You still can’t buy a true self-driving car, no matter what the Tesla fans in your life tell you. That said, Level 2 advanced driver-assistance software can briefly do a convincing impression of a self-driving car, and a few automakers even offer hands-free driving as an option when it’s safe. On Monday, Lucid announced the Gravity would join the Air in offering hands-free driving, as part of its latest over-the-air update. According to Lucid, the update will also include “enhancements to navigation,
charging experience, and everyday usability,” but the big story is still the Gravity getting hands-free driving.
As previously mentioned, Lucid already added hands-free driving to the Air, so it isn’t a brand new feature for Lucid. Plus, a Level 2 system that’s advanced enough to offer hands-free driving still can’t quite match the Level 3 system that Mercedes-Benz introduced over three years ago. Convincing states to approve a Level 3 vehicle, however, is a little more complicated than adding hands-free capabilities to a Level 2 system, so the fact that Lucid’s adding a less-advanced system to the Gravity should be more useful for more owners.
Details regarding the Gravity’s new hands-free driving capabilities were limited, but the release did say that it will handle “steering, acceleration, and braking on compatible highways in North America,” while also offering what Lucid calls “Hands-Free Lane Change.” Drivers will also have access to a feature Lucid calls “Automatic Lane Change,” which does pretty much what the name implies. Whether you signal to change lanes or not, if you have Lucid’s Hands-Free Drive Assist turned on, your Gravity should be able to handle lane changes, as well as regular, non-emergency driving in situations where the car determines that’s safe.
Other updates and improvements
As for the other features and improvements included in the software update, the navigation system now uses Google Maps Places API that Lucid claims will provide owners with more information on where they’re going. According to Lucid, Gravity owners who receive the update will be able to “view improved business details, ratings, photos, and parking information, along with enhanced charging station listings that include more accurate real-time availability and recent imagery.”
Gravity owners who sprung for Lucid’s DreamDrive Premium and DreamDrive 2 Pro driver-assistance software packages will also gain access to adaptive high beams that automatically adjust to oncoming traffic. At least in the press release, it sounds like Lucid’s system is a little more advanced than the systems that simply turn the high beams off when the car detects an oncoming vehicle. In this case, Lucid says the high beams stay on “while dynamically adjusting around other vehicles to reduce glare.”
Lucid says the Gravity will also get a few more features to make charging more convenient, one the electric automaker calls “Advanced Preconditioning View” and another called “Predictive Charging Power.” As for what they do, the release only said they “provide greater transparency into battery temperature and expected peak charging performance before plugging in.” Those are probably some pretty nice features that owners will appreciate, but odds are, they won’t sell new Gravities quite as well as the promise of hands-free highway driving.
