Lucid CEO Says Tesla is Not the Tech Leader Anymore After Becoming “Distracted”

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Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X

In an interview with Yahoo Finance at the Pebble Beach event, Peter Rawlinson, CEO of Lucid Motors, stated that the EV maker has ‘taken the mantle from Tesla’ as the company led by Elon Musk has become ‘distracted.’

In mid-July, Rawlinson stated that the endorsement from Musk to Trump in the presidential elections is another salient example of his level of distraction” adding that Lucid is “four years ahead of Tesla.”

“Clearly, we have the best technology in the world. We’ve now taken the mantle from Tesla. We have the best tech. And that is widely recognized,” the former Tesla executive stated.

Here’s the video from the interview with Yahoo Finance.

Lucid CEO continued highlighting the brand’s battery tech which recently allowed the 2025 Lucid Air to achieve an energy consumption of 5 miles per kWh, a new record for a production car.

“We’ve taken the mantle without a doubt. I mean, everyone is striving for, how far can you go with, how little battery space. We are considerably ahead of where Tesla is. We’ve taken that mantle,” he said.

“When I was at Tesla, Tesla was the tech leader. They become distracted, and we’ve taken that place,” Rawlinson added.

Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X

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Cláudio Afonso
Cláudio Afonso is the Founder and Editor of EV, an independent electric vehicle news publication owned by CARBA Investments, the company he founded in early 2021. Between 2022 and 2024 he worked in European corporate communications at Nio, and he returned to lead EV in April 2024. He is based in Portugal.