Jeff Bezos-backed EV startup Slate has hired a former Lucid North America sales leader months before deliveries of its debut model begin.
Yeager served as Head of North America Sales Operations at Lucid Motors for the past three years, and previously worked at Tesla from 2016 to 2018, ending her tenure there as Director of Sales.
At Slate, she will take on the title of Head of Sales, leading the startup’s direct-to-consumer sales model and go-to-market execution across sales, inside sales, customer experience, fleet sales, analytics, and S&OP.
The move comes as Slate prepares to convert more than 160,000 refundable reservations into binding preorders starting in June, with first customer deliveries of its low-cost electric pickup targeted for late 2026.
Earlier this week, Lucid‘s Head of Growth Marketing Bryson Shellito also announced his exit from the Saudi-backed EV maker, leaving for a marketing role at Google’s YouTube — less than a year after the company overhauled its entire marketing department.
Roles in EV Market
At Lucid, Yeager served as Head of North America Sales Operations & Enablement from April 2023 to April 2026.
She was responsible for sales operations and enablement strategy, customer journey design, vehicle delivery systems, factory order management, and inventory optimization.
Yeager’s EV career began at Tesla, where she spent roughly two and a half years in progressively senior roles.
She started as a District General Manager overseeing central western US markets before rising to General Manager for West US and Texas, managing more than 600 employees across multiple districts.
She was later promoted to Head of North America Retail Performance, then Head of Global Retail Performance — leading sales enablement and strategy across North America, EMEA, and APAC — before concluding her Tesla tenure as Director of Sales, overseeing a team of more than 1,000 workers.
Between Tesla and Lucid, Yeager held senior sales leadership roles at two other EV startups.
She served as Head of Sales & Delivery at ElectraMeccanica for nearly two years, followed by a year as Chief Experience Officer at Arcimoto, where she oversaw global consumer sales strategy.
Slate Auto
Slate Auto is a Michigan-based EV startup developing a two-seat electric pickup priced in the mid-$20,000s.
The company has operated largely in stealth since its founding in 2022 before emerging publicly in April 2025.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is among the company’s backers through his family office.
TWG Global, the investment firm run by Guggenheim Partners chief executive Mark Walter and investor Thomas Tull, has led multiple funding rounds.
Earlier this month, the startup closed a $650 million Series C round led by TWG Global, bringing total funding to roughly $1.4 billion.
Slate plans to produce vehicles at a reindustrialized factory in Warsaw, Indiana, where it expects to invest nearly $400 million and create more than 2,000 jobs.
The company replaced its CEO in March, bringing in former Amazon executive Peter Faricy to lead the company through production and sales launch.
Co-founder Christine Barman, Slate‘s first hire, transitioned to the role of president of vehicles.
With more than 160,000 reservations logged, preorders opening in June, and first deliveries targeted for late 2026, Yeager’s appointment signals that Slate is building out its commercial team ahead of market launch.
Lucid Under New Leadership
The North America Sales Head’s departure comes at an important moment for Lucid.
Earlier this month, the company appointed Silvio Napoli as its permanent CEO, ending a 14-month search that began when founder-era CEO Peter Rawlinson left the role in February 2025.
Napoli, who spent nearly 31 years at Swiss elevator and escalator manufacturer Schindler Group, started as Executive Director under a Swiss employment agreement and will be formally appointed CEO once he receives US work authorization.
Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff has transitioned back to his previous role as Chief Operating Officer.
The leadership change came alongside an expanded robotaxi partnership with Uber — now covering at least 35,000 vehicles, up from 20,000 — and a $1.05 billion capital raise comprising a $300 million public stock offering, a $200 million additional investment from Uber, and $550 million in convertible preferred stock from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
PIF has invested approximately $9 billion in Lucid since 2018 and holds roughly 50% of the company’s shares.
Lucid reached a major production milestone this month, building its 50,000th vehicle at its manufacturing facility in Casa Grande, Arizona.
The company has guided for production of 25,000 to 27,000 vehicles in 2026 and is preparing to start production of its third model — the Cosmos midsize SUV — at its Saudi Arabian plant by year end.
Despite the progress, Lucid‘s stock has declined significantly.
Shares hit a new all-time low of $6.75 last week before recovering on news that Uber’s stake in the company had surpassed 10%.
Those gains were erased in the following two days.
After trading as low as $6.22, the stock closed at $6.27 on Thursday.
Lucid‘s VP of Communications Nick Twork addressed shareholders on X, highlighting several operational wins over the past days.
“The share price will reflect that when we’ve earned it,” Twork wrote. “We know that. Now we go do the work.”
