Tesla’s Ex-Production Chief Lands at Lucid Motors

Peter Hochholdinger, former head of production at Tesla Inc., has been named vice president of manufacturing at electric car startup Lucid Motors Inc.

Hochholdinger had spent 24 years as a production manager at Audi AG before moving to Tesla in 2016. His departure from Tesla, which still hasn’t been acknowledged publicly by the company, was first reported a week ago by Electrek.

In September, Lucid secured more than $1 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The Menlo Park, Calif-based carmaker was formed in 2007 by former Tesla and Oracle executives.

Lucid intends to begin making the Lucid Air electric sedan at a $700 million manufacturing facility it is preparing to build in Casa Grande, Ariz., in 2020. The five-passenger car is expected to offer a range between 240 and 315 miles, depending upon the battery installed.