From Model S To Lucid Air: A Conversation With Peter Rawlinson of Lucid Motors
The electrified journey continues for Lucid’s CEO and CTO.
Peter Rawlinson is at work today. But like just about every office in America right now, it’s quiet at the sprawling headquarters of Lucid Motors in Newark, California. Rawlinson is a tall, ambling Welshman with a quick smile who stands very close to you when he speaks. During those moments, he seems welded to the conversation you’re having.
After graduating from Imperial College London, Rawlinson would go on to become the principal engineer at Jaguar, then later chief engineer at Lotus Cars. But by 2009, he found himself a hemisphere away at Tesla, where he would work on a project that would turn the automotive world upside down. Elon Musk had selected Rawlinson to be chief engineer of a small team that would design Tesla’s first totally-new car—the Tesla Model S. Now, some 11 years later, Rawlinson holds a dual role as the CEO and CTO of Lucid Motors, which is a 16-minute drive north from Fremont’s equally-quiet, Tesla factory.
Once, during those early Tesla days, I drove up to the then-shambolic Fremont factory, and sat with a clutch of journalists in a makeshift meeting room as Rawlinson explained what this car would be. He showed us renderings because well, the car didn’t actually exist. But the drawings looked quite nice.
