These days, it can be hard to remember that Elon Musk is still the CEO of Tesla. Between his leadership of X, his work at SpaceX, and his increased political advocacy, Musk is stretched thin. At least, that’s according to Peter Rawlinson, the former chief vehicle engineer of the Tesla Model S who now leads an electric vehicle competitor, Lucid Motors.
Speaking at Fortune‘s Brainstorm Tech conference on Tuesday, Rawlinson said that Musk’s vocal support of Trump—which reportedly includes a plan to donate $45 million a month to a pro-Trump PAC—is “another salient example of his level of distraction.”
“Tesla used to have the lead in electric vehicle technology,” Rawlinson said on stage. “Now the mantle has passed to Lucid.”
The EV race
While Lucid may have Tesla DNA, the smaller car company has struggled to find the mainstream success of its competitor. After launching its first car in late 2021, Lucid still faces challenges with costs, as its cheapest vehicle will still set buyers back more than $70,000. “People think we’re some niche luxury player, and nothing can be further from the truth,” Rawlinson said. “We want to be a mainstream player.”
Rawlinson said the only path for Lucid was to offer high-end cars before moving into more affordable offerings, with a mid-sized vehicle planned for 2026.
Lucid went public through a SPAC in mid-2021 before releasing its first car. After hitting a peak of over $55 a share in late 2021, the company’s stock price is hovering under $4. And Lucid’s financial woes have mounted, including operating losses of $3 billion against $600 million in revenue last year.
Rawlinson said that the company just hit record quarterly sales. And while the company is making progress on its affordable vehicle, it also plans to release an SUV at around $80,000 this year.
More importantly, Rawlinson argued that Lucid’s technology is superior to Tesla’s, including the most efficient use of energy by an electric vehicle, and said that Tesla has lost its “laser focus” on environmental goals.
Musk, for his part, has not been shy about criticizing his former employee. The Tesla CEO has lashed out publicly against Rawlinson in the past, attacking his compensation package and work on Model S.
“It’s surprising that little Lucid has attracted so much of his attention,” Rawlinson said of Musk’s critiques. “We must have something going on to do that.”
When was the last time the two EV business rivals talked? When Rawlinson turned in his letter of resignation at Tesla in 2012.
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