Lucid and Uber make a high-profile entrance into the robotaxi race with the unveiling of a six-seat version based on the Gravity SUV. Its upmarket positioning pits it against the driverless S-Class, which Mercedes launched in the Emirates. Still, the Gravity will kick-start its services in San Francisco, challenging Waymo, before its global rollout. The reveal comes just as Lucid closes its strongest production quarter to date.
At the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Uber, Lucid, and autonomous tech firm Nuro introduced a sleek robotaxi designed to shuttle up to six passengers through dense urban corridors, starting with the Bay Area in California. Based on Lucid’s Gravity SUV, the vehicle merges luxury design with an evolving autonomous stack powered by Nvidia chips and Nuro’s driving software.
On the market soon
The unveiling follows over six months of joint development and a million-dollar investment from Uber in Lucid, part of a deal that includes a commitment to purchase 20,000 electric vehicles. With testing already underway on San Francisco streets (for now, under human supervision), the companies anticipate commercial operations beginning later in 2026, pending regulatory approvals.
Externally, the robotaxi retains Gravity’s silhouette but adds a roof-mounted ‘halo’ unit housing high-resolution cameras, lidar, and radar. LED strips on the halo display ride information and help passengers identify their vehicle, a feature borrowed from Waymo’s well-established interface. Inside, passengers can access an Uber-designed cabin experience through a suite of digital controls to adjust temperature, play music, and even request stops.
Saving costs
While the role of Lucid in this collaboration reminds one of Jaguar merely supplying a fleet of cars to Waymo, which were retrofitted with the necessary tech, there are differences. Lucid is building the vehicle directly on its Casa Grande, Arizona production line, rather than retrofitting after assembly. It saves cost.
The approach underscores the partners’ ambition to scale quickly and enter global markets with a premium autonomous offering. Like Mercedes has recently done for wealthier Arabs with its robotaxi version of the S-Class. Surely, Lucid must be eyeing this market as well, as the brand is co-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
But ambition alone won’t carry the effort. Success hinges on both technical validation and Lucid’s ability to maintain production consistency. Something it struggled with during much of 2025. Plagued by software issues and delays for the Gravity model, owner frustrations were addressed personally by interim CEO Marc Winterhoff.
Output soars
Still, Lucid appears to have regained its footing. The company produced 8,412 vehicles in Q4, more than doubling its output from the previous quarter and meeting its full-year production guidance of 18,378 units.
Deliveries climbed too, marking a 73% year-over-year increase (5,345 units in Q4). For the year, Lucid delivered 15,841 vehicles — up 55% from 2024 — while other EV players reported quarterly slowdowns. Lucid’s rise is remarkable, as US EV incentives ended just before the start of the fourth quarter last year.
Alongside the robotaxi program, Lucid is preparing to launch a new midsize EV platform aimed at the $50,000 (€45,500) segment, potentially broadening its reach beyond the luxury niche.
