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Lucid Gravity SUV unveiled: 440+ miles of range, under $80k, late 2024 production

Introducing the Lucid Gravity: Redefining the Electric SUV

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Lucid has unveiled the Gravity, officially bringing images of its first all-electric SUV to fruition as it plans to launch the 440-mile range EV to the market, with production starting in late 2024. Lucid expects the starting price to be under $80,000.

The Lucid Gravity will make its public debut today at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Before it has its first looks from those at the event, Lucid has released a few photos of the car, along with images of what its interior will look like.

Lucid launched the Air sedan a few years back and brought a multitude of trim levels to the market over the past 24 months. It teased the Gravity SUV on several occasions, but Lucid executives did not tip any of us off on what it would plan to bring with its first spacious EV.

“The Gravity SUV represents a significant leap forward for Lucid’s world-leading technology and design. Customers will find an unprecedented combination of space and maneuverability, luxury, and versatility, all seamlessly integrated into one remarkable vehicle with the driving experience and range of a true Lucid,” CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson said.

Combining design excellence with spacious interiors and versatility, the Gravity is a fusion of aesthetics and utility from an exterior standpoint. Drag coefficient was a focus of Lucid with the Gravity’s design, as it was with the Air. A good drag coefficient can enhance range ratings and overall aerodynamics, and Lucid was able to achieve a drag of less than 0.24, “an aerodynamic profile unsurpassed by other three-row SUVs,” it said.

Introducing the Lucid Gravity: Redefining the Electric SUV

In terms of the interior, it has ample and flexible cargo areas, adding up to more than 112 cubic feet of total usable cargo space for luggage and other things. The second row slides back with integrated convenience tables for an “elevated back-seat experience.”

Introducing the Lucid Gravity: Redefining the Electric SUV

Additionally, the interior features a 34-inch curved and uninterrupted OLED display that is located above the new “innovative” steering wheel.

Introducing the Lucid Gravity: Redefining the Electric SUV

Performance measures at 0-60 MPH in less than 3.5 seconds, a payload capacity of 1,500 pounds, and 6,000 pounds of towing capacity. To handle offroading, it has an enhanced optional air suspension package that adapts to various terrain needs automatically.

Introducing the Lucid Gravity: Redefining the Electric SUV

It will also have a 900-volt architecture to enable some of the fastest charging speeds offered by an EV. Lucid said in its press release for the Gravity SUV that drivers will be able to add 200 miles of driving distance in just 15 minutes.

“Gravity will take our customers farther with less batteries and therefore using less precious energy,” Rawlinson added regarding the new release. “Its smaller, lighter, and higher technology battery pack means fewer precious metals and minerals, less energy to charge, less electricity consumed, less pressure upon the grid, and a lighter weight and more dynamic vehicle. When we say we’re here to advance the technology, this is what we mean – this is truly sustainability in action.”

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla reveals plans for Robotaxi charging hub in Austin

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Credit: Grok Imagine

Tesla has revealed plans through permit submissions for a massive Robotaxi charging hub in Austin, Texas.

Tesla plans to build the Supercharger hub in multiple phases, with the second phase potentially introducing wireless induction charging, something the company has been developing for the Robotaxi fleet.

Initially, 48 Tesla Robotaxi-geared Superchargers will be built on a lot just across from the St. Elmo, Texas, Service Center. There are about 80 additional spots that will not be impacted by phase 1 of the construction process.

Filings show that the second phase of the project will turn those 80 additional spots into wireless charging for Robotaxi, but it might be an error. The Key Notes state that item 3 is listed as “V4 Charging Cabinet to Support 80 Wireless Chargers in Phase 2. However, the drawings point to V3 Cabinets that are already tied to Superchargers:

There are roughly 128 total spots in the lot, but it is unclear if they will all be used for charging based on what appears to be some sort of typo in the blueprint.

This is among the first Robotaxi charging hubs Tesla has started to develop, as it currently has four others planned throughout various areas: one in Phoenix, one in San Antonio, another in Irving, which will serve the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and another in Las Vegas.

These projects are necessary as Tesla expands its Robotaxi program. Now that preparations have started for the public launch of Cybercab, Robotaxi will likely be expanding aggressively, especially over the next two to three years.

Last night, The Information reported that Tesla was planning to launch Cybercab as soon as the end of August. Hours later, Tesla then announced it was launching a competition for fans to potentially ride in Cybercab during its first public rides.

Tesla Cybercab launch preparations have begun

Tesla’s plan to expand its charging infrastructure in the regions where Robotaxi will initially operate is great preparation for the expanding service. There is still a lot to do, including launching the Cybercab on time.

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Tesla Semi gets its largest order yet

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Credit: Einride

Tesla got its largest order for the all-electric Class 8 Semi yet, a 500-unit order from Einride AB, a Swedish trucking company.

Einride made the announcement this morning following its second-quarter earnings call. The company said it plans to use 500 Tesla Semi units on its fleet intelligence platform, called Saga AI. The deployments will serve large companies like Amazon and will extend Einride’s electric freight network across logistics routes in California, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, and Georgia.

The deployment is being carried out in several phases over the next two years as Tesla ramps production of the Semi at its dedicated production facility in Sparks, Nevada. Einride will receive its first Semi units in September.

Saga AI

Saga AI is Einride’s dedicated fleet intelligence platform. It enables scaled adoption of electric trucks for freight use and allows shippers to integrate electric capacity without the operational burden or capital risks of managing a fleet. This helps integrate cost-efficient logistics and makes budgeting and forecasting much more accurate.

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Tesla Semi’s Adoption

The Tesla Semi is now gathering large-scale clients past those who have helped the company operate a Pilot Program to gain initial information and feedback from real-world drivers.

Perhaps the biggest and most notable is that of Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., who have worked with Tesla for the past several years to dial in the finer details of the truck, including its efficiency and operation-related components.

Tesla Semi gets strange-but-understandable comparison from Jay Leno

There has been tremendous progress in that time, and it even catalyzed Tesla to make some design changes, which were unveiled earlier this year.

But Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli says his company’s partnership with Tesla will continue to push those things forward:

“This deployment is yet another proof point that we can execute at the scale our customers demand. Working closely with Tesla to bring next-generation Semis into active operations quickly and at scale is a testament to the strength of that partnership, and how quickly this technology is maturing from promise to daily operations.”

Tesla Semi is already winning over truck drivers

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Additionally, Dan Priestley, the Director of the Semi Program at Tesla, said the partnership is ideal due to Einride’s focus on sustainable transport:

“Einride is at the forefront of sustainable freight, and we are thrilled to deepen our relationship with them through this order of 500 Semis. EV heavy trucks provide lower costs per mile from fuel savings, reduced maintenance, and better uptime over diesel trucks. These savings increase further through operational efficiency when deploying EV trucks at scale, and we are excited that Einride recognizes this and look forward to supporting their deployments.” 

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Elon Musk

India tells Elon Musk’s X to “Follow the Law” in latest censorship update

Elon Musk says X now exposes government censorship, but India’s secrecy laws complicate that promise.

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Elon Musk’s promise to make government censorship requests on X “clearly visible” is running into a wall in India, where the law forbids the very disclosure Musk is promising.

On August 15, Musk responded to an update from X’s open-source algorithm team by writing “Any censorship required by governments is now clearly visible.” The claim referred to a change X pushed two days earlier to its public xai-org/x-algorithm repository, which now includes a controversial filter written directly into the code. The filter suppresses posts from 665 accounts flagged by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court from appearing in the For You feed of any viewer located in Brazil, unless the viewer already follows the account. The election tied to the filter is scheduled for October 4.

India’s government wasn’t as impressed, and responded on Monday that “X will have to follow the law of the land,” in response to Musk’s transparency push covered by the Times of India. The problem is structural rather than political. India issues content blocking orders under Section 69A of its IT Act, and Rule 16 of the accompanying 2009 Blocking Rules requires those orders to stay confidential. Publishing an India equivalent of the Brazil filter, naming specific accounts and citing specific government orders, would itself violate Indian law. Government use of Section 69A has grown from roughly 6,000 orders a year between 2018 and 2023 to about 24,300 in 2025, according to a Tech Times report.

Elon Musk shares details on X vs. Brazil conflict

The contrast puts Musk’s transparency pledge in an odd spot. It works largely as advertised in Brazil, where electoral law requires disclosure and X can point to specific account IDs and a specific court order in public code. It cannot work the same way in India, where the law requires the opposite. X users in India will keep seeing content disappear from search and their feeds without any public accounting of why, even as X tells the rest of the world that its censorship compliance is now inspectable.

This isn’t the first time X’s fights with a national government have shaped how the platform operates. Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered X to suspend the accounts of sitting lawmakers and journalists in 2024, a standoff that cost X its Brazilian revenue for months and froze Starlink’s local accounts before the investigation into Musk and X was closed in March with no evidence of wrongdoing found. X also sued California over a state law requiring moderation disclosures, arguing the mandate itself violated the First Amendment.

Whether India’s government pursues anything beyond a public statement remains to be seen. For now, the mismatch between what X can legally publish and what different governments legally allow it to publish is the real story behind Musk’s seven word claim.

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