Peter Rawlinson is a British engineer based in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He is the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and chief technology officer of

Lucid Motors Lucid Group, Inc. is an American electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Newark, California. The company was founded in 2007. Deliveries of the Dream Edition launch versions were made available to the first group of 520 reservation hold ...

and is known for his work as Vehicle Engineer of the

Tesla Model S The Tesla Model S is a Battery electric vehicle, battery-powered liftback car serving as the flagship model of Tesla, Inc. The Model S features a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout, although earlier versions of the Model S featured a rear-moto ...

and the

Lucid Air The Lucid Air is a battery electric car produced and marketed by Lucid Motors. Unveiled in December 2016, it is designed to compete with existing brands in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, in particular the Tesla Model S Plaid, the Fisker ...

Early life and education

Rawlinson grew up in

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

and attended schooling in

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for e ...

, a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

near

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. He considered going to

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...

before deciding to become an engineer. Rawlinson attended

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, graduating from the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1979.

Career

Rawlinson has held several positions in the UK automotive industry, including Principal Engineer at

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar cars ...

, Chief Engineer at

Lotus Cars Lotus Cars Limited is a British automotive company headquartered in Norfolk, England which manufactures sports cars and racing cars noted for their light weight and fine handling characteristics. Lotus was previously involved in Formula One r ...

and Head of Vehicle Engineering at Corus Automotive. After joining Tesla in 2010, Rawlinson served as Vice President of Vehicle Engineering and Vehicle Engineer of the

. In this role, Rawlinson was responsible for the technical execution and delivery of the Model S, improving structure and production by taking advantage of the fewer restrictions facilitated by electric vehicle

drivetrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

in three years' time. Peter joined

in 2013 as the Chief Technology Officer and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2019. He oversees the development of the

along with

Derek Jenkins Derek Jenkins is an American automobile designer. He is currently the senior vice president of design and brand at Lucid Motors. He is known for his contribution to the design of the Mazda MX-5 (fourth generation) as well as the Lucid Air. B ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlinson, Peter Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People educated at Cowbridge Grammar School Alumni of Imperial College London British automotive engineers Welsh engineers People from Cowbridge