Emad Dlala out

[RajD]

I don't mean he is "academic". He is clearly a guru on motors, drive trains. What was not apparent to me is whether his working knowledge of technical and business beyond the power train was broad enough or he acted fast enough to change Lucid's errand trajectory (e.g., SW, service, costs, etc.). I am not a Lucid insider, so I don't know more than what I read online.

Regardless, Rawlinson departed 5Qs ago. Emad was the man in charge. This past 5Q was not exactly glorious for Lucid. Gravity problems. Service problems. Continued SW problems. Mid-size schedule is behind competitors.

Do I think Emad was the source of all these calamities at Lucid? Of course not. But he was the man at the center of it.

Whatever the circumstances of his departure, in Silvio's eyes, Emad was not the leadership the CEO wanted. No matter how much lipstick one puts on the pig, that is the message!

Emad was not the center of it - he reported to Winteroff who was interim CEO until a couple weeks ago. I don’t think Emad had anything to do with the service center resources. Nor do I link him to the software problem origins. It was not his department at all, he was just willing to step in to stop the bleeding. Blaming him for those issues is definitely not appropriate.

 

[BS8899]

Emad was not the center of it - he reported to Winteroff who was interim CEO until a couple weeks ago. I don’t think Emad had anything to do with the service center resources. Nor do I link him to the software problem origins. It was not his department at all, he was just willing to step in to stop the bleeding. Blaming him for those issues is definitely not appropriate.

Winteroff was the interim COO. Obviously he was/is accountable.

That said, are you telling me that Emad was only minding his business in powertrain the past 5Q? It certainly didn't come across that way.

 

[BS8899]

Winteroff was the interim COO. Obviously he was/is accountable.

That said, are you telling me that Emad was only minding his business in powertrain the past 5Q? It certainly didn't come across that way.

To me, Winteroff's tenure was interim CEO major accomplishments were hiring Timothée Chalamet as spokesman and throwing fancy parties in NYC. Not obvious what he has done to address Lucid's business and technical problems which got significantly worse in this time frame.

My understanding was, after Rawlinson's departure (and Eric Bach), Emad was in the center of all of the technical issues, HW/SW, not just powertrain. Things like Service was probably not under Emad.

I am NOT saying Emad didn't try or didn't make any impact. Emad's reaching out to @hmp10 was a good example.
For whatever it is worth, either Emad has had enough or he was not getting the trust and support of the new CEO.

 

[RajD]

To me, Winteroff's tenure was interim CEO major accomplishments were hiring Timothée Chalamet as spokesman and throwing fancy parties in NYC. Not obvious what he has done to address Lucid's business and technical problems which got significantly worse in this time frame.

My understanding was, after Rawlinson's departure (and Eric Bach), Emad was in the center of all of the technical issues, HW/SW, not just powertrain. Things like Service was probably not under Emad.

I am NOT saying Emad didn't try or didn't make any impact. Emad's reaching out to @hmp10 was a good example.
For whatever it is worth, either Emad has had enough or he was not getting the trust and support of the new CEO.

Emad was named SVP of engineering and Digital on 11/5/25. He was SVP of powertrain prior to that and had no role in other software UI/UX of the vehicle to my knowledge. So he was not at the center of ‘all HW/SW’.

But you’re blaming the software problems on him?!

 

[tmichael]

I mean that’s cool and all…but is that what the chassis team needs to be doing? It’s kinda weird.

Hopefully, SOMEONE in the chassis team has hit the accelerator to the floor in the Gravity Dream Edition. SUBSTANTIAL torque steer! For it to come as a surprise to anyone at Lucid is surprising to me...

Of course, I thank Powertrain engineering for the fun, but wouldn't mind if Chassis engineering took some of the torque steer out - I've surprised oncoming traffic a couple times! Dream Ahead!!! Damn, I love this car!

 

[BS8899]

Emad was named SVP of engineering and Digital on 11/5/25. He was SVP of powertrain prior to that and had no role in other software UI/UX of the vehicle to my knowledge. So he was not at the center of ‘all HW/SW’.

But you’re blaming the software problems on him?!

Clearly, the ORIGIN of the SW mess Emad had no part in that. But when he assumed the SVP job of engineering and digital, didn't he own that problem?

I am, in no way, blaming Emad for the SW mess at Lucid. To the contrary, if the recent UX3 release for the Gravity happened under his tutorship, it is to his credit.

My point is; Emad (until a few days ago) owned all the engineering/Digital stuff. I interpret his departure as a rift between he and the CEO. Like it or not, as of 11/5/25, Emad own all of that stuff. I don't know how much hands-on experience Emad has in SW, but he owned it at that point.

I can see Emad is a competent and passionate guy. Business is business. The new CEO was hired to right the ship. Something is not clicking between Emad and the new CEO. Apparently, Emad does not identify with the direction the CEO is taking.

 

[hmp10]

Hopefully, SOMEONE in the chassis team has hit the accelerator to the floor in the Gravity Dream Edition. SUBSTANTIAL torque steer!

Of course, I thank Powertrain engineering for the fun, but wouldn't mind if Chassis engineering took some of the torque steer out - I've surprised oncoming traffic a couple times! Dream Ahead!!! Damn, I love this car!

That's exactly the behavior I brought up to Emad and why he set up the call with the chassis team. I quickly learned not to punch the accelerator unless the road ahead is completely clear and there is run-off room if needed. One of the things Emad wanted to know was whether the software controlling front-end torque might need tweaking.

This is a bit of a head-scratcher. I've seen the videos of "Drag Times" and of Hagerty drag racing the Gravity Dream and doing timing runs. Neither has ever mentioned noticeable torque steer, nor has it been apparent in the videos. And neither would be shy about pointing it out if they experienced it. I don't know if either was running the car on a prepped surface, but I have not seen any other reviewer report it in their acceleration runs, either.

The instant immense torque of cars such as Lucid Dreams and Tesla Plaids make them inevitably prone to torque steer. The Air Dream P handles it far better than the Tesla Plaid, but it's still there. Both the Plaid and the Air Dream P have more powerful rear motors than front motors (the Dream R does not). The Gravity is the only car I've driven with the same motor front and rear. My understanding from earlier public statements about the Gravity was that the torque figures for the GT and Dream were the same, with only the horsepower being higher on the Dream. This suggested the purpose of putting the larger motor on the front axle of the Dream was primarily to boost performance at higher speeds. (This is probably why "Car & Driver" found that the Dream gets to 150 mph 3 seconds faster than a Corvette Z06 but doesn't similarly trounce it on the lower end.) And since the motor can produce 620 hp according to the chassis team (less than the 670 hp I had seen published), that means they have already reined in its output somewhat on the front end.

One of the things the chassis team asked was whether I could detect the speeds at which stability control was intervening in various conditions. The system is so seamless in both Lucids that I can't.

One thing the chassis team pointed out is that the Gravity will have more rearward weight shift under acceleration than the Air by virtue of its higher center of Gravity due to being significantly taller. This is just physics and can be offset by suspension design and tuning only so far. So one should expect more torque steer in the Gravity than the Air, which is what I am seeing. The question is whether the tuning can do anything more to reduce it, and that is what the call focused on.

 

[hmp10]

Clearly, the ORIGIN of the SW mess Emad had no part in that. But when he assumed the SVP job of engineering and digital, didn't he own that problem?

Yes, he did. And, based on my short experience with 3.6.0, he has already made serious strides in fixing it . . . with another significant update coming this autumn.

Emad told me that when he took the job he told Lucid he would need six months to assess the software situation and come up with a plan to address it. The release of 3.6.0 was not far off the mark from when he assumed the role late last November. And remember that he was not just tasked with fixing the Gravity software issues most of us were seeing. He was also responsible for the Cosmos software rollout.

Frankly, Emad is about the last person in Lucid senior management I would blame for the software issues. Somebody at Lucid or its Board made the decision to release the Gravity with half-baked software. I'd bet my last dollar that it was not Emad.

 

[BS8899]

Yes, he did. And, based on my short experience with 3.6.0, he has already made serious strides in fixing it . . . with another significant update coming this autumn.

Emad told me that when he took the job he told Lucid he would need six months to assess the software situation and come up with a plan to address it. The release of 3.6.0 was not far off the mark from when he assumed the role late last November. And remember that he was not just tasked with fixing the Gravity software issues most of us were seeing. He was also responsible for the Cosmos software rollout.

Frankly, Emad is about the last person in Lucid senior management I would blame for the software issues. Somebody at Lucid or its Board made the decision to release the Gravity with half-baked software. I'd bet my last dollar that it was not Emad.

Yeah, I agree with you. I don't know Emad like you do. I always see him as a competent and passionate hardware/power train guy. I am NOT saying he is ignorant about SW. And, as you know, SW was a real mess at Lucid for a long time.

Nevertheless, when Emad became SVP in charge, he is on the hook.

Not sure why he decided to leave Lucid. A real loss!

Silvio might have his priorities that Emad doesn't agree with. Like it or not, Silvio is the boss!

 

[gaskiller]

To me, Winteroff's tenure was interim CEO major accomplishments were hiring Timothée Chalamet as spokesman and throwing fancy parties in NYC. Not obvious what he has done to address Lucid's business and technical problems which got significantly worse in this time frame.

My understanding was, after Rawlinson's departure (and Eric Bach), Emad was in the center of all of the technical issues, HW/SW, not just powertrain. Things like Service was probably not under Emad.

I am NOT saying Emad didn't try or didn't make any impact. Emad's reaching out to @hmp10 was a good example.
For whatever it is worth, either Emad has had enough or he was not getting the trust and support of the new CEO.

Uber deal happened under Winteroff’s watch

 

[Pragmatic]

This chassis dynamics is off-topic but interesting. Torque steer or understeer? My Air (Pure AWD) has more understeer (noticeable when driving in the snow) than my previous cars. So much so that I really need to cut my speed (again compared to previous cars) on twisty snow covered roads.

 

[BS8899]

Uber deal happened under Winteroff’s watch

I'll give you that. My personal opinion is, the Uber deal is mostly PR/image. Has little revenue value to Lucid. Yes, Uber bought some shares of LCID.

No need to debate it, just my opinion.

 

[hmp10]

This chassis dynamics is off-topic but interesting. Torque steer or understeer? My Air (Pure AWD) has more understeer (noticeable when driving in the snow) than my previous cars. So much so that I really need to cut my speed (again compared to previous cars) on twisty snow covered roads.

It's torque steer, not understeer, as it happens in straight-line acceleration.

 

[Pragmatic]

Thanks, thought thats what you meant. Just wanted to confirm.

 

[Leftlane]

If you’ve ever worked at a company that had a change in the CEO (I’m sure most of us have), it’s really not that unusual for the new guy to want to clean house and bring in all of their loyal lieutenants. Let’s see who the new CEO stocks his team with - that will tell you a lot about the future of Lucid.

I’ve unfortunately seen a new CEO bring in all of their flunky, unqualified people before and push out folks who were much better and more qualified, but were a part of the old regime. Many top execs need loyalists around them all the time regardless of ability. We don’t have to look too far to see examples of that, do we?

 

[BS8899]

If you’ve ever worked at a company that had a change in the CEO (I’m sure most of us have), it’s really not that unusual for the new guy to want to clean house and bring in all of their loyal lieutenants. Let’s see who the new CEO stocks his team with - that will tell you a lot about the future of Lucid.

I’ve unfortunately seen a new CEO bring in all of their flunky, unqualified people before and push out folks who were much better and more qualified, but were a part of the old regime. Many top execs need loyalists around them all the time regardless of ability. We don’t have to look too far to see examples of that, do we?

 

[merveille07]

Instead celebrating the successful rollout of 3.6.0 for gravity; here we are mourning Emad. Not sure why Lucid can't have good news without adjacent bad news.

I hope Silvio knows what he is doing or whoever is advising him know what they are doing.

In any case; I have come to believe Lucid board of directors doesn't have shareholders interest at heart. They have a secret agenda we don't know about.

 

[socktucker]

New CEO said he wants Lucid to be more customer focused

So they get rid of their most customer focused guy

What customers did he mean?

 

[daonei]

Such great vehicles, but what a mess in ownership and organizational structure. A shame that they can't get it right. There is so much hype around the Rivian R2 right now I am concerned Lucid is dropping the ball right.

 

[Ron A]

Honestly I think Emad left. As a high level person at Fortune 50 company, compensation is a big part of the motivation to stay anywhere. Lucids stock is an absolute embarrassment.

At the that level, your network will open up doors elsewhere. I'm actually happy for him since he will probably land in greener pastures.

Good talent deserve good places to work.