Electra Meccanica Vehicles Corp., a designer and manufacturer of electric vehicles, has announced the appointment of automotive and advanced propulsion systems expert, Paul Rivera, as the company’s new CEO. Jerry Kroll, who is founder and has served as CEO since 2015, will continue to contribute to the success of Electra Meccanica during this transition and will continue to advise in the future as a board member.

Before joining Electra Meccanica, Rivera most recently served as president of Ricardo, USA, a division of Ricardo, PLC, a 100-year-old global engineering, strategic and environmental consultancy business with a value chain that includes the design, engineering, testing and product launch, of vehicle systems, as well as the niche manufacture of high-performance products. Prior to that, he served as executive vice president of Hybrid & Electric Systems at Ricardo, and led the company’s evolution toward an efficient and sustainable low-carbon future. Rivera brings more than two decades of experience in technical consulting, engineering services, general management, global business development and a deep understanding of engineering in the automotive, transport and energy industries to Electra Meccanica. 

“Coming from leadership positions that have pioneered evolutionary change at global automotive and engineering companies, I’m excited to join Electra Meccanica to help steer the next stage of the company’s remarkable growth,” said Rivera. “I look forward to contributing my experience to further drive Electra Meccanica’s strong momentum as we continue our mission to make electric vehicles accepted across the world.”

Rivera is joining Electra Meccanica at a pivotal moment. With more than 60,000 pre-orders of vehicles and the opening of a state-of-the-art production facility in Chongqing, China, Electra Meccanica is ramping up for mass production.  

“We’ve seen a tremendous response from consumers and partners for Electra Meccanica’s portfolio of vehicles,” said outgoing CEO Jerry Kroll. “We’re thrilled to have Paul join our team to grow our company and to accelerate the development of our amazing products. We’re headed toward a very exciting period of growth for the company and Paul is the perfect executive to help lead us into the future.”