Rawlinson becomes advisor as Lucid delivers Gravity, pivots to more affordable EVs

CTO of Lucid and parent Atieva since 2013, led efficiency-and-performance push

Oversaw Lucid Air and Gravity, Tesla Model S

Peter Rawlinson is no longer the top executive at California’s Lucid Motors. 

In a press release, Lucid said that Rawlinson “has stepped aside from his prior roles,” and will transition to a role as senior technical advisor to the chairman of the board at Lucid, while COO Marc Winterhoff has been made interim CEO.

Rawlinson was elevated to the role of CEO at Lucid in 2019. As the chief technical officer (CTO) of the company, a role that he doubly held all along, he made the EV maker relevant among a cohort of startups. The engineering wizard behind a lot of what has propelled the company to its technological preeminence, Rawlinson positioned Lucid to grow as a propulsion-efficiency juggernaut. It's shown how it could make powerful EVs providing more range—even versus rival Tesla. As such, Lucid was the first automaker to crack 500 miles of EPA-rated range without an absurdly large battery pack. 

Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson - Arizona plant commissioning

"Now that we have successfully launched the Lucid Gravity, I have decided it is finally the right time for me to step aside from my roles at Lucid," said Rawlinson, in the release. "I am incredibly proud of the accomplishments the Lucid team have achieved together through my tenure of these past twelve years.”

It has indeed been that long. Rawlinson joined Lucid’s parent, Atieva, as chief technology officer in 2013. Rawlinson and design chief Derek Jenkins first presented to a small group, including yours truly, a concept version of the Air in 2016, when Lucid became the automotive brand of Atieva. 

Lucid almost didn’t make it—and might not have without Rawlinson’s perseverance. Ford considered buying Lucid in 2018, then took a pass. Finally in April 2019, with the completion of an initial $1 billion investment from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), things got real and development accelerated. 

Amid Lucid’s cash-strapped starvation era, from 2017 well into 2019, Rawlinson kept a core engineering team and revisited some of the key tech in the Lucid Air—what he called the core competence of the company. That led to the breakthroughs like the 900+ volt tech and Lucid’s own permanent-magnet motor design it uses today. In the meantime Lucid had started providing Formula E battery packs for the entire racing series, which added to the company’s knowledge base. 

The company has “initiated a search to identify Lucid’s next Chief Executive Officer,” with support from an executive search firm, according to the release. “The new CEO will help Lucid execute its strategy and prepare for the next chapter,” it stated. 

Peter Rawlinson

Rawlinson has held positions at Jaguar and Lotus, among other companies, but Green Car Reports first came to know Rawlinson when he was Tesla’s chief engineer for the Model S, responsible for its design and production. Back in 2011, when he was in that role, Rawlinson told GCR that he was particularly proud of the Model S battery pack and how it fit electrically and mechanically within that trailblazer, which would go on to win all sorts of awards. 

The Lucid CEO has managed to hire top-tier talent at the automaker, including Tesla’s former manufacturing chief and other top executives from VW, BMW, and Apple, and hold on to them in a way Tesla hasn’t. He kept Lucid’s braintrust in California’s Bay Area, but it opened its Casa Grande, Arizona, factory in 2021. 

Lucid midsize SUV teaser

The Lucid Air has been Green Car Reports’ Best Car To Buy, and even though it’s a very large car, the Air Pure stands as America’s most efficient EV. It’s now delivering the Lucid Gravity SUV and hopes to more than double its vehicle production this year as a result of having the model in the mix. And three affordable EVs, built off a new midsize platform and with an even lower-cost Atlas drive unit spearheaded by Rawlinson as key to getting to further economies of scale, are due within a couple years. 

For now, that tech preeminence remains Lucid’s strength as it tackles an uphill battle to scale up and "move metal," in industry terms. Rawlinson suggested that it would take years for the competition to catch up with Lucid’s efficiency edge, and he may be proven right. 

Tags: Electric Cars Lucid News

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