Free step-N nilpotent Lie group ($G^N(V)=\exp ({\mathfrak{g}}^N(V))$)

Inside the truncated tensor algebra, let ${\mathfrak{g}}^N(V)$ be the span of iterated Lie brackets of elements of $V$ of lengths at most $N$. Its exponential is the connected simply connected free nilpotent Lie group of step $N$, with tensor multiplication. The bracket is the commutator in the tensor algebra. Its grading defines dilations that multiply degree $k$ by ${\lambda }^k$.

Write a group element as $\exp (v+a[e_1,e_2])$. The step-two Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula gives the displayed multiplication and inverse $(-v,-a)$. The scalar $a$ is the antisymmetric second signature coordinate, which equals the signed area for a closed planar path. The Carnot-Carathéodory distance is comparable to $|v|+|a{|}^{1/2}$ near the identity, with the same homogeneous scaling globally.