Luxury Electric Vehicle Startup Lucid Motors Hires Key Executives from Waymo, Apple & Ferrari Ahead of its IPO

author: Eric Walz   

The Lucid Air Sedan.

As electric vehicle startup and Tesla challenger Lucid Motors gears up for its IPO later this year, the company continues to hire key executives who will help lead the company forward. 

On Wednesday, Lucid Motors announced it hired former Waymo Treasurer & Head of Investor Relations Sherry House, as Chief Financial Officer, along with three other industry veterans, as the company prepares for the launch of its first vehicle, the luxury-electric Lucid Air sedan.

Ms. House was first hired by Waymo in Dec 2017. But she will bring to Lucid Motors more than two decades of industry experience. At Waymo, Ms. House led global corporate development, investments, acquisitions, as well as overseeing the company's first ever external funding round in which Waymo raised $2.25 billion in March 2020.

Waymo spun out of Google's self-driving car project, which began over a decade ago. 

As Lucid Motors prepares for its upcoming IPO in a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Churchill Capital IV (NYSE: CCIV) later this year, Ms. House will contribute her "deep understanding of financial operations for both Fortune 500 and emerging companies," Lucid said.

"We are delighted to have Sherry join us. Her rare combination of financial and technical experience bolsters our core leadership team in a pivotal year for Lucid as we prepare to transition to a publicly traded company and launch the Lucid Air," said Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Motors. 

In addition to Lucid Motors hiring its new CFO, the company recently announced three more additions to its leadership team. The three bring decades of expertise in the automotive and technology industries, including with global companies such Apple, Intel and automakers Jaguar and Ferrari. 

Margaret Burgraff joined Lucid as Vice President of Software Validation in Nov 2020. Mrs. Burgraff brings to Lucid over 25 years of quality and software development management at Apple and Intel.   

Vice President of Information Technology Sanjay Chandra joined Lucid in March. He most recently served as Chief Information Officer and Head of Cloud Operations at TiVo/Xperi for over eight years.

The company also announced it promoted Jeff Curry as Vice President of Marketing and Communications. Mr. Curry is joining Lucid in a permanent capacity after consulting on the company's marketing strategy since Dec 2019.

Mr. Curry previously served as Vice President of the Jaguar luxury brand. He also held notable marketing and PR leadership positions as Vice President of Marketing for Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari, as well as leading e-mobility strategy for German automaker Audi. 

Lucid says the new leaders will help the company advance its vision to redefine luxury, performance and efficiency in the electric vehicle market. 

In addition to the recent additions to Lucid's executive team, the company is gearing up to deliver its first electric vehicle.

The fully-electric Lucid Air is an ultra luxurious electric sedan designed to compete with high-end electric and gas-powered models from Tesla, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi and Porsche. The top of the line, Lucid Air Dream Edition, which is already sold out, will have a range of over 500 miles and will produce up to 1,080 horsepower from its advanced electric, all-wheel-drive powertrain.

The more mainstream version of the Lucid Air is available to reserve now with a starting price of $77,400, before any EV tax credits.

Rawlinson said in the past that the ultra-luxurious and high-performance Lucid Air Air sedan will be the "world's most advanced electric car" and will define Lucid Motors as a company.

The Air will be built at Lucid's $1 billion EV factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The company calls the new facility Lucid AMP-1, which stands for "Advanced Manufacturing Plant." The factory will soon begin production the Lucid Air. It's also the first U.S. auto factory built from the ground up solely for electric vehicle production.

Lucid has already built full beta prototypes of the Air sedan and is now transitioning to final series production by this summer. Lucid says the state-of-the-art AMP-1 was designed to be "Future Ready'', which allows for expansion at the site to meet Lucid's future needs. 

An aerial view of the new Lucid Motors factory in Casa Grande, Arizona.

In July 2019, Lucid hired Peter Hochholdinger from Tesla to serve as its VP of Manufacturing. While at Tesla, Hochholder oversaw the production of the Model 3, Tesla's first mass-market car. Prior to working at Tesla, Hochholdinger spent 24 years at Audi, where he rose to Senior Director of Production for the Audi A4, A5, and Q5.

Rawlinson said in 2019 that Hochholdinger's experience in manufacturing will help the company to launch the Lucid Air and other luxury electric models in the future.

The company is also planning to deliver a luxury electric SUV by 2023. It's currently in development under the code name "Project Gravity."

With the company's recent new hires, all of the pieces appear to be in place for success as a luxury electric automaker.

Rawlinson is also an auto industry veteran and former Tesla employee. He worked under Elon Musk as Chief Engineer of the Tesla Model S before joining Lucid Motors in 2013. He now serves dual roles as CEO and CTO.

Lucid Motors is also well-funded. The company received a $1 billion investment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) in 2018, but its upcoming IPO could bring a huge influx of fresh capital. 

With its pending IPO and strong investor interest in EV companies and related stocks, Lucid Motors is positioned to be a formidable rival to segment leader Tesla, which rose to become the world's most valuable car company last year.

Now Tesla will be one of Lucid's biggest rivals in the luxury EV space. 

Eric Walz

Originally hailing from New Jersey, Eric is a automotive & technology reporter covering the high-tech industry here in Silicon Valley. He has over 15 years of automotive experience and a bachelors degree in computer science. These skills, combined with technical writing and news reporting, allows him to fully understand and identify new and innovative technologies in the auto industry and beyond. He has worked at Uber on self-driving cars and as a technical writer, helping people to understand and work with technology.