On this episode, I spoke with Gilbert Passin, CEO of Wrightspeed, maker of heavy duty EV platforms for commercial trucks and buses. Gilbert served as VP of manufacturing at Tesla during its most formative years. There he grew the vehicle manufacturing team from scratch and launched the Fremont factory and Model S and several other new Tesla factories and EV products. Before Tesla, he was the GM of US West Coast operations at Toyota, and led Volvo and Mack truck manufacturing.
Gilbert Passin is chief operating officer and chief executive officer at Wrightspeed. Gilbert leads the overall company operations including business planning, supply chain, manufacturing, quality, logistics, IT, and service to satisfy global customers with the world’s best EV powertrain solution for heavy commercial vehicles. Gilbert has more than 30 years of international executive leadership in global automotive OEMs and is an experienced operations leader in the launch of new factories, EV vehicles and components. Prior to Wrightspeed, Gilbert served as officer and VP of manufacturing at Tesla Motors, where he grew the vehicle manufacturing team from scratch and launched the Fremont factory and Model S, as well as several other new Tesla factories and EV products. In his career, Gilbert has held executive positions at several world-renowned auto companies including Toyota TMMC, launching the Lexus RX and Toyota Corolla; Volvo Trucks New River Valley, launching the Mack CH/CX production and the competing Volvo VN/VHD under the same roof; and Mack Trucks Winnsboro, producing the Mack Class 8 highway truck. Gilbert holds an MSc in Engineering from CentraleSupelec, France and a DEng Honoris Causa from Bath University, UK.
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