Lucid leans into the rugged trend with new Gravity X

Lucid Motors joins the surging wave of SUVs aimed at off-road adventuring with its new Gravity X concept, unveiled during Monterey Car Week on the ramp at the famed Lodge at Pebble Beach.

“We wanted to explore what else could we do with Gravity to make it more adventurous, and we came up with this idea of the California road trip where you could go from the ocean to the mountains to the desert,” Lucid’s Senior vice president of design and brand Derek Jenkins told us at the reveal. “I think this exemplifies that... [it's] the ultimate vehicle for that lifestyle.” 

Based the Gravity Grand Touring SUV, the X (pronounced “Cross”) sits higher and wider, and still exudes Lucid’s hallmark California-inspired design. Revised front and rear fascias with integrated skid plates and tow hooks give the car a more solid, planted stance, while enabling sharper approach and departure angles. 

Beefed-up wheels with custom all-terrain tyres sit beneath more aggressive fender flares, while brushed metal fascia inserts add a tactile contrast to the otherwise clean surfacing on the body side. The colour scheme revolves around the satin-finish beige exterior paint, dubbed “Astral Drift,” keeping with the desaturated, earth-tone trends we continue to see in this segment. 

Darkened exterior trim with bright orange accents give a pop of contrast to an otherwise understated palette. 

A new modular roof system includes integrated crossbars, LED light bars, and a roof box, while additional mounting points offer support for overlanding gear. Nods to the Golden State include the coordinates of Pebble Beach on the rocker trim, and topography maps of Big Sur and Death valley on the vehicle’s hood.

In the cabin, CMF designers used a variation of the brand’s Ojai colourway, which features deep terracotta-toned leather along with orange accents in the form of seat piping, seat belts, door panels, and tinted glass centre console cover. 

There are people who want something with the look of adventure 

Open-pore walnut trim runs beneath a textile-covered floating IP, and rugged rubber floor mats feature brushed metal inlays with the Gravity logo. The microsuede steering wheel also gets a bright orange six-o-clock marker, inspired by race and rally cars.

The Pebble Beach debut comes alongside the reveal of Cadillac’s Elevated Velocity concept and within days of BMW’s brassy announcement that it would build a rugged full-sized SUV to compete with the iconic Mercedes-Benz G Wagen (yeah — good luck with that).

And although the Gravity X is billed as a concept, Jenkins revealed away from the crowd that, “Most of the ideas on this [vehicle] actually come from one of our midsize models that’s already finished.” This is in line with the sneak preview Jenkins gave the author in the design studio a couple of years ago, when he indicated that the brand’s midsized program would include more than one model, aimed at different lifestyles and use cases.

However, Jenkins insists that Lucid is not simply hopping on the off-road bandwagon, but working to expand its lineup without abandoning the luxury and performance that define the brand. 

“We know that trends come and go, and I agree that perhaps the overlanding thing has reached a certain saturation,” Jenkins admits. “But for us, efficiency, performance, range, and clever packaging are still at the core of Lucid. It’s best for us to start there, then make a ruggedised version. 

"Some brands go the other way around, but making an electric vehicle out of a really rugged, heavy car is very difficult to do. And yes, there are people who want something that has utility and the look of adventure and capability, but they also have to live with it on a daily basis.”