Lucid Motors‘ Powertrain chief hosted Tesla‘s co-founder Martin Eberhard at its Silicon Valley headquarters this week, marking a rare public appearance for one of the earliest pioneers of the modern electric vehicle.
Emad Dlala, Lucid’s senior vice president of powertrain, disclosed the visit in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, calling Eberhard “the true inventor of the modern electric car.”
Dlala said the meeting centered on the future of EVs and highlighted Eberhard’s long-standing personal ties with Lucid veteran Richard Biskup, dating back to their school days in Chicago.
Biskup joined Lucid as a Senior Technical Fellow in Powertrain in October 2011.
“It was also special to see the personal connection and friendship that Martin and our own legend Richard Biskup have and share since a long time dating back to their school days in Chicago,” Dlala wrote.
“Moments like these remind us how innovation and lasting relationships shape this industry,” he added.
Eberhard, often described as a “battery guru,” co-founded Tesla in 2003 and served as its first chief executive.
His tenure ended in 2007 after a boardroom struggle with Elon Musk, then Tesla’s lead investor.
He later sued the company and Musk, alleging defamation and seeking damages over disputes about his role in Tesla’s early difficulties.
Lucid‘s former CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson, who abruptly left the role in February, joined Tesla in 2009 to work on the Model S.
Rawlinson has said he persuaded Musk to redesign the car’s early prototype to make it viable for mass production.
Musk has repeatedly sought to downplay his contribution, writing on X in 2020 and 2021 that Rawlinson was “never chief engineer” and was only responsible for body engineering.
This week, Cantor Fitzgerald hosted interim Chief Executive Officer Marc Winterhoff and Chief Financial Officer Taoufiq Boussaid in New York. The firm increased its price target by 30% following the meeting to $26.
The company handed over this week the first vehicles to Nuro, marking the kick off of the partnership.
A drone flyover filmed earlier this week showed more than 2,000 Gravity SUVs at its Arizona plant, while the number of Lucid Air sedans decreased when compared to the previous flyover.
