How Well Does Hands-Free Driving Work in the Lucid Gravity?

What’s Good About Lucid’s Hands-Free Driving System?

Let’s start with what Lucid’s system is and what it allows. As of this test, Lucid’s hands-free system works only on specific, pre-mapped roads, similar to Ford’s BlueCruise and GM’s Super Cruise. It can handle passing maneuvers, lane changes and maintaining a safe distance between vehicles, but it can’t yet navigate from Point A to Point B without the driver making any inputs. It is not yet comparable to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows for hands-free driving even in cities and can recognize stop signs and traffic signals.

Lucid’s level of functionality, combined with its suite of sensors — including lidar in vehicles with DreamDrive 2 Pro — actually gives me a little more peace of mind. Tesla’s system is entirely camera-based, and too many times when behind the wheel of a Tesla, the cameras have been blinded by the sun, canceling hands-free operation.

Also good for the Lucid is its system’s ease of operation. If you’re on an available roadway and the sensors are functioning, a hands-free driving icon appears in the instrument panel. One press of the corresponding button on the steering wheel and the system activates, and then you can set your maximum speed and minimum following distance with other buttons, just like an adaptive cruise control system.

On my busy route, the system handled traffic nearly perfectly, even when less cautious drivers decided to cut off the Gravity. I felt calm and confident using it in busy traffic and during complex scenarios, and when I exited the highway and retook control, I felt much less stressed than I normally do at that point in my commute. It also handled driver attention monitoring well and was not at all thrown off by my sunglasses.

What Does Lucid’s Hands-Free Driving System Not Do Well?

I had to intervene only a handful of times. Once I reached stop-and-go traffic, I remained in the far right lane, and numerous times, the system was thrown off by the highway’s on-ramps. Where the on-ramp joined the right lane, it seemed like the system’s lane-centering steering wanted to recenter the car in the suddenly much wider lane — unintentionally cutting off merging traffic. This wouldn’t have been a problem if I’d changed lanes to the left, but I wanted to see if it could ever handle that scenario. It never really did.

If you have a busy stop-and-go commute, you may also find that even the shortest possible following distance is still enough to entice aggressive drivers to cut you off. This setup is obviously preferable to following so closely that you could rear-end the car ahead of you, but if you don’t like leaving gaps and allowing other drivers to take advantage of them, this system may not be for you.

Read More About the Lucid Gravity on Cars.com:

• Electric Cars With the Longest Range
• 2026 Lucid Gravity: Is the $2,900 Third-Row Seat Worth It?
• 2027 Lucid Gravity Gets More Standard Features, Extra Key
• Lucid Adds Apple CarPlay, Android Auto to Gravity SUV
• What Are the 10 Most Efficient Electric Cars?

Will Lucid’s Hands-Free Driving System Ever Compare to Tesla’s?

While its current limitations make Lucid’s system more comparable to GM and Ford offerings — and I give a slight nod to GM’s system for its functionality when towing — Lucid is reportedly working on more advanced hands-free and autonomous driving features that may someday be on par with what Tesla currently offers. Whether those systems will be on par with whatever Tesla is offering at that point in time remains to be seen.

FAQ

• Does the Lucid Gravity have hands-free driving? Properly equipped models do following an over-the-air update in June 2026.
• What package do you need to get hands-free driving on the Gravity? Your Gravity must be equipped with DreamDrive 2 Pro.
• Can the Gravity change lanes on its own? Yes, to some extent. It can automate some lane changes to pass slow-moving vehicles, and the driver can initiate a lane change by activating the turn-signal stalk. It will not make lane changes for navigational reasons, however.
• Is this full self-driving, or do you still need to pay attention? Drivers should always pay attention and be ready to intervene, but the system does not require the driver to keep their hands on the wheel.
• Where does hands-free driving work? Hands-free driving in the Gravity works on specific, pre-mapped roads, which are currently mostly divided highways.
• Is Lucid working on fully autonomous driving? Yes, Lucid is reportedly working on fully autonomous driving, though if or when that might be available hasn’t been announced.

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.