- Rawlinson turns into advisor as Lucid delivers Gravity, pivots to extra inexpensive 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 not the highest government at California’s Lucid Motors.
In a press launch, Lucid mentioned 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 function of CEO at Lucid in 2019, but it surely’s the chief technical officer (CTO) function that he doubly held that’s been particularly essential. Because the engineering wizard behind numerous 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 programs—even versus rival Tesla.
Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson – Arizona plant commissioning
“Now that we’ve got efficiently launched the Lucid Gravity, I’ve determined it’s lastly the suitable time for me to step apart from my roles at Lucid,” mentioned Rawlinson, within the launch. “I’m extremely happy with the accomplishments the Lucid workforce have achieved collectively by means 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 actually, a idea model of the Air in 2016, when Lucid grew to become the automotive model of Atieva.
Lucid nearly didn’t make it—and may not have with out Rawlinson’s perseverance. Ford thought of 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 acquired actual and improvement continued.
Amid Lucid’s cash-strapped hunger period, from 2017 nicely into 2019, Rawlinson saved a core engineering workforce and revisited a few of the key tech within the Lucid Air—what he referred to 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 in the present day. Within the meantime Lucid had began offering Formulation E battery packs for all the racing sequence, which added to the corporate’s data base.
The corporate has “initiated a search to determine Lucid’s subsequent Chief Government Officer,” with help from an government search agency, in keeping with the discharge. “The brand new CEO will assist Lucid execute its technique and put together for the following chapter,” it acknowledged.
Peter Rawlinson
Rawlinson has held positions at Jaguar and Lotus, amongst different firms, however Inexperienced Automotive Studies 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 function, Rawlinson instructed GCR that he was notably happy with the Mannequin S battery pack and the way it match electrically and mechanically inside that trailblazer, which might go on to win all types of awards.
The Lucid CEO has managed to rent top-tier expertise on the automaker, together with Tesla’s former manufacturing chief and different prime executives from VW, BMW, and Apple, and maintain on to them in a approach Tesla hasn’t. He saved Lucid’s braintrust within the California’s Bay Space, but it surely opened its Casa Grande, Arizona, manufacturing unit in 2021.
Lucid midsize SUV teaser
The Lucid Air has been Inexperienced Automotive Studies’ Greatest Automotive To Purchase, and though it’s a really massive automotive, the Air Pure stands as America’s best EV. It’s now delivering the Lucid Gravity SUV and hopes to greater than double its automobile manufacturing this 12 months on account of having the mannequin within the combine. And three inexpensive EVs, constructed off a brand new mid-size platform and with a good lower-cost Atlas drive unit, are due inside a pair years.
For now, Rawlinson and that tech preeminence stay Lucid’s power; he’s prompt that it’s going to take years for the competitors to meet up with Lucid’s effectivity edge, and we expect he’s proper.
