Episode 500: Special Guest: Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen

Tesla’s Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen joins me for the third time to celebrate my 500th episode. We discuss his longevity at Tesla, the new Model Y, paint colors, wheel design, the next-gen Roadster, and more. Enjoy!

Timecodes:

8:28 Start of interview

10:02 What Franz worked on the day I came in for the interview

11:38 Why he has stayed at Tesla so long (16+ years so far)

12:20 His longevity at Tesla is unusual in the design world

15:10 Tesla’s mission is what drives Franz

16:28 How his year-one-at-Tesla self would feel if he saw what the 2025 version of Franz is building

17:33 Reacting to seeing his work every day on the roads

18:45 What Franz thinks when he sees modded/customized customer cars 

22:03 What he’s daily driving right now

24:54 Franz’s favorite thing he’s ever designed at Tesla

26:48 How Optimus has challenged him as a designer

29:23 Who wins when the design and engineering teams don’t agree?

30:45 An example of what happens when engineering and design work with each other to achieve a mutually agreeable solution

32:17 Does the Cybertruck FUD drive him nuts?

35:00 What design tweaks might we see in the new Model Y Performance?

40:05 Discussing the new diffused-light rear light bar 

41:53 Will the Y’s new light bar be used on any future vehicles?

42:44 How he feels about badges on the outside of his cars

44:43 The turn signal stalk’s return on the new Model Y

46:47 Franz’s favorite wheel design that he’s ever done

50:36 Will we ever get more color choices versus simply refreshing the existing colors?

55:05 About the new Glacier Blue paint color

56:21 Are we getting Glacier Blue in the US?

56:55 Is Midnight Cherry Red discontinued at Giga Berlin?

58:44 How Franz is thinking about the next-gen Roadster now versus the original design for it from 2017

1:00:21 His design intentions/philosophy for the upcoming more-affordable cars

1:02:24 One more Roadster tidbit

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