all the way up to nine inches, which is actually higher than most, more ground clearance than most trucks get.”
Handling quality surprised him given the vehicle’s size and minivan-like proportions. “This thing handles ridiculously well for how big it is, and also the fact that it’s basically a minivan,” Merritt said, crediting the dynamic handling package and performance wheels.
The third-row seating received particular praise for space efficiency. “This third row in this car has a crazy amount of space, considering it’s less than 200 inches long,” he said, comparing it favorably to larger vehicles like the Cadillac Escalade IQ.
Native Tesla Supercharger Access
One feature Merritt highlighted as significant was the vehicle’s native NACS charging port, eliminating the need for an adapter to use Tesla’s Supercharger network.
“That’s one of the first non-Tesla EVs on the market that you don’t need an adapter for to use the Tesla Supercharger network,” he said, noting the vehicle can charge at up to 225 kilowatts on Tesla’s network while supporting peak charging speeds of 400 kilowatts elsewhere.
Bottom Line
Merritt concluded that while Lucid succeeded in creating an efficient, spacious electric SUV with strong design elements, the autonomous driving deficiency represents an insurmountable obstacle for drivers accustomed to Tesla’s more advanced system.
“Overall I think it is a great EV,” he said. “But in terms of efficiency, efficiency of packing and space, Lucid I think really nailed it. And the design I think is pretty good.”
Production Target Cut
The EV maker started 2025 aiming to produce “approximately 20,000” units.
However, it said in early August it was reducing the annual target to a range of 18,000 and 20,000 units.
Earlier this month, the California-based manufacturer said it now expects to produce 18,000 vehicles in Arizona and Saudi Arabia, where it assembles pre-built vehicles exported from the US.
Uncertain supplies of rare earths have been affecting the EV industry over the last months. Additionally, a fire at its aluminum supplier two months ago has also affected Lucid‘s production.
