Peter Rawlinson worked for Tesla CEO Elon Musk from 2009 to 2012 as he led the development of the electric-car maker's groundbreaking Model S sedan. Now the chief executive of the electric-vehicle startup Lucid Motors, Rawlinson learned from Musk the importance of relentless optimism.
"I really believe that success can beget success," Rawlinson said in an interview with Business Insider. "It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy if you're really committed and you're all in, and everyone at Lucid knows I am. And that's the leadership I hope I provide."
If you focus too much on what might go wrong, it can decrease your odds of achieving your goals, he added.
"Sometimes you have to put all your chips in," he said.
Musk, Rawlinson said, demonstrated his commitment to success "on an hour-by-hour basis." Rawlinson has taken that attitude to Lucid, which he joined in 2013 (he became the company's CEO in 2019). His confidence in the company and its debut vehicle, the Air luxury sedan, is driven by Lucid's in-house engineering and design efforts. According to the company, the $77,400 base-model Air, before tax credits, will be able to drive 406 miles between charges and will have a claimed 480 horsepower. Those specs would make the Air competitive with the Model S, whose $70,000 Long Range Plus guise has a claimed 402 miles of range.
"We're creating a car which is going to be the best car in the world," Rawlinson said. "People are going to want it."
Lucid unveiled the production version of the Air in September and the first model — the $169,000 Air Dream Edition — will be available in 2021.
Are you a current or former Lucid employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@bjinnox.com, on Signal at 646-768-4712, or via his encrypted email address mmatousek@protonmail.com.
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