Advertisement

Tesla loses two Model S executives, Elon Musk says it's no big deal

A pair of bigwigs over at electric vehicle maker Tesla have drawn their final checks, with Peter Rawlinson and Nick Sampson calling it quits. The former was the automaker's vice president and chief engineer, while the latter "supervising vehicle and chassis engineering." Ricardo Reyes, a company spokesman, emailed the following: "Having completed conceptual and design engineering work on Model S, Peter has decided to step away to tend to personal matters in the U.K." The Model S, if you'll recall, is the un-launched four-door sedan that has heaps riding on its success, so it's no big shock to hear that the outfit's stock plunged around 20 percent following Bloomberg's report. Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive officer and biggest shareholder, stated that "the uncertainty around [the] Model S is now much diminished, as anyone who has seen the beta vehicles and toured the factory will appreciate; there is no question in my mind that we will start delivering vehicles in July, if not sooner." Musk took to Twitter to assure people that the shock reverberating from the news was "way overstated," insinuating that the company's still well in control of its destiny. Whatever the case, we'd still take a couple of those S sedans in our garage, regardless of who's heading up their deployment.