- Rawlinson turns into advisor as Lucid delivers Gravity, pivots to extra reasonably priced EVs
- CTO of Lucid and mum or dad Atieva since 2013, led efficiency-and-performance push
- Oversaw Lucid Air and Gravity, Tesla Mannequin S
Peter Rawlinson is now not the highest govt at California’s Lucid Motors.
In a press launch, Lucid stated that Rawlinson “has stepped apart from his prior roles,” and can transition to a job as senior technical advisor to the chairman of the board at Lucid, whereas COO Marc Winterhoff has been made interim CEO.
Rawlinson was elevated to the position of CEO at Lucid in 2019, nevertheless it’s the chief technical officer (CTO) position that he doubly held that’s been particularly vital. Because the engineering wizard behind plenty of what has propelled the corporate to its technological preeminence, Rawlinson particularly has established the corporate as able to extracting essentially the most miles out of electrical propulsion techniques—even versus rival Tesla.
Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson – Arizona plant commissioning
“Now that we’ve efficiently launched the Lucid Gravity, I’ve determined it’s lastly the precise time for me to step apart from my roles at Lucid,” stated Rawlinson, within the launch. “I’m extremely pleased with the accomplishments the Lucid staff have achieved collectively by way of my tenure of those previous twelve years.”
It has certainly been that lengthy. Rawlinson joined Lucid’s mum or dad, Atieva, as chief know-how officer in 2013, and Rawlinson and design chief Derek Jenkins first offered to a small group, together with yours really, a idea model of the Air in 2016, when Lucid turned the automotive model of Atieva.
Lucid nearly didn’t make it—and may not have with out Rawlinson’s perseverance. Ford thought-about shopping for Lucid in 2018, then took a cross. Lastly in April 2019, with the completion of an preliminary $1 billion funding from the Saudi Arabian Public Funding Fund, issues obtained actual and growth continued.
Amid Lucid’s cash-strapped hunger period, from 2017 effectively into 2019, Rawlinson saved a core engineering staff and revisited among the key tech within the Lucid Air—what he known as the core competence of the corporate. That led to the breakthroughs just like the 900+ volt tech and Lucid’s personal permanent-magnet motor design it makes use of at this time. Within the meantime Lucid had began offering Method E battery packs for your complete racing sequence, which added to the corporate’s data base.
The corporate has “initiated a search to determine Lucid’s subsequent Chief Govt Officer,” with assist from an govt search agency, in response to the discharge. “The brand new CEO will assist Lucid execute its technique and put together for the subsequent chapter,” it said.
Peter Rawlinson
Rawlinson has held positions at Jaguar and Lotus, amongst different corporations, however Inexperienced Automotive Experiences first got here to know Rawlinson when he was Tesla’s chief engineer for the Mannequin S, answerable for its design and manufacturing. Again in 2011, when he was in that position, Rawlinson informed GCR that he was notably pleased with the Mannequin S battery pack and the way it match electrically and mechanically inside that trailblazer, which might go on to win all kinds of awards.
The Lucid CEO has managed to rent top-tier expertise on the automaker, together with Tesla’s former manufacturing chief and different high executives from VW, BMW, and Apple, and maintain on to them in a manner Tesla hasn’t. He saved Lucid’s braintrust within the California’s Bay Space, nevertheless it opened its Casa Grande, Arizona, manufacturing facility in 2021.
Lucid midsize SUV teaser
The Lucid Air has been Inexperienced Automotive Experiences’ Finest Automotive To Purchase, and despite the fact that it’s a really giant automotive, the Air Pure stands as America’s most effective EV. It’s now delivering the Lucid Gravity SUV and hopes to greater than double its automobile manufacturing this yr on account of having the mannequin within the combine. And three reasonably priced EVs, constructed off a brand new mid-size platform and with a fair lower-cost Atlas drive unit, are due inside a pair years.
For now, Rawlinson and that tech preeminence stay Lucid’s energy; he’s instructed that it’ll take years for the competitors to meet up with Lucid’s effectivity edge, and we expect he’s proper.
