---
title: "Tesla-Rivaling Lucid Air Will Make Its TV Debut During Elon Musk’s SNL Episode"
description: "Ah, now it makes sense: Tesla's former chief engineer Peter Rawlinson is the CEO at Lucid"
date: "2021-05-08"
modified: "2021-05-10"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin V. Shaw"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kristin-shaw.md"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/tech/40511/tesla-rivaling-lucid-air-will-make-its-tv-debut-during-elon-musks-snl-episode"
categories:
  - "Car Tech"
  - "Electric Vehicles"
  - "Lucid News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Tesla News"
tags:
  - "air"
  - "Electric Vehicle"
  - "luxury"
  - "sedan"
  - "Tesla"
---

# Tesla-Rivaling Lucid Air Will Make Its TV Debut During Elon Musk’s SNL Episode

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2021/05/Lucid-HERO.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Tesla competitor [Lucid Motors](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/36029/2021-lucid-airs-claimed-517-miles-of-range-comes-from-a-much-smaller-battery-than-expected.md>) has not yet delivered a vehicle, but it has sent up some shade to Elon Musk yesterday. The mercurial billionaire is set to host *Saturday Night Live* tonight, and Team Lucid decided to troll Musk with a tweet teasing an ad that will air during the show.

Using the hashtag #FirstTo500, Lucid is referring to its race to the market with a vehicle capable of a 500-mile range. Lucid Air is slated to be priced at $77,400 ([the top-of-the-line Dream edition](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/36309/2021-lucid-air-ev-launches-with-517-mile-range-169000-price-tag.md>) will start at $169,000), and Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson claims it will be the quickest, most aerodynamic, fastest, and longest-range EV available.

![message-editor%2F1620444695122-lucidinline.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1620444695122-lucidinline.jpg>)
**Lucid Motors**

Interestingly, Rawlinson happened to be the chief engineer at Tesla between 2009 and 2012, working side by side with Musk. [Rawlinson told *InsideEVs* reporter Tom Moloughney](<https://insideevs.com/news/505126/elon-musk-tweet-rawlinson-not-chief-engineer/>) that Musk recruited him to salvage the plans for the Model S.

"Elon reached out to me and said, 'Look, I've got a bloody disaster on my hands; will you come and join us?'” Rawlinson reportedly told Moloughney. “After the first few days at Tesla, I went to see Elon at Space-X on a Friday and he asked me: ‘What do you think?’ I said ‘Elon, it's a disaster. You're going to have to start again.’ He asked ‘Everything?’ I said 'Yes, look, I know how to do this, let me design Model S from scratch.' He actually trusted me and empowered me to do it and we did do it."'

https://twitter.com/_/status/1390742832751779847

On May 3, Musk responded to a tweet about Rawlinson, stating that he was never the chief engineer for Tesla. That's counter to what the [Wayback Machine shows](<https://insideevs.com/news/505126/elon-musk-tweet-rawlinson-not-chief-engineer/>) as well as Rawlinson's [LinkedIn page](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-rawlinson-1a910625/>).

“He arrived after Model S prototype was made, left before things got tough & was only ever responsible for body engineering, not powertrain, battery, software, production or design,” Musk tweeted.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1389270326073253889

Shots fired. And this ad during *Saturday Night Live* might be Rawlinson's small measure of revenge.

Earlier this year, Churchill Capital IV and Lucid combined with a transaction equity value of $11.75 billion; now Lucid’s deep pockets are lined by CCIV, which ended trading at $19.28 on Friday. Musk already has a huge head start and fan base, however, and Tesla closed at $672.37. For now, Musk is laughing all the way to the bank.

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## Author
Kristin Shaw is the former Weekend Editor for The Drive and a current freelancer in both the automotive and aviation worlds. She’s a big fan of anything car-related and calls on her technology background on the corporate side to explain engineering and high-tech concepts. Now living in her sixth state (New Jersey, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, and now Texas), she is thrilled that working from home is now mainstream.

### Author social links  
[Facebook](<https://facebook.com/DriveModeShow>)  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/KristinVShaw>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/KristinVShaw>)

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- [Tesla Model S Priced at $69,420 in Jab at Lucid Air](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/37068/tesla-model-s-priced-at-69420-in-jab-at-lucid-air.md>)
- [2021 Lucid Air’s Claimed 517 Miles of Range Comes From a Much Smaller Battery Than Expected](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/36029/2021-lucid-airs-claimed-517-miles-of-range-comes-from-a-much-smaller-battery-than-expected.md>)
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