Tesla loses lead designer of a Model Y feature Elon Musk once called 'some of the best engineering' he's seen

• Tesla engineering director Joseph Mardall is leaving the company after a decade.
• Mardall will now be the head of engineering at drone-delivery company Zipline, he said on LinkedIn.

Tesla engineering director Joseph Mardall, who helped in the creation of the lauded Model Y Heat Pump system, has left the company for a new role as head of engineering at drone-maker Zipline, he wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Mardall worked at Tesla for a decade, according to his profile, leading the development of the Model Y Heat Pump, which CEO Elon Musk called "some of the best engineering" he's seen in a while. He also led a team of engineers in developing Thermal/HVAC systems for the Model X and Model 3.

Mardall is leaving the company, which was first reported by CNBC, to be the head of engineering at Zipline. Zipline, which started in 2014, makes drones and aerial devices that deliver needed medical supplies to multiple countries such as the US and Rwanda, according to its website.

The San Francisco-based company has raised $233.3 million to date, according to PitchBook data. The company is valued at $1.32 billion after its series D funding round raised $190 million. Zipline is now in the midst of raising a series E.

On his LinkedIn profile, Mardall said he will be leading Zipline's engineering team "to design and build the next generation of autonomous drones to provide every human on Earth with instant access to vital medical supplies."

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In a post on LinkedIn, he said, "After 10 wonderful years at Tesla, I'm super excited to start my next chapter as Head of Engineering at Zipline ... The next 5 years are going to change everything and I can't wait!"

Mardall and Tesla were not immediately available to respond to Insider's request for comment. In an email, Zipline confirmed the hire, and said the company is incredibly excited to have such an amazing leader joining the team as we continue scaling Zipline across America and the world."

In recent years, Tesla has been known for its high rate of executive turnover, with many senior employees departing. Much of the turmoil came in 2019 when the company faced federal investigations and production and delivery issues. In the past year, Tesla shares have had a long-winded rally, with analysts at Morgan Stanley predicting the rise will continue as the company increases deliveries and rival electric-vehicle makers fail to keep up.