September 19, 2025 • 47 mins
Tesla chief designer Franz Von Holzhausen joins the show and tells Matt and Hannah about plans for the company to redesign its door handles to address safety concerns. Plus, Matt has a $30,000 Ducati X Diavel S to try, and Hannah is having Rolls-Royce trouble.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News. I'm Hannah Elliott and
I'm Matt Miller.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
This is Hot Pursuit. Coming up on today's podcast, we
talk with Tesla's chief designer, friends vun Holtz Howsen.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
This is a very well timed conversation. I do have
to say, Matt, yes, he has been in the.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
News because they have been in the news, and he
addresses the stories on the Bloomberg about door handles, but
also talks about designing what I really consider to be
a timeless vehicle, the model S.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You know, when you pointed out during our conversation that
it's been around for fifteen years now, my first thought
is time flies, and that's insane. But also you're kind
of right. I mean, this is one of the few
vehicles that really hasn't had basically any noticeable updates aesthetically
since then, and it it fits right in I mean,
I obviously I see him all over here in La.
(01:04):
All right.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
We're also going to talk about our viewer emails, because
we get a lot of emails from viewers that have
the same complaint about.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Me, which we will discuss. I've got thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We'll go over it over, and we do want you
to write to us. Remember our email address is hot
Pursuit at Bloomberg dot net. So first, let's talk about
what we've been driving and what we've been doing over
the past week. I have had the opportunity to get
off of my Harley Davidson and get back on a Dukati.
(01:38):
You know, I've had wow long history with Ducatti. I've
had fifteen of them, including the original Xdavels, which was
like their first attempt at a feet forward cruiser. But
since May, since I picked up my Harley Davidson Fat Bob,
I've only been riding the hog. So recently, my buddy
Jason Chinook, who runs Ducatti of North America, he hooked
(02:01):
me up with the x D novel S, the new
version of the V twin cruise that I had. But
this one has a V four one hundred and seventy
horse power and looks like worlds different from the original
x Davels.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Now, I know. Dukatti is claiming this is a bold
nude chapter in the In the line, obviously the bike
looks very hot. Do you agree? Is this a bold
new chapter or is it more like a slight step forward.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So I am not in love with the way it looks,
although I was, why, Well, it just looks to me
sort of in a way like big and brutish and
Ducatti's I prefer to look sleek and almost feminine.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
The Ferrari of motorcycles, if you will.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Exactly yes. And it's got, for example, it's got a
passenger seat for a passenger with a big old butt.
You know, what are you.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Say saying, Matt, are you against big butts? No?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I like big butts, and I cannot lie, but I
will say, it just doesn't really make sense to me
on this bike, and coming from I had the old
X Davels, like I said, which looked more like kind
of a rebel like American kind of out West cruiser
(03:22):
looked a lot more like what something you know, Keanu
Reeves would ride. And this thing looks very futuristic, which
I'm I'm just not in love with.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
I kind of love a futuristic motor bike. I mean,
that's like the whole matrixy. Like you're in sort of
a long flowing black leather jacket and it's like you're
wearing wrap around black glasses and your bike. Actually that's
a look.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I actually didn't think about that. Keanu was in obviously
the Matrix did ride a Ducatti nine ninety six.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
This is this is like the vibe. I'm kind of
curious if your months of riding a Harley have changed
your perception and change your preferences a little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Well, I don't think they've changed my esthetic preferences, because
I still am in love with Ducatti's Panagali. I still
have a couple of Ducatti Monsters Classic Monsters that I love.
The Multi Strata is my favorite bike of all time.
But riding the Harley has changed the way I ride
bikes because it's got so much torque down low. I
(04:24):
keep it between like two thousand and five thousand rpm,
Like five thousand is the absolute upper limit, right.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Not getting uptied about anything.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
No, And so I get on this bike yesterday. I
picked it up at the Hudson Valley Motorcycles in Austining,
and I'm riding it back to my house in Scarsdale.
And it took me a second to get used to
the fact that it has like an eleven thousand redline.
You know, you live in the upper Revs and I
wasn't there, so I was like, this sounds kind of weird.
This feels kind of weird, and when I did open
(04:54):
it up, it was kind of scary how fast it is.
My Harley Davidson is pretty sporty for Harley, but it's
nothing compared to this. And I went back and I
looked at horse power to pounds. I always think it's
the easiest to understand how many pounds is each horse
(05:14):
horse pushing. And so in a nine to eleven in
a karrerass, a new nine to nine to two dot
two karrera s you have four hundred and seventy three
horse power. It weighs about thirty four hundred pounds. So
each horse essentially is pushing pushing seven point two pounds.
And that turns out to be almost exactly the same
as my Harley, because the Harley has ninety five horse power. Interesting,
(05:38):
but it weighs like six hundred and fifty pounds or
six seventy five or something, So those two are pretty similar.
The Dukati blows them out of the water.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
What is the dukatiweh five hundred pounds?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
The Dukati weighs about five hundred pounds exactly. I think
it's like five hundred and five and it has one
hundred and sixty eight horse power, so it's pushing. Each
horse is pushing three pounds.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Right, You're flying absolutely lying.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
And this isn't there like track bike, you know, this
is like their Poser boulevard cruiser. And so it was
a little bit scary at first, as I was as
I was riding at home. Then I got used to it,
and it's like, I'm reminded at how it feels to
(06:27):
pilot a vehicle that you can pretty much put anywhere
you want at any time, you know, forward or backward.
Because the brakes are also phenomenal. It turns in like
a dream at least compared to you know, a Harley
soft Tail. And yeah, it just made me feel really confident,
really happy.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Is it worth thirty grand?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
It is very expensive, that's true. And if this is
the kind of thing that you're into, yes, it's definitely
worth thirty grand. Yeah. Would I pay that much? No,
I would take that money in buy a new one.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Could you okay? And so my other question is could
you ride this for a few hours every day and
be okay? Physically?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, you can because it's feet forward, but that's another
thing I was thinking, like, so, I you know, obviously
that's why I bought a Harley Davidson. I want that
sort of feet forward cruiser position. It's relaxed, it's chill,
but on this kind of bike, on a Ducatti, I
really want my feet under me. Yeah, because you want
to be able to push it into corners, put your
(07:29):
weight on your feet, dig you know, get your well
not that for me.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
No, no, no, okay, no, we don't want to go
for others.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
In any case, very cool and a different interesting and
like variety is the spice of life, right, So I'm
living this, living the dream I have it for I'm
gonna probably keep it for a week.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Okay, So that's fun. You'll have your fun. I mean,
do you want to talk about something on the very
other side of the spectrum.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yes, old rolls rises, Yes, Oh which ones do you
have again? Which Rolls Royce do you have? Again?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
We have some silver Shadows from the seventies and a
silver Spur from the eighties. In eighty eight, and then
a Tudor Shadow which is an early shadow that was
done by park mull and or Ward which is an
early division that was working with Rolls Royce at the time,
so kind of you know, call it seventies and and
(08:27):
one from the eighties four door mostly rolls Royces, and
I you know, we've talked about them. These are not
expensive cars. They're fun to drive, they've got they're not
expensive to buy. They've not expensive to buy. But I
am god, I am good. I was like, do I
even want to talk about this? And the like, yeah,
I have nothing to hide. Look, sometimes it's a challenge
(08:49):
and it is a slightly dysfunctional relationship, and the irony
of it all is all. None of them are are
None of them were drivable? Not on Monday?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Are you serious?
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Well, look, we sort of rotate through. Obviously, you can
only drive one car at once. And on Monday afternoon,
I had a dentist appointment in Pasadena, and so I
thought I would take my own. Mind, you know, we
share some of them, but this Silver Shadow in particular
is mine. It was given to me as a gift,
and so it's a great car. No, honestly, no issues.
(09:25):
Some slight electrical stuff, but you know, it's been doing
this thing. It's been doing this thing. Where after like
fifteen or twenty minutes of driving with no warning at all,
it'll just lose power. And I fix that by quickly
putting it into neutral and then restarting it, and it
(09:46):
restarts fine, and then I go along my merry way.
And it's not that big a deal. It's not a
big enough get dangerous. Well, it's if you know what's happening.
It's not scary when you're on the highway. If you
didn't know what's happening, you might get a little worried.
But I know what's happening, so it's not a big deal.
I just go with it. And it wasn't enough that
(10:07):
I thought I want to give the car to barrier
Charlie for a week or two. I want to be
driving it. I don't want to mess with it being
in the shop. I travel too much. There's too much
other fun stuff to be doing anyway.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Also, I imagine I don't want to pry too deeply,
but you can pry Charlie.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
He's the igapoo, Yeah, Charlie, iapoo.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
He's the famous Rolls Royce mechanic.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Mechanic he's been here are.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I imagine the shop rate is not cheap right, and
especially getting parts. I just can't imagine the repair bills.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
It's not as expensive as you, you know, a couple grand.
It's not like thousands. US call it a couple grand
once to twice a year. It's not thousands and thousands
of dollars. If you're imagining tens of thousands of dollars.
It is not that. It's like a couple grand a
(11:02):
couple times a year.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
For this, I fear like the ten twenty Yeah, no
dollar bills of a Bentley, like an eighties Bentley.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
We've never had a ten grid. We've never had anything
more than a four digit bill on that car, and
usually it's low.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I just I wonder, I'm you know, the guys, some
of the guys from Rolls Royce are coming in here today.
Thank you for walking that up. How do you think
one of your older Rolls Royce cars, And I don't
mean in terms of acceleration or breaking, but like in
just in terms of the magic carpet right feel, how
do you think they compare two a new Roles? This
(11:38):
is it the same kind of similar?
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Honestly, very similar. And I even made this point to
Magnus when he came to wait for the tow truck
with me this last time, just as a sign of
moral support, because he's so sweet. The car, even though
it kept dying for no particular reason on my on
my on the one thirty four out to Pasadena, it
(12:00):
would start up again, no problem, and it was silent
and totally smooth. There's no you know, it's a beautiful
driving car. It just has taken to dying. And then
of course when I pulled in, I didn't make it
to the dentist office, doing my little trick right, just
throw it into neutral and then restarted, and then you know,
it's fine. By the time I had got to the
(12:22):
dentist and I stopped it, it was there was some smoke.
There was some smoke. There was enough smoke that a
couple people helpfully had to tell me that my radiator
was out, which this is not a radiator issue. The
car was not overheating. This is something different. But it's
like not the time for some one was a man,
one was a woman to tell me that my radiator's out.
(12:43):
It's like, well it's not, and don't talk to me.
I don't want your help. All that to say, to
answer your question, I think very similar, very smooth, very quiet.
If you want to avoid driving like a jerk Virols Royce.
(13:03):
It calms you down. It might be like a Harley.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
I love it. I love it. Yeah, that's the same.
That's very similar. Now, let's talk about some of these
emails we've been getting, and we'll get to the concerns
about my rude, borish style in just a moment. But
first I want to talk about the protesters at the
IAA the EI in Munich. Yes, what did we learn?
Speaker 1 (13:29):
So we got a great email from Mike who was
so nice and he actually is was in Munich on
his way to the open space of the ia show.
And Mike, thank you for enlightening me that I did
get the protesters goals wrong last week. Mike said that
their actual main thing is about climate change and the
(13:51):
effect motor vehicles in particular are still having, and they're
very opposed to subsidies for the industry as well as
the damage already done by existing technologies. So basically they're
protesting that they feel the you know, the political parties
are too cozy with the industry lobby, and so they're
pushing for actual tighter regulations on the automotive side.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Right. Yes, I love that. Mike points out there called
klima kleber in German.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I wasn't going to butcher that.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Well, it means climate gluer. And these are have to
be my favorite protesters because they're the ones who actually
super glue themselves onto things. Have you ever seen them
do it?
Speaker 1 (14:31):
No? All I heard about was tomatoes being thrown.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Oh my god, it's fantastic. So for example, in London,
a few of them super glued themselves to double decker
buses a few years back, and then like they can't
come off, They've got to have, you know, first responders
come and get them loose.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
That's vere Fonda.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
I just love it when I love it when protesters
chain themselves to things or glue themselves to stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
And would you ever yourself to a tree mat to
save it? Mmm?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I don't think so, because for me, that's like kind
of wasting the time of first responders who could be
saving someone's life or you know, I think it's hilarious,
and but I love trees. Don't get me wrong. I'm like,
I'm a fan of the climate. I just want Forward
to bring back big inch V eight's and put them
(15:24):
in the f one fifty.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
These aren't mutually exclusive goals.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah they can't.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
I mean, I think we can have both exactly.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
It's not for everybody. Look at the raptor are right.
It's a great truck with a super charged five liters
V eight, which some people need, but not everyone needs,
and not everyone.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Wants it exactly.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
And what they do is they just price it at
like one hundred grand.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
So fine, yeah, fine, price control.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Okay, So we got another email, yes, which one from
Matt exactly not me, right, no different Matt, a different Mat.
And at first I'm reading this and he takes issue
with my with my complaints about the Ribbon software because
I didn't like the software experience. I love the Rivian design,
(16:09):
I love the way it sits, I appreciate the way
it drives, but I just didn't like the fact that
it doesn't get satellite radio from a satellite, the key
card doesn't really work.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Those are valid I actually think those are valid points.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah, I had a number of issues with it doesn't
have Apple car Play, which I don't care that much about.
If you have something better, like GM has a far
better product, so it doesn't bother me. But Rivian doesn't.
So in any case, he says he could not disagree more.
And he has a Kia evy five or no, he
(16:46):
has an Ionic five, which is the sister brand, and
we were saying the Keya EV nine is better, but
he says the Ionic five software is well, he said
it sucks basically.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
No, he actually oh, oh oh right, Okay, I see
I'm reading it again.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
You're right, yeah, he says it doesn't remember any of
his regents setting no dog mode. I don't know what
dog mode is, but I hope I'm going to write
back back to Matt and find out what is. Bluetooth
pairing takes forty five seconds, which is way too long.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
No, and that's actually a huge improvement. I remember being
in some Lexus and Accuras back in the day that
like on a fifteen minute drive, you won't have time
to connect the bluetooth. It takes that long, right, Well,
so forty five seconds is still.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Still too long in today's We've made progress. So anyway,
he loves the Rivian software at least compared to Tesla, Kia, Hyundai,
et cetera. But his PS is the.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
PS really got us because Matt, I mean, God love you,
but I'm in New Yorker. Dude, I lived in Manhattan
for almost twenty years. So so Matt makes the case
that the other Matt the rider makes the case that
Matt the co host, Matt Miller talks over me too much.
But he had recently listened to a podcast about Stuff
(18:07):
you Should Know, and the podcast said that East Coast
New Yorkers tend to talk over people, and so that
must be why Matt Miller is talking over me on
the podcast. But I'm a New Yorker too. But here,
Matt doesn't live in New York.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Here's the thing, right, I'm from Ohio.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
That actually doesn't live in New York.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Well, I live in Scarsdale. But I will say that
this has been a problem for me my whole life.
I don't just talk over you too much. I do
it to my wife, I do it to my mom.
I do it. I have three little brothers, and I
talk over them constantly.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
And I really had to to be heard.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I mean, maybe that's why. But it's something that I've
I've been working on and I don't want to do.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
You know what. It's sort of a it's a good
bad combo because the other thing is I love listening
This is why I'm a journalist. I love it. If
I I am talking to somebody interesting, I will just
listen and pepper in a question or two, and I'm
just loving listening. So part of it is, you know,
I am not a trained TV personality like mattis, so
(19:11):
we're actually coming from two sort of different backgrounds. Where
my background is I asked a question and then I
shut up and listen, and Matt is a little bit
more bombastic, which makes you great at your job. Would
you say that's fair, Matt?
Speaker 2 (19:24):
I think that's very kind of you and I. You
know what this is. It's a complaint we've gotten since
we started this podcast well over a year ago. It's
something that my wife also, she listens every week and
says she hates it when I talk over you because
she wants to hear what you have to say, just
like I think a lot of our listeners. So it's
something that I need to deal with. I have been
(19:45):
working on it. I was I thought I had improved
to some extent. I will say that last Saturday I
started my we go vy. I took my first shot.
Oh my goodness of this GLP one.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
I admire you so much. For talking about this.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
So well, yeah, it's not. I mean I talk about
it on TV all the time as well. So I
obviously I want to lose a few pounds. I really
want to lower my blood sugar, reduce my chance of
heart attack, and a number of other things. But I
read I've been like deep into it since I injected
myself for the first time. And by the way, the
injection doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt at all.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Where did you injectate?
Speaker 2 (20:21):
I did it in my stomach, which is what I'm
hoping to lose here. But I didn't even realize I
had done it. I thought maybe I missed it, I
didn't push the button right or something. But it actually
doesn't just doesn't hurt. But the cool thing I found
is apparently the semi glue, tide whatever the chemicals have
an anti inflammatory effect on your brain. So a lot
(20:44):
of users experience a focus or a clarity, which I'm
looking forward to.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Okay, let me ask a question to be the Devil's advocate.
Is that new found clarity? Is it possible that is
a side effect from doing fewer other substances? Is that
maybe clouding the clarics?
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yes? So That's another thing I've found, like people who
for example, smoke wheed a lot when they start, no
when they start taking we go the orozepic or a
zep bound or whatever, they they don't have an urge
to do that as much, to smoke wheed as much,
or take gummies or drink alcohol or any of these
(21:24):
other things. Smoke cigarettes, you know, stuff yourself with hogendas
like exactly. So it kind of apparently curves curves your
cravings beyond just food, and it eliminates also what's known
as food noise, which I have a lot of. But
food noise isn't just about food. It's like so many
(21:45):
other things like I need a smoke, I need a beer,
I need a this, I need a that, and maybe
even for example, using your cell phone like all the
time hoping for that dopamine hit. And so I think
it's pretty cool. It's like an experiment for me, and
I'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Thank you for sharing that information with us, for trusting
us to hold that. We are here along with you
on the journey and we wish you the best as
long as you are healthy and happy. I am healthy
and happy, So thank you.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
It's nice to hear.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
By the way, right in to us. Our email address
is Hot Pursuit at Bloomberg dot net. Still ahead, welcome
Tesla's chief designer, Franz von Holtzhausend. I'm Matt Miller along
with Hannah Elliott. There's more Hot Pursuit right after this.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
The man needs almost no introduction. Franz von Holdshausen, chief
designer of Tesla since two thousand and eight. Thank you
for joining us and also diner designer, because the last
time I read into you, Franz was at the Tesla Diner,
which is very cool looking. I have to say that
(22:58):
was really fun to see you there.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Yeah, it's great to see you guys. Great to meet you.
I'm happy to be here and.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Your mind.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
So I have to ask, how's business at the diner
have you? Are you still there like every day or
has it tapered off a little bit for you?
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (23:15):
I think you know, we have a we have a
really great team there and you know, the design, the
design of the diner was really about how do we
bring a future vibe to charging? How do we make
the charging experience exciting again? And you know, looking at
the location in Hollywood, it made sense to bring a
(23:39):
bit of a movie theme into it as well. And so,
you know, the idea of come in charge, grab a
byte to catch a movie just had a really cool
vibe to it, and we wanted to compliment that with
inexperience in the building and the location that really made
(24:00):
you feel like you're stepping into something new and fresh
and a positive and a glimpse into where our future is.
But it's you know, all around you right at the moment.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
It makes me a little bit jealous that you have
it out there in La and that Hannah got to go.
It's always the case that Hannah gets the good assignments
and I have to sit here in the studio. But
any plans to open a diner in New York.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Yeah, we've been talking about, you know, diners located around
the world, and so I think it's just a matter
of stay tuned.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
We're checking it out.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Well.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
I have to say, I thought it was so cool,
how you know an automaker thinks about building real, authentic
community with its fans, with its customers, with its buyers.
It's nice to see. Obviously, Tesla runs very deep for
the people who do love the brand, and I really
did see that. It was like a celebration and I
(25:01):
love that. You know, just the idea that you guys
are doing something to try to give back to your
customers isn't the wrong word, but to try to do
something fun. Obviously it's for everybody, but it certainly did
feel like a Tesla hub of people who really love
the brand.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Yeah, and it kind of in these trying times, I
guess it's the best way you could call it, especially
here in La. It's really great to see the community
coming together and the.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
It felt like.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
A space where you could be free and comfortable and
get a great you know, meal, sustainably sourced and just
enjoy enjoy the time and be around other folks that
are like minded, really thinking about the future and where
we're headed from a sustainability perspective. And you know, I
think that, like you touched on it, that sense of
community is really strong and powerful there, and you know,
(25:56):
complement that with great food and great a great I'm
you know, I don't see why you wouldn't want to
go there.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Franz, can you I want to go back before we
get to the future and talk about the beginning, because
I have long felt that the models is incredibly elegant
and doesn't seem to age. Right, it's got to be
fifteen years old and it still could be a new car.
That's not something you could say about Audi's BMW's Mercedes.
(26:26):
So how did you go about designing that? And like
tell us about the beginning with Elon and the idea
to do the supercharger networks, and like the whole start
of I hear it came together very quickly.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
I mean, I don't know how much time we have.
This could be, you know, this like a book in itself,
but I think the abridged version is really when we
started we wanted to. We talked a lot about the
technology and how advanced the technology was. We saw a
lot of you know, if you recall that time two
(27:03):
thousand and seven, two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine,
you know, there is a lot of turmoil going on
in the world. But we also saw the like the
rise of ev and hybrid and a lot of companies
and a lot of people were really looking at we
have to really stand out and be unique and be
over the top kind of shout really loud from the
(27:26):
top of the hill. That you're trying to do something
sustainable and better. And you know, I think the products
that we were seeing were pretty extreme, and we felt like,
we have a great technology. Let's approach it from a
refined perspective. Let's look beyond just the immediate impact of
(27:49):
you know, bringing an ev into the marketplace, but really
look at it from a long term perspective, and how
do you get somebody that past the early adopters, will
continue to purchase the product and own the product and
feel good about it or aspire to it long term.
And so I think with that approach, we looked at
a little bit more classical design language, something that was
(28:12):
clean and elegant and refined that that you know, I
think it didn't have to make a big, huge splash
at an impact level. But over time it's obviously we've
seen that it's been able to sustain itself. And I think,
you know, just classic proportions, clean, elegant lines that the
(28:34):
language is really derived around this idea of efficiency. And
you know, when you don't when when when you're starting
a brand or you're starting a company like Tuzzle was.
At that time, there was no library of history to
draw from, so we had the opportunity to really kind
of create our own history.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
It's interesting, by the way, Frands, that you say that
the languages are around efficiency. One of the people who
listen to this podcast wrote in and asked which you
consider most important when designing a vehicle, the beauty or
the aesthetics. I guess the drag coefficient or the ease
of manufacturing, because you've got to consider all three of
(29:13):
those things, right.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
All three are equally important.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
I think at the end of the day, the customer
cares a little bit less about the ease of manufacturing.
But you know, if we don't take that into consideration,
then it's really difficult for us to bring the products
to the customer.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
So yeah, I was going to say, I remember back
in those early early days being with Elon, with him
taking me through a prototype, not a less prototype, and
he was talking about that like a computer on wheels,
and that was the first time I had ever heard
(29:49):
anybody make that comparison or connection. And even then he
was talking about how, no, this is going to be
like a seamless thing that's also connected to your phone,
and just sounded really different. I mean it was complete, right, yeah, completely,
and so from a design perspective, were you approaching the
(30:12):
design as this is a completely new paradigm for us,
this is even a computer or were you still I
mean you mentioned having nothing to draw on, so were
you thinking of it as a car or something different.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
Well, at the end of the day, we knew it
was going to be a car, right, But I think
that perspective allowed us to open up the range of
possibilities and really explore beyond the traditional And I think
that's kind of getting back to this first principles perspective
where you know, we're not following just what you know,
like Lemmings off the cliff, what everybody else is doing.
(30:49):
We're really looking at how do we solve the problem?
And you know, we just saw that there was a
lot of consistent, kind of complacent and normalcy and the
way vehicles were being presented to the public. And we
looked at you know, technology in the computer space and
(31:10):
phone space and electronics just moving so quickly and being
able to adapt really quickly, and that's what you know,
the consumer, what us have in our life, and the
vehicle always felt like it was ten years behind all that.
So we really wanted to bring the vehicle into the
same level, if not as advanced, not more advanced than
(31:32):
you know, state of the art electronics at the time.
And with that we're able to, you know, continue to
evolve and upgrade. And you know, we brought over the
air updating to the vehicles really early, and you know
that's allowed vehicles like the model is to still stay relevant.
You know, there's so many people that I bump into
(31:52):
or talk to that own one of the very first models,
but because we keep the firmware and the software refreshing
an up to date and currents, you know that they
don't feel the need to have to upgrade the cars.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
You know, it's still great right now and it still
feels relevant.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
By the way, a lot of the cars that you've
worked on really do age well, because I've read that
you worked on the New Beetle and you worked on
the Pontiac Solstice, which is one of my favorites. I
love that, by the way, Hannah and the Dax Shepherd
movie Hit and Run and then and the models. But
I wonder, do you think the cyber truck is going
(32:31):
to age the same way, because it's obviously a much
more controversial design than the other three.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
You know, I'm really.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
Curious to see how Cyberchruck evolves. You know, I think
when when it came out, it shocked everybody. You know,
I think nobody really believed that we were serious so
that we're going to be able to do something like that.
And yet, you know, we put it into production basically
as we showed it. And I think it also I
think helped inspire a little bit of a movement in
(32:58):
the design world, at least in the automotive world, and
you see it in products as well. It got people,
you know, feeling like, okay, you we can break out
and we can be different, and it's okay. And you know,
the cyber truck is still a truck. It's still a
great truck. The underpinnings of it are not fake. There's
it's not just esthetically different and falls apart on every
(33:20):
other metric. It's you know, our direction was, we have
to make a truck that's that drives and handles like
a sports car, but has the functionality of a pickup
truck that you would expect and exceed on those levels.
And then you know, with that, we were able to
bring an aesthetic that was different based on a manufacturing
(33:41):
principle that helped us bring the products to to light
in a in a different way. Where we were putting
the toughness on the outside, we're using creating like an
exoskeleton in the vehicle, using different materials that didn't require paint.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
So that's a much more animal process.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
You don't have the big stamping requirements in the factory,
and so the process is different and the end results
is a really unique aesthetic with which.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
I think, you know, does it last the test of time?
Speaker 4 (34:17):
I think historically, looking back, you know, hopefully, I see
that it's sparked a movement that allow allowed everybody to
start to think a little bit differently about products that
we create and things that we put in our lives.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
You're listening to Hot Pursuit from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Matt
Miller along with Hannah Elliott. We'll have more of our
conversation with Tesla's chief designer, Frans fund Whole thousand right
after the break. This is Bloomberg Hot Pursuit. I'm Matt
(34:51):
Miller along with Hannah Elliott. Now here's more of our
conversation with Frans vund hold thousand, chief designer at Tesla.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Franz, would you ever can that are making a smaller
version of the cyber truck or even an suv cyber
trucky type thing, something smaller that might have more volume potentially.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
Those are definitely all things that we've considered. I think,
you know, wait and see is probably maybe.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
The best it.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
I hate that answer.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
You know, We're working on so many really innovative and
fun and great things into the future, and I would
love to be able to share them.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
But I would like a three row like a Tahoe competitor. God, listen,
you're sitting in what appears to be a multi seat vehicle.
Is that the robo van?
Speaker 3 (35:45):
I'm in the robust?
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Yes, the robusts okay, so tell us about that. It's
like a new mass transit vehicle. Are their plans to
show it anytime soon?
Speaker 4 (35:57):
Yeah. We showed this vehicle almost a year ago now
at our ten ten event, which is really based around
autonomy and the future of transport. And you know, this
is a it's a fourteen passenger you know, up to
twenty with standing room autonomous van you call that really
just transforms the vision of what it means to be
(36:20):
moved around. This is you know, an idea of urban
transport where it's not quite as personal as an individual
cybercab rob a taxi experience, but gets you know, cost
per mile way down, allows the customer to have affair
for you know, ten or twenty cents a mile, and
(36:41):
really unlocks the ability for transport for people that maybe
are don't have the wherewith all the ability to afford transportation.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Now this gets them rather than.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
You know, bus stop to bus stop, this gets them
closer to their destination, closer to their pickup spot, and
just freeze up transport for underprivileged folks. I think it's
really going to revolutionize transportation and that's you know, one
of our goals. And we also wanted to do it
in a fresh, futuristic way so that you really feel
(37:18):
like you're stepping into a better world, a better experience,
a more sustainable world, and just you know, I think
there's something about feeling good in the way that you're transported.
It's the same as you know, fashion or the house.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
That you live in. You feel good about the things
that you put around you.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
You feel good about when something is designed well, it
looks futuristic, it has an emotional connection that you can
feel positive about.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
And that's the experience we're trying to get.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Is that something that we would see in the US.
Or is that for more, you know, very dense urban centers.
So that for the US, yeah, cool. Well, everybody loves
Waymos here in Beverly Hill. They're very excited about those Soma.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
Taxi experiences coming to La Se And so.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
I got to ask about the handle story that that
Bloomberg wrote about. You know, the door handles are flat
on Tesla's and the interior buttons are electric. I was
recently stuck in a Corvette which has the same kind
of thing, until I, you know, somebody the parking garage
(38:33):
pointed out that I could find the emergency latch. You
have a similar system, knitsays looking into this now, apparently
Beijing is looking into it. Have you considered a redesign
or a fix for these issues.
Speaker 4 (38:46):
We actually have a mechanical release that's you know, basically
right at the electronic one two, and we're combining the two.
So you know, in the moment that you're in a
panic situation, the muscle memory to go to you know,
what you know is right there, so you just pull
a little bit further on the lever and you have
the mechanical release.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
So that's something that we're working on. Yeah, and it's
in the cars.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Now, all right. So if there is, if there is
then a China ban, you're ready to roll that out.
So that I'm working well, actually the band the ban.
I guess the Chinese issue is the flat outer door handle.
So would would you would you do something? Would you
make a change, like you know Ferrari's have that little
(39:31):
crease you can reach into. Is there is there some
idea about that on the outside.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Yeah, we're working on it right now and just looking
at the you know, the details of the regulation if
and when that happens, and we'll have a really good
solution for that.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
I'm not I'm not worried about that.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
It makes sense, you know, I know, like it's one
thing for us adults to know that, but for kids,
you know, it's a little bit different to expect a
kid to know how to go for a manual relief.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (40:02):
So the idea of combining the electronic one and the
menu one together into one button, I think, you know, it
makes a lot of sense. It really helps to you know,
the muscle memory of reaching for something every day is
there and so you intuitively just grab the same thing
and you're free.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
By the way, Franz, the the design language is very
clear across the sexy models, and the truck is obviously
a departure from the S, the three, the X, and
the Y. But do you stick with that design language
for future, you know, fifteen years later, twenty years later,
or is there a point where you guys decide to
(40:42):
change it up for the for the cars that you're making.
Speaker 4 (40:46):
I mean, I think what we're actually looking at is
that every product that we're working on really deserves its
own unique identity and language, and we don't want to
pre prescribe a language to that. I think there's also
making sure that we're relevant and forward looking and you know,
not getting stale in terms of the delivery of the
(41:09):
products esthetically.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
So we look at every product.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
As if it's unique and potentially has its own identity
and going forward. So and I'm excited about the stuff
that we're working on, and I think, you know, you'll
start to see it pretty soon.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
You know. This is an interesting idea that I've actually
been following a bit with other automakers too. For instance,
Mercedes has decided to go back to the roller style
volume control on the steering wheel. Just the bigger idea
that like, sometimes the most futuristic or advanced thing isn't
actually what consumers want. And it's been really interesting to see,
(41:49):
you know, sometimes it's two steps forward, one steps back.
It's still progress, but I have seen and I was
thinking the other day about BMW's big display key that
was like a computer screen in your hand. They realize
nobody wants this and they stop selling it. It's interesting that,
you know, maybe some tech is answering a question that
(42:09):
nobody's asking.
Speaker 4 (42:12):
Yeah, I think you know, we're we're really looking at
looking at a world of autonomy and how do we
best serve the customer and autonomous experience. So, you know,
every car that Tesla sells right now has the ability
to be completely autonomous as the firmware continues to evolve
and develop, and I think, you know, so it's easier
(42:36):
and quicker to change software than it is hardware, and
we want to make sure that the hardware that we
have is really focused on an autonomous future where you're
not driving and the car is driving you, and what
are you doing with your time, what's your experience, how
are you doing, you know, the the meetings, the leisure time,
(42:56):
the movie watching, game playing, relaxing, basically in your journey.
And and what what is the you know, quote unquote
hardware that you have around you in your vehicle.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
That's you know, where our headspace is.
Speaker 4 (43:10):
So we're constantly looking at that future state of a
world where you know, in the in the very near future,
where you don't have to drive at all, if you know,
and if you do, it's maybe very little, you also
want to drive, you still have a great vehicle to
be able to do them.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
You've mentioned sustainability also a couple of times. Frands Obviously,
that's I would think at the forefront of Tesla's uh yeah,
raison Tetra really and you've also mentioned that you want
to design a car that's maybe easy or not expensive
to produce so that more people can get it, and
(43:50):
you want to put I know that you want to
make a lower cost vehicle. Is it harder now with
these steel and aluminum Terrace because you build one of
the most American cars that there is in terms of production,
but you still have to import those those pieces.
Speaker 4 (44:07):
Right, We're I think you know, we're looking at how
do we become or continue to be the most American
manufactured vehicles and ultimately the the you know, we we
just want to bring a great experience at an affordable rate.
It's you know, how do we design into that space?
(44:30):
What are the material choices that we use? How do
we leave a better future for you know, this planet,
making sensible choices on sustainable materials, et cetera. And I
think you know, we are an American company. People tend
to forget that and I think you know, being locally
sourced is really important to us, and we're continuing to
(44:53):
just explore how do we maximize on that level. And
I think you know, we have an incredibly creative team
that's really looking at, you know, bring sometimes bringing the
impossible at a lower cost, you know, the aspirational at
a lower costs.
Speaker 3 (45:12):
And that's you know, always what we try to achieve.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
All right, As I know we're run out of time
with you, I have one philosophical question. Though you've been
at Tesla for so long, what is the key to
your longevity? I mean you've been through thick and thin.
What's your what's your secret? Sauce?
Speaker 4 (45:30):
I don't know if there's a secret sauce, but I think,
you know, we have a we have a really great team.
We're focused on, you know, delivering an exciting future, a
sustainable future that we all believe in. And I think
when we continue to bring products that are esthetically beautiful,
that are aspirational, and we figure out how to do
(45:51):
that in a sustainable and affordable way, then you know,
I think we Teesla continues on its mission and you know,
I think, you know, we have a team that's really
focused on doing that at a super high level, where
every detail counts, every millimeter accounts. And yeah, well in
(46:14):
the moment I stopped doing that, I guess that's maybe when.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
Franz. It was great to get some time with you.
I really appreciate it. Obviously we could go on for
hours and hours, but I know you have a lot
to do. So thank you very much, Franz on whole
thousand there from Tesla.
Speaker 3 (46:30):
It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
Thanks all right, Our thanks to Frans vun whod thousand
for joining us. He is the chief designer at Tesla.
Speaker 1 (46:38):
That does it for this week's show, Remember to follow
and subscribe to Hot Pursuit on Apple, Spotify and anywhere
else you listen. I would also say put in Bloomberg
Cop Pursuit if you're searching and you're not finding it
right away. Bloomberg Cop Pursuit on Apple, Spotify, and anywhere
else you listen. You can also send us your comments.
Email us at hot Pursuit at bloomberg dot net.
Speaker 2 (47:00):
And check out Hannah's columns and stories on bloomberg dot
com and the Bloomberg Business App. Go there for car reviews,
events and stories you won't find anywhere else. Find it
all at Bloomberg dot com, slash Pursuits, slash Autos. I'm
Matt Miller and.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
I'm Hannah Elliott. We'll be back in your podcast feed
again next week
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News. I'm Hannah Elliott and
I'm Matt Miller.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
This is Hot Pursuit. Coming up on today's podcast, we
talk with Tesla's chief designer, friends vun Holtz Howsen.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
This is a very well timed conversation. I do have
to say, Matt, yes, he has been in the.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
News because they have been in the news, and he
addresses the stories on the Bloomberg about door handles, but
also talks about designing what I really consider to be
a timeless vehicle, the model S.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You know, when you pointed out during our conversation that
it's been around for fifteen years now, my first thought
is time flies, and that's insane. But also you're kind
of right. I mean, this is one of the few
vehicles that really hasn't had basically any noticeable updates aesthetically
since then, and it it fits right in I mean,
I obviously I see him all over here in La.
(01:04):
All right.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
We're also going to talk about our viewer emails, because
we get a lot of emails from viewers that have
the same complaint about.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Me, which we will discuss. I've got thoughts on that.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We'll go over it over, and we do want you
to write to us. Remember our email address is hot
Pursuit at Bloomberg dot net. So first, let's talk about
what we've been driving and what we've been doing over
the past week. I have had the opportunity to get
off of my Harley Davidson and get back on a Dukati.
(01:38):
You know, I've had wow long history with Ducatti. I've
had fifteen of them, including the original Xdavels, which was
like their first attempt at a feet forward cruiser. But
since May, since I picked up my Harley Davidson Fat Bob,
I've only been riding the hog. So recently, my buddy
Jason Chinook, who runs Ducatti of North America, he hooked
(02:01):
me up with the x D novel S, the new
version of the V twin cruise that I had. But
this one has a V four one hundred and seventy
horse power and looks like worlds different from the original
x Davels.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Now, I know. Dukatti is claiming this is a bold
nude chapter in the In the line, obviously the bike
looks very hot. Do you agree? Is this a bold
new chapter or is it more like a slight step forward.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So I am not in love with the way it looks,
although I was, why, Well, it just looks to me
sort of in a way like big and brutish and
Ducatti's I prefer to look sleek and almost feminine.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
The Ferrari of motorcycles, if you will.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Exactly yes. And it's got, for example, it's got a
passenger seat for a passenger with a big old butt.
You know, what are you.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Say saying, Matt, are you against big butts? No?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I like big butts, and I cannot lie, but I
will say, it just doesn't really make sense to me
on this bike, and coming from I had the old
X Davels, like I said, which looked more like kind
of a rebel like American kind of out West cruiser
(03:22):
looked a lot more like what something you know, Keanu
Reeves would ride. And this thing looks very futuristic, which
I'm I'm just not in love with.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
I kind of love a futuristic motor bike. I mean,
that's like the whole matrixy. Like you're in sort of
a long flowing black leather jacket and it's like you're
wearing wrap around black glasses and your bike. Actually that's
a look.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I actually didn't think about that. Keanu was in obviously
the Matrix did ride a Ducatti nine ninety six.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
This is this is like the vibe. I'm kind of
curious if your months of riding a Harley have changed
your perception and change your preferences a little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Well, I don't think they've changed my esthetic preferences, because
I still am in love with Ducatti's Panagali. I still
have a couple of Ducatti Monsters Classic Monsters that I love.
The Multi Strata is my favorite bike of all time.
But riding the Harley has changed the way I ride
bikes because it's got so much torque down low. I
(04:24):
keep it between like two thousand and five thousand rpm,
Like five thousand is the absolute upper limit, right.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Not getting uptied about anything.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
No, And so I get on this bike yesterday. I
picked it up at the Hudson Valley Motorcycles in Austining,
and I'm riding it back to my house in Scarsdale.
And it took me a second to get used to
the fact that it has like an eleven thousand redline.
You know, you live in the upper Revs and I
wasn't there, so I was like, this sounds kind of weird.
This feels kind of weird, and when I did open
(04:54):
it up, it was kind of scary how fast it is.
My Harley Davidson is pretty sporty for Harley, but it's
nothing compared to this. And I went back and I
looked at horse power to pounds. I always think it's
the easiest to understand how many pounds is each horse
(05:14):
horse pushing. And so in a nine to eleven in
a karrerass, a new nine to nine to two dot
two karrera s you have four hundred and seventy three
horse power. It weighs about thirty four hundred pounds. So
each horse essentially is pushing pushing seven point two pounds.
And that turns out to be almost exactly the same
as my Harley, because the Harley has ninety five horse power. Interesting,
(05:38):
but it weighs like six hundred and fifty pounds or
six seventy five or something, So those two are pretty similar.
The Dukati blows them out of the water.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
What is the dukatiweh five hundred pounds?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
The Dukati weighs about five hundred pounds exactly. I think
it's like five hundred and five and it has one
hundred and sixty eight horse power, so it's pushing. Each
horse is pushing three pounds.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Right, You're flying absolutely lying.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
And this isn't there like track bike, you know, this
is like their Poser boulevard cruiser. And so it was
a little bit scary at first, as I was as
I was riding at home. Then I got used to it,
and it's like, I'm reminded at how it feels to
(06:27):
pilot a vehicle that you can pretty much put anywhere
you want at any time, you know, forward or backward.
Because the brakes are also phenomenal. It turns in like
a dream at least compared to you know, a Harley
soft Tail. And yeah, it just made me feel really confident,
really happy.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Is it worth thirty grand?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
It is very expensive, that's true. And if this is
the kind of thing that you're into, yes, it's definitely
worth thirty grand. Yeah. Would I pay that much? No,
I would take that money in buy a new one.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Could you okay? And so my other question is could
you ride this for a few hours every day and
be okay? Physically?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Yeah, you can because it's feet forward, but that's another
thing I was thinking, like, so, I you know, obviously
that's why I bought a Harley Davidson. I want that
sort of feet forward cruiser position. It's relaxed, it's chill,
but on this kind of bike, on a Ducatti, I
really want my feet under me. Yeah, because you want
to be able to push it into corners, put your
(07:29):
weight on your feet, dig you know, get your well
not that for me.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
No, no, no, okay, no, we don't want to go
for others.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
In any case, very cool and a different interesting and
like variety is the spice of life, right, So I'm
living this, living the dream I have it for I'm
gonna probably keep it for a week.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Okay, So that's fun. You'll have your fun. I mean,
do you want to talk about something on the very
other side of the spectrum.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yes, old rolls rises, Yes, Oh which ones do you
have again? Which Rolls Royce do you have? Again?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
We have some silver Shadows from the seventies and a
silver Spur from the eighties. In eighty eight, and then
a Tudor Shadow which is an early shadow that was
done by park mull and or Ward which is an
early division that was working with Rolls Royce at the time,
so kind of you know, call it seventies and and
(08:27):
one from the eighties four door mostly rolls Royces, and
I you know, we've talked about them. These are not
expensive cars. They're fun to drive, they've got they're not
expensive to buy. They've not expensive to buy. But I
am god, I am good. I was like, do I
even want to talk about this? And the like, yeah,
I have nothing to hide. Look, sometimes it's a challenge
(08:49):
and it is a slightly dysfunctional relationship, and the irony
of it all is all. None of them are are
None of them were drivable? Not on Monday?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Are you serious?
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Well, look, we sort of rotate through. Obviously, you can
only drive one car at once. And on Monday afternoon,
I had a dentist appointment in Pasadena, and so I
thought I would take my own. Mind, you know, we
share some of them, but this Silver Shadow in particular
is mine. It was given to me as a gift,
and so it's a great car. No, honestly, no issues.
(09:25):
Some slight electrical stuff, but you know, it's been doing
this thing. It's been doing this thing. Where after like
fifteen or twenty minutes of driving with no warning at all,
it'll just lose power. And I fix that by quickly
putting it into neutral and then restarting it, and it
(09:46):
restarts fine, and then I go along my merry way.
And it's not that big a deal. It's not a
big enough get dangerous. Well, it's if you know what's happening.
It's not scary when you're on the highway. If you
didn't know what's happening, you might get a little worried.
But I know what's happening, so it's not a big deal.
I just go with it. And it wasn't enough that
(10:07):
I thought I want to give the car to barrier
Charlie for a week or two. I want to be
driving it. I don't want to mess with it being
in the shop. I travel too much. There's too much
other fun stuff to be doing anyway.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Also, I imagine I don't want to pry too deeply,
but you can pry Charlie.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
He's the igapoo, Yeah, Charlie, iapoo.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
He's the famous Rolls Royce mechanic.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Mechanic he's been here are.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I imagine the shop rate is not cheap right, and
especially getting parts. I just can't imagine the repair bills.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
It's not as expensive as you, you know, a couple grand.
It's not like thousands. US call it a couple grand
once to twice a year. It's not thousands and thousands
of dollars. If you're imagining tens of thousands of dollars.
It is not that. It's like a couple grand a
(11:02):
couple times a year.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
For this, I fear like the ten twenty Yeah, no
dollar bills of a Bentley, like an eighties Bentley.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
We've never had a ten grid. We've never had anything
more than a four digit bill on that car, and
usually it's low.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
I just I wonder, I'm you know, the guys, some
of the guys from Rolls Royce are coming in here today.
Thank you for walking that up. How do you think
one of your older Rolls Royce cars, And I don't
mean in terms of acceleration or breaking, but like in
just in terms of the magic carpet right feel, how
do you think they compare two a new Roles? This
(11:38):
is it the same kind of similar?
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Honestly, very similar. And I even made this point to
Magnus when he came to wait for the tow truck
with me this last time, just as a sign of
moral support, because he's so sweet. The car, even though
it kept dying for no particular reason on my on
my on the one thirty four out to Pasadena, it
(12:00):
would start up again, no problem, and it was silent
and totally smooth. There's no you know, it's a beautiful
driving car. It just has taken to dying. And then
of course when I pulled in, I didn't make it
to the dentist office, doing my little trick right, just
throw it into neutral and then restarted, and then you know,
it's fine. By the time I had got to the
(12:22):
dentist and I stopped it, it was there was some smoke.
There was some smoke. There was enough smoke that a
couple people helpfully had to tell me that my radiator
was out, which this is not a radiator issue. The
car was not overheating. This is something different. But it's
like not the time for some one was a man,
one was a woman to tell me that my radiator's out.
(12:43):
It's like, well it's not, and don't talk to me.
I don't want your help. All that to say, to
answer your question, I think very similar, very smooth, very quiet.
If you want to avoid driving like a jerk Virols Royce.
(13:03):
It calms you down. It might be like a Harley.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
I love it. I love it. Yeah, that's the same.
That's very similar. Now, let's talk about some of these
emails we've been getting, and we'll get to the concerns
about my rude, borish style in just a moment. But
first I want to talk about the protesters at the
IAA the EI in Munich. Yes, what did we learn?
Speaker 1 (13:29):
So we got a great email from Mike who was
so nice and he actually is was in Munich on
his way to the open space of the ia show.
And Mike, thank you for enlightening me that I did
get the protesters goals wrong last week. Mike said that
their actual main thing is about climate change and the
(13:51):
effect motor vehicles in particular are still having, and they're
very opposed to subsidies for the industry as well as
the damage already done by existing technologies. So basically they're
protesting that they feel the you know, the political parties
are too cozy with the industry lobby, and so they're
pushing for actual tighter regulations on the automotive side.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Right. Yes, I love that. Mike points out there called
klima kleber in German.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I wasn't going to butcher that.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Well, it means climate gluer. And these are have to
be my favorite protesters because they're the ones who actually
super glue themselves onto things. Have you ever seen them
do it?
Speaker 1 (14:31):
No? All I heard about was tomatoes being thrown.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Oh my god, it's fantastic. So for example, in London,
a few of them super glued themselves to double decker
buses a few years back, and then like they can't
come off, They've got to have, you know, first responders
come and get them loose.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
That's vere Fonda.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
I just love it when I love it when protesters
chain themselves to things or glue themselves to stuff.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
And would you ever yourself to a tree mat to
save it? Mmm?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I don't think so, because for me, that's like kind
of wasting the time of first responders who could be
saving someone's life or you know, I think it's hilarious,
and but I love trees. Don't get me wrong. I'm like,
I'm a fan of the climate. I just want Forward
to bring back big inch V eight's and put them
(15:24):
in the f one fifty.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
These aren't mutually exclusive goals.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah they can't.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
I mean, I think we can have both exactly.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
It's not for everybody. Look at the raptor are right.
It's a great truck with a super charged five liters
V eight, which some people need, but not everyone needs,
and not everyone.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Wants it exactly.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
And what they do is they just price it at
like one hundred grand.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
So fine, yeah, fine, price control.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Okay, So we got another email, yes, which one from
Matt exactly not me, right, no different Matt, a different Mat.
And at first I'm reading this and he takes issue
with my with my complaints about the Ribbon software because
I didn't like the software experience. I love the Rivian design,
(16:09):
I love the way it sits, I appreciate the way
it drives, but I just didn't like the fact that
it doesn't get satellite radio from a satellite, the key
card doesn't really work.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Those are valid I actually think those are valid points.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah, I had a number of issues with it doesn't
have Apple car Play, which I don't care that much about.
If you have something better, like GM has a far
better product, so it doesn't bother me. But Rivian doesn't.
So in any case, he says he could not disagree more.
And he has a Kia evy five or no, he
(16:46):
has an Ionic five, which is the sister brand, and
we were saying the Keya EV nine is better, but
he says the Ionic five software is well, he said
it sucks basically.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
No, he actually oh, oh oh right, Okay, I see
I'm reading it again.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
You're right, yeah, he says it doesn't remember any of
his regents setting no dog mode. I don't know what
dog mode is, but I hope I'm going to write
back back to Matt and find out what is. Bluetooth
pairing takes forty five seconds, which is way too long.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
No, and that's actually a huge improvement. I remember being
in some Lexus and Accuras back in the day that
like on a fifteen minute drive, you won't have time
to connect the bluetooth. It takes that long, right, Well,
so forty five seconds is still.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Still too long in today's We've made progress. So anyway,
he loves the Rivian software at least compared to Tesla, Kia, Hyundai,
et cetera. But his PS is the.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
PS really got us because Matt, I mean, God love you,
but I'm in New Yorker. Dude, I lived in Manhattan
for almost twenty years. So so Matt makes the case
that the other Matt the rider makes the case that
Matt the co host, Matt Miller talks over me too much.
But he had recently listened to a podcast about Stuff
(18:07):
you Should Know, and the podcast said that East Coast
New Yorkers tend to talk over people, and so that
must be why Matt Miller is talking over me on
the podcast. But I'm a New Yorker too. But here,
Matt doesn't live in New York.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Here's the thing, right, I'm from Ohio.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
That actually doesn't live in New York.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Well, I live in Scarsdale. But I will say that
this has been a problem for me my whole life.
I don't just talk over you too much. I do
it to my wife, I do it to my mom.
I do it. I have three little brothers, and I
talk over them constantly.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
And I really had to to be heard.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I mean, maybe that's why. But it's something that I've
I've been working on and I don't want to do.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
You know what. It's sort of a it's a good
bad combo because the other thing is I love listening
This is why I'm a journalist. I love it. If
I I am talking to somebody interesting, I will just
listen and pepper in a question or two, and I'm
just loving listening. So part of it is, you know,
I am not a trained TV personality like mattis, so
(19:11):
we're actually coming from two sort of different backgrounds. Where
my background is I asked a question and then I
shut up and listen, and Matt is a little bit
more bombastic, which makes you great at your job. Would
you say that's fair, Matt?
Speaker 2 (19:24):
I think that's very kind of you and I. You
know what this is. It's a complaint we've gotten since
we started this podcast well over a year ago. It's
something that my wife also, she listens every week and
says she hates it when I talk over you because
she wants to hear what you have to say, just
like I think a lot of our listeners. So it's
something that I need to deal with. I have been
(19:45):
working on it. I was I thought I had improved
to some extent. I will say that last Saturday I
started my we go vy. I took my first shot.
Oh my goodness of this GLP one.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
I admire you so much. For talking about this.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
So well, yeah, it's not. I mean I talk about
it on TV all the time as well. So I
obviously I want to lose a few pounds. I really
want to lower my blood sugar, reduce my chance of
heart attack, and a number of other things. But I
read I've been like deep into it since I injected
myself for the first time. And by the way, the
injection doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt at all.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Where did you injectate?
Speaker 2 (20:21):
I did it in my stomach, which is what I'm
hoping to lose here. But I didn't even realize I
had done it. I thought maybe I missed it, I
didn't push the button right or something. But it actually
doesn't just doesn't hurt. But the cool thing I found
is apparently the semi glue, tide whatever the chemicals have
an anti inflammatory effect on your brain. So a lot
(20:44):
of users experience a focus or a clarity, which I'm
looking forward to.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Okay, let me ask a question to be the Devil's advocate.
Is that new found clarity? Is it possible that is
a side effect from doing fewer other substances? Is that
maybe clouding the clarics?
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yes? So That's another thing I've found, like people who
for example, smoke wheed a lot when they start, no
when they start taking we go the orozepic or a
zep bound or whatever, they they don't have an urge
to do that as much, to smoke wheed as much,
or take gummies or drink alcohol or any of these
(21:24):
other things. Smoke cigarettes, you know, stuff yourself with hogendas
like exactly. So it kind of apparently curves curves your
cravings beyond just food, and it eliminates also what's known
as food noise, which I have a lot of. But
food noise isn't just about food. It's like so many
(21:45):
other things like I need a smoke, I need a beer,
I need a this, I need a that, and maybe
even for example, using your cell phone like all the
time hoping for that dopamine hit. And so I think
it's pretty cool. It's like an experiment for me, and
I'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Thank you for sharing that information with us, for trusting
us to hold that. We are here along with you
on the journey and we wish you the best as
long as you are healthy and happy. I am healthy
and happy, So thank you.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
It's nice to hear.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
By the way, right in to us. Our email address
is Hot Pursuit at Bloomberg dot net. Still ahead, welcome
Tesla's chief designer, Franz von Holtzhausend. I'm Matt Miller along
with Hannah Elliott. There's more Hot Pursuit right after this.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
The man needs almost no introduction. Franz von Holdshausen, chief
designer of Tesla since two thousand and eight. Thank you
for joining us and also diner designer, because the last
time I read into you, Franz was at the Tesla Diner,
which is very cool looking. I have to say that
(22:58):
was really fun to see you there.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Yeah, it's great to see you guys. Great to meet you.
I'm happy to be here and.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Your mind.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
So I have to ask, how's business at the diner
have you? Are you still there like every day or
has it tapered off a little bit for you?
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (23:15):
I think you know, we have a we have a
really great team there and you know, the design, the
design of the diner was really about how do we
bring a future vibe to charging? How do we make
the charging experience exciting again? And you know, looking at
the location in Hollywood, it made sense to bring a
(23:39):
bit of a movie theme into it as well. And so,
you know, the idea of come in charge, grab a
byte to catch a movie just had a really cool
vibe to it, and we wanted to compliment that with
inexperience in the building and the location that really made
(24:00):
you feel like you're stepping into something new and fresh
and a positive and a glimpse into where our future is.
But it's you know, all around you right at the moment.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
It makes me a little bit jealous that you have
it out there in La and that Hannah got to go.
It's always the case that Hannah gets the good assignments
and I have to sit here in the studio. But
any plans to open a diner in New York.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
Yeah, we've been talking about, you know, diners located around
the world, and so I think it's just a matter
of stay tuned.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
We're checking it out.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Well.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
I have to say, I thought it was so cool,
how you know an automaker thinks about building real, authentic
community with its fans, with its customers, with its buyers.
It's nice to see. Obviously, Tesla runs very deep for
the people who do love the brand, and I really
did see that. It was like a celebration and I
(25:01):
love that. You know, just the idea that you guys
are doing something to try to give back to your
customers isn't the wrong word, but to try to do
something fun. Obviously it's for everybody, but it certainly did
feel like a Tesla hub of people who really love
the brand.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Yeah, and it kind of in these trying times, I
guess it's the best way you could call it, especially
here in La. It's really great to see the community
coming together and the.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
It felt like.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
A space where you could be free and comfortable and
get a great you know, meal, sustainably sourced and just
enjoy enjoy the time and be around other folks that
are like minded, really thinking about the future and where
we're headed from a sustainability perspective. And you know, I
think that, like you touched on it, that sense of
community is really strong and powerful there, and you know,
(25:56):
complement that with great food and great a great I'm
you know, I don't see why you wouldn't want to
go there.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Franz, can you I want to go back before we
get to the future and talk about the beginning, because
I have long felt that the models is incredibly elegant
and doesn't seem to age. Right, it's got to be
fifteen years old and it still could be a new car.
That's not something you could say about Audi's BMW's Mercedes.
(26:26):
So how did you go about designing that? And like
tell us about the beginning with Elon and the idea
to do the supercharger networks, and like the whole start
of I hear it came together very quickly.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
I mean, I don't know how much time we have.
This could be, you know, this like a book in itself,
but I think the abridged version is really when we
started we wanted to. We talked a lot about the
technology and how advanced the technology was. We saw a
lot of you know, if you recall that time two
(27:03):
thousand and seven, two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine,
you know, there is a lot of turmoil going on
in the world. But we also saw the like the
rise of ev and hybrid and a lot of companies
and a lot of people were really looking at we
have to really stand out and be unique and be
over the top kind of shout really loud from the
(27:26):
top of the hill. That you're trying to do something
sustainable and better. And you know, I think the products
that we were seeing were pretty extreme, and we felt like,
we have a great technology. Let's approach it from a
refined perspective. Let's look beyond just the immediate impact of
(27:49):
you know, bringing an ev into the marketplace, but really
look at it from a long term perspective, and how
do you get somebody that past the early adopters, will
continue to purchase the product and own the product and
feel good about it or aspire to it long term.
And so I think with that approach, we looked at
a little bit more classical design language, something that was
(28:12):
clean and elegant and refined that that you know, I
think it didn't have to make a big, huge splash
at an impact level. But over time it's obviously we've
seen that it's been able to sustain itself. And I think,
you know, just classic proportions, clean, elegant lines that the
(28:34):
language is really derived around this idea of efficiency. And
you know, when you don't when when when you're starting
a brand or you're starting a company like Tuzzle was.
At that time, there was no library of history to
draw from, so we had the opportunity to really kind
of create our own history.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
It's interesting, by the way, Frands, that you say that
the languages are around efficiency. One of the people who
listen to this podcast wrote in and asked which you
consider most important when designing a vehicle, the beauty or
the aesthetics. I guess the drag coefficient or the ease
of manufacturing, because you've got to consider all three of
(29:13):
those things, right.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
All three are equally important.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
I think at the end of the day, the customer
cares a little bit less about the ease of manufacturing.
But you know, if we don't take that into consideration,
then it's really difficult for us to bring the products
to the customer.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
So yeah, I was going to say, I remember back
in those early early days being with Elon, with him
taking me through a prototype, not a less prototype, and
he was talking about that like a computer on wheels,
and that was the first time I had ever heard
(29:49):
anybody make that comparison or connection. And even then he
was talking about how, no, this is going to be
like a seamless thing that's also connected to your phone,
and just sounded really different. I mean it was complete, right, yeah, completely,
and so from a design perspective, were you approaching the
(30:12):
design as this is a completely new paradigm for us,
this is even a computer or were you still I
mean you mentioned having nothing to draw on, so were
you thinking of it as a car or something different.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
Well, at the end of the day, we knew it
was going to be a car, right, But I think
that perspective allowed us to open up the range of
possibilities and really explore beyond the traditional And I think
that's kind of getting back to this first principles perspective
where you know, we're not following just what you know,
like Lemmings off the cliff, what everybody else is doing.
(30:49):
We're really looking at how do we solve the problem?
And you know, we just saw that there was a
lot of consistent, kind of complacent and normalcy and the
way vehicles were being presented to the public. And we
looked at you know, technology in the computer space and
(31:10):
phone space and electronics just moving so quickly and being
able to adapt really quickly, and that's what you know,
the consumer, what us have in our life, and the
vehicle always felt like it was ten years behind all that.
So we really wanted to bring the vehicle into the
same level, if not as advanced, not more advanced than
(31:32):
you know, state of the art electronics at the time.
And with that we're able to, you know, continue to
evolve and upgrade. And you know, we brought over the
air updating to the vehicles really early, and you know
that's allowed vehicles like the model is to still stay relevant.
You know, there's so many people that I bump into
(31:52):
or talk to that own one of the very first models,
but because we keep the firmware and the software refreshing
an up to date and currents, you know that they
don't feel the need to have to upgrade the cars.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
You know, it's still great right now and it still
feels relevant.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
By the way, a lot of the cars that you've
worked on really do age well, because I've read that
you worked on the New Beetle and you worked on
the Pontiac Solstice, which is one of my favorites. I
love that, by the way, Hannah and the Dax Shepherd
movie Hit and Run and then and the models. But
I wonder, do you think the cyber truck is going
(32:31):
to age the same way, because it's obviously a much
more controversial design than the other three.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
You know, I'm really.
Speaker 4 (32:38):
Curious to see how Cyberchruck evolves. You know, I think
when when it came out, it shocked everybody. You know,
I think nobody really believed that we were serious so
that we're going to be able to do something like that.
And yet, you know, we put it into production basically
as we showed it. And I think it also I
think helped inspire a little bit of a movement in
(32:58):
the design world, at least in the automotive world, and
you see it in products as well. It got people,
you know, feeling like, okay, you we can break out
and we can be different, and it's okay. And you know,
the cyber truck is still a truck. It's still a
great truck. The underpinnings of it are not fake. There's
it's not just esthetically different and falls apart on every
(33:20):
other metric. It's you know, our direction was, we have
to make a truck that's that drives and handles like
a sports car, but has the functionality of a pickup
truck that you would expect and exceed on those levels.
And then you know, with that, we were able to
bring an aesthetic that was different based on a manufacturing
(33:41):
principle that helped us bring the products to to light
in a in a different way. Where we were putting
the toughness on the outside, we're using creating like an
exoskeleton in the vehicle, using different materials that didn't require paint.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
So that's a much more animal process.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
You don't have the big stamping requirements in the factory,
and so the process is different and the end results
is a really unique aesthetic with which.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
I think, you know, does it last the test of time?
Speaker 4 (34:17):
I think historically, looking back, you know, hopefully, I see
that it's sparked a movement that allow allowed everybody to
start to think a little bit differently about products that
we create and things that we put in our lives.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
You're listening to Hot Pursuit from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Matt
Miller along with Hannah Elliott. We'll have more of our
conversation with Tesla's chief designer, Frans fund Whole thousand right
after the break. This is Bloomberg Hot Pursuit. I'm Matt
(34:51):
Miller along with Hannah Elliott. Now here's more of our
conversation with Frans vund hold thousand, chief designer at Tesla.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
Franz, would you ever can that are making a smaller
version of the cyber truck or even an suv cyber
trucky type thing, something smaller that might have more volume potentially.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
Those are definitely all things that we've considered. I think,
you know, wait and see is probably maybe.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
The best it.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
I hate that answer.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
You know, We're working on so many really innovative and
fun and great things into the future, and I would
love to be able to share them.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
But I would like a three row like a Tahoe competitor. God, listen,
you're sitting in what appears to be a multi seat vehicle.
Is that the robo van?
Speaker 3 (35:45):
I'm in the robust?
Speaker 2 (35:46):
Yes, the robusts okay, so tell us about that. It's
like a new mass transit vehicle. Are their plans to
show it anytime soon?
Speaker 4 (35:57):
Yeah. We showed this vehicle almost a year ago now
at our ten ten event, which is really based around
autonomy and the future of transport. And you know, this
is a it's a fourteen passenger you know, up to
twenty with standing room autonomous van you call that really
just transforms the vision of what it means to be
(36:20):
moved around. This is you know, an idea of urban
transport where it's not quite as personal as an individual
cybercab rob a taxi experience, but gets you know, cost
per mile way down, allows the customer to have affair
for you know, ten or twenty cents a mile, and
(36:41):
really unlocks the ability for transport for people that maybe
are don't have the wherewith all the ability to afford transportation.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Now this gets them rather than.
Speaker 4 (36:57):
You know, bus stop to bus stop, this gets them
closer to their destination, closer to their pickup spot, and
just freeze up transport for underprivileged folks. I think it's
really going to revolutionize transportation and that's you know, one
of our goals. And we also wanted to do it
in a fresh, futuristic way so that you really feel
(37:18):
like you're stepping into a better world, a better experience,
a more sustainable world, and just you know, I think
there's something about feeling good in the way that you're transported.
It's the same as you know, fashion or the house.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
That you live in. You feel good about the things
that you put around you.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
You feel good about when something is designed well, it
looks futuristic, it has an emotional connection that you can
feel positive about.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
And that's the experience we're trying to get.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
Is that something that we would see in the US.
Or is that for more, you know, very dense urban centers.
So that for the US, yeah, cool. Well, everybody loves
Waymos here in Beverly Hill. They're very excited about those Soma.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
Taxi experiences coming to La Se And so.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
I got to ask about the handle story that that
Bloomberg wrote about. You know, the door handles are flat
on Tesla's and the interior buttons are electric. I was
recently stuck in a Corvette which has the same kind
of thing, until I, you know, somebody the parking garage
(38:33):
pointed out that I could find the emergency latch. You
have a similar system, knitsays looking into this now, apparently
Beijing is looking into it. Have you considered a redesign
or a fix for these issues.
Speaker 4 (38:46):
We actually have a mechanical release that's you know, basically
right at the electronic one two, and we're combining the two.
So you know, in the moment that you're in a
panic situation, the muscle memory to go to you know,
what you know is right there, so you just pull
a little bit further on the lever and you have
the mechanical release.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
So that's something that we're working on. Yeah, and it's
in the cars.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Now, all right. So if there is, if there is
then a China ban, you're ready to roll that out.
So that I'm working well, actually the band the ban.
I guess the Chinese issue is the flat outer door handle.
So would would you would you do something? Would you
make a change, like you know Ferrari's have that little
(39:31):
crease you can reach into. Is there is there some
idea about that on the outside.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Yeah, we're working on it right now and just looking
at the you know, the details of the regulation if
and when that happens, and we'll have a really good
solution for that.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
I'm not I'm not worried about that.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
It makes sense, you know, I know, like it's one
thing for us adults to know that, but for kids,
you know, it's a little bit different to expect a
kid to know how to go for a manual relief.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (40:02):
So the idea of combining the electronic one and the
menu one together into one button, I think, you know, it
makes a lot of sense. It really helps to you know,
the muscle memory of reaching for something every day is
there and so you intuitively just grab the same thing
and you're free.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
By the way, Franz, the the design language is very
clear across the sexy models, and the truck is obviously
a departure from the S, the three, the X, and
the Y. But do you stick with that design language
for future, you know, fifteen years later, twenty years later,
or is there a point where you guys decide to
(40:42):
change it up for the for the cars that you're making.
Speaker 4 (40:46):
I mean, I think what we're actually looking at is
that every product that we're working on really deserves its
own unique identity and language, and we don't want to
pre prescribe a language to that. I think there's also
making sure that we're relevant and forward looking and you know,
not getting stale in terms of the delivery of the
(41:09):
products esthetically.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
So we look at every product.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
As if it's unique and potentially has its own identity
and going forward. So and I'm excited about the stuff
that we're working on, and I think, you know, you'll
start to see it pretty soon.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
You know. This is an interesting idea that I've actually
been following a bit with other automakers too. For instance,
Mercedes has decided to go back to the roller style
volume control on the steering wheel. Just the bigger idea
that like, sometimes the most futuristic or advanced thing isn't
actually what consumers want. And it's been really interesting to see,
(41:49):
you know, sometimes it's two steps forward, one steps back.
It's still progress, but I have seen and I was
thinking the other day about BMW's big display key that
was like a computer screen in your hand. They realize
nobody wants this and they stop selling it. It's interesting that,
you know, maybe some tech is answering a question that
(42:09):
nobody's asking.
Speaker 4 (42:12):
Yeah, I think you know, we're we're really looking at
looking at a world of autonomy and how do we
best serve the customer and autonomous experience. So, you know,
every car that Tesla sells right now has the ability
to be completely autonomous as the firmware continues to evolve
and develop, and I think, you know, so it's easier
(42:36):
and quicker to change software than it is hardware, and
we want to make sure that the hardware that we
have is really focused on an autonomous future where you're
not driving and the car is driving you, and what
are you doing with your time, what's your experience, how
are you doing, you know, the the meetings, the leisure time,
(42:56):
the movie watching, game playing, relaxing, basically in your journey.
And and what what is the you know, quote unquote
hardware that you have around you in your vehicle.
Speaker 3 (43:08):
That's you know, where our headspace is.
Speaker 4 (43:10):
So we're constantly looking at that future state of a
world where you know, in the in the very near future,
where you don't have to drive at all, if you know,
and if you do, it's maybe very little, you also
want to drive, you still have a great vehicle to
be able to do them.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
You've mentioned sustainability also a couple of times. Frands Obviously,
that's I would think at the forefront of Tesla's uh yeah,
raison Tetra really and you've also mentioned that you want
to design a car that's maybe easy or not expensive
to produce so that more people can get it, and
(43:50):
you want to put I know that you want to
make a lower cost vehicle. Is it harder now with
these steel and aluminum Terrace because you build one of
the most American cars that there is in terms of production,
but you still have to import those those pieces.
Speaker 4 (44:07):
Right, We're I think you know, we're looking at how
do we become or continue to be the most American
manufactured vehicles and ultimately the the you know, we we
just want to bring a great experience at an affordable rate.
It's you know, how do we design into that space?
(44:30):
What are the material choices that we use? How do
we leave a better future for you know, this planet,
making sensible choices on sustainable materials, et cetera. And I
think you know, we are an American company. People tend
to forget that and I think you know, being locally
sourced is really important to us, and we're continuing to
(44:53):
just explore how do we maximize on that level. And
I think you know, we have an incredibly creative team
that's really looking at, you know, bring sometimes bringing the
impossible at a lower cost, you know, the aspirational at
a lower costs.
Speaker 3 (45:12):
And that's you know, always what we try to achieve.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
All right, As I know we're run out of time
with you, I have one philosophical question. Though you've been
at Tesla for so long, what is the key to
your longevity? I mean you've been through thick and thin.
What's your what's your secret? Sauce?
Speaker 4 (45:30):
I don't know if there's a secret sauce, but I think,
you know, we have a we have a really great team.
We're focused on, you know, delivering an exciting future, a
sustainable future that we all believe in. And I think
when we continue to bring products that are esthetically beautiful,
that are aspirational, and we figure out how to do
(45:51):
that in a sustainable and affordable way, then you know,
I think we Teesla continues on its mission and you know,
I think, you know, we have a team that's really
focused on doing that at a super high level, where
every detail counts, every millimeter accounts. And yeah, well in
(46:14):
the moment I stopped doing that, I guess that's maybe when.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
Franz. It was great to get some time with you.
I really appreciate it. Obviously we could go on for
hours and hours, but I know you have a lot
to do. So thank you very much, Franz on whole
thousand there from Tesla.
Speaker 3 (46:30):
It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
Thanks all right, Our thanks to Frans vun whod thousand
for joining us. He is the chief designer at Tesla.
Speaker 1 (46:38):
That does it for this week's show, Remember to follow
and subscribe to Hot Pursuit on Apple, Spotify and anywhere
else you listen. I would also say put in Bloomberg
Cop Pursuit if you're searching and you're not finding it
right away. Bloomberg Cop Pursuit on Apple, Spotify, and anywhere
else you listen. You can also send us your comments.
Email us at hot Pursuit at bloomberg dot net.
Speaker 2 (47:00):
And check out Hannah's columns and stories on bloomberg dot
com and the Bloomberg Business App. Go there for car reviews,
events and stories you won't find anywhere else. Find it
all at Bloomberg dot com, slash Pursuits, slash Autos. I'm
Matt Miller and.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
I'm Hannah Elliott. We'll be back in your podcast feed
again next week
Hosts And Creators
Hannah Elliott
Matt Miller
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