Bernard Tse
Co-founder 2007Background
Co-founder of Atieva, the battery technology company that became Lucid.
Role at Lucid Group, Inc.
Lucid possesses a technical, Silicon Valley founding story, rooted originally in the demand for advanced battery technology, and defined by an aggressive, dramatic pivot driven by the former chief engineer of the Tesla Model S. The company was founded in 2007 in Newark, California, by Bernard Tse (a former Tesla executive) and Sam Weng. Initially, the company was not an automaker at all; it was called 'Atieva.' Atieva possessed a specific, technical focus: they wanted to build the most advanced, energy-dense battery packs and electric powertrains for other automakers (essentially acting as a lucrative Tier 1 supplier). They achieved early success in this technical niche (famously becoming the sole supplier of advanced battery packs for the Formula E racing series). However, the defining corporate pivot occurred with the strategic arrival of Peter Rawlinson in 2013 as Chief Technology Officer. Rawlinson was legendary in the EV industry; he was the Chief Engineer at Tesla who had spearheaded the development of the iconic Model S, but had left after publicized, clashes with Elon Musk. Rawlinson possessed an ambitious vision: Atieva's battery technology was so advanced that simply supplying other companies was a waste. He pushed the company to rebrand as Lucid Motors in 2016 and build an entire luxury vehicle from scratch to directly challenge Tesla. By leveraging his engineering pedigree and heavily pivoting from a quiet battery supplier into an aggressive, automotive startup, Rawlinson redefined the ambitions of the company.