Tesla’s Chief Designer On The Cybertruck And Working With Elon Musk

Hello, my name is Franz von Holzhausen. He had a design for Tesla. I've been doing this for about 15 years. I started designing cars, actually through my father. My dad is a

designer

. I heard about this great school in Los Angeles called Art Center and I started my career at Volkswagen and Audi and then moved on to various companies over the years. And until one day I got the phone call from Elon, I was

working

at Mazda at the time and had been there for about three and a half years. You know, we were doing really interesting things and I also felt like Mazda wasn't really focused on sustainability.

And I had been reading about this little car company that was using batteries and putting them in cars. And I think I read it in Popular Science or something like that in an article and I was really intrigued. And then through a friend I connected with Elon and we had a really great conversation. I went to meet him at Space X and was really impressed with what he was doing at the time. This is mid-2008, so both Tesla and SpaceX were in their infancy and just getting started. But I felt like here's a company and a guy that's incredibly focused on sustainability, trying to do something that no other car company was doing and go 100% electric.

And, you know, we connected and I don't know, the rest is the story around us. What is it like to have Elon Musk as your boss? He was a great boss. I mean, he's always pushing the limits, always pushing the boundaries and always keeping us trying to be as radical as possible, never accepting the status quo, always trying to go that extra step to make sure something is perfect. Customer perception matters a lot. How does the customer relate to the product? What is the experience they are going to have? And that matters to him deeply. And so we are also constantly worried about it and constantly focusing on it.

I mean, he's like I said, he's always pushing us and demanding to get the best out of everyone on the team. Was there a time when the two of you disagreed on a design element? Any stories that come to mind? Yeah, I mean, we agreed to disagree but ultimately he's the boss. He talked about the design of the Cybertruck. How did this design come about? The Cybertruck is one of those rare moments where, in a way, form followed function. Many times we put the form before the function. Especially in the automotive world. And it's really difficult to mix the two.

But Cybertruck was really born from the idea of ​​a different way of manufacturing, a material that left the hardness on the outside. That's why we wanted to use stainless steel as the material so that the hardest part of the vehicle was on the outside, not the delicate paint. And it felt good, since a truck that is used like a Swiss Army knife in any type of environment has to be tough. Therefore, stainless steel is really difficult to shape, especially when you make it bulletproof or thicker to resist impacts and not be damaged. And so we really look at new ways of manufacturing.

You could only break the shape and form it in one direction. You can't make compound curves or things with the thickness of the stainless steel we are using. So it really led us to a really flat, really simplistic design, and it was also an opportunity to break the paradigm of what pickup trucks have been for the last 60 or 70 years. The same goes for this three-box shape, and we thought that from an aerodynamic perspective, having a covered rear end and sloping roof would also be useful. And believe it or not, the CYBERTRUCK is an incredibly aerodynamic vehicle.

I'm curious if you have a favorite design, a favorite feature, something you're most proud of. The favorite is the one who comes. I don't think we can talk about it. I am very excited about Cybertruck. I think this vehicle has the opportunity to be something really radical in a pretty normal space, so I'm looking forward to seeing that makeover and seeing them on the street and it's incredibly functional. It's not just its looks, it's just as functional as any of its competitors, if not more so. And so I think people are using it in ways that we can't even expect, and it'll be cool to see how that develops.

Oh, damn God. The window breaking was definitely not something we expected to happen. I had been in the back before I went on stage, you know, throwing this ball out the window a few times. It did not break. And you know, we showed video proof of that. But that moment was a little heartbreaking. But at the end of the day, it ended up being something really special. And I think after the fact, when I was talking to people in the audience, they told me that was supposed to happen, right? Well, at least the ball didn't go through the window and kill anyone or anything.

So it became a meme very quickly, and I think it really helped Cybertruck take a bit of a cult beating, I guess. How different will the production

cybertruck

be from the vehicle behind you? And also why is it taking so long to get it off the production line? There are a lot of new things in Cybertruck when we reinvent a product, sometimes we have to go through these processes just to test it. We had the idea that using the manufacturing of an exoskeleton vehicle could work. And so we've been using that time to make sure that that's actually

working

.

And the Cybertruck will look, for all intents and purposes, the same as the one behind us, maybe a little smaller, a few percentages. But in general, this is what the truck will look like. There was a time when I first joined Tesla that I thought it would be cool to see multiple Teslas in a single city driving experience. And now, you know, it's hard to go anywhere without seeing a bunch of Teslas. So it's great to see the impact that Tesla has had on people's lives, but also how it has changed the industry and really pushed the idea that an electric vehicle can be better than an internal combustion vehicle.

And Cybertruck will continue that story. Some people hate the design of the Cybertruck, others love it. how does it make you feel? Was that the kind of idea behind it? It wasn't the idea behind it. I think it was just about doing. Again, form follows function and creates something that is different, takes risks and is bold, but is still safe and functional and meets all the attributes of what a truck should be. And there's no reason you can't change the recipe. Teslas have many unique features, like the door handles, for example. Why does Tesla decide to push the boundaries on small features like that?

Some of these little features, like the door handles, are really cool. First points of contact. The handle is what greets you when you approach the car. And so having the handle magically come out when you approach and have your first handshake really gave a slight anthropomorphic feel to the car, just humanized it a little bit, allows you to not just walk into a really cold machine. . It was a warm gesture and it's also very aerodynamic to not have the door handles hanging in the wind on the sides of the car. So we combined those kinds of things.

Tesla is not beholden to what has been done in the past, and we are always trying to push the boundaries and deliver on the promise of something fun, something enjoyable, and something you would love to own and tell your friends about. I was curious about the semi. Was this your first time working on a truck? It actually was, and we got very involved in what it means to be a driver, how the routes work, how the trucks are used, but not knowing that didn't stop us. And it was actually quite liberating to approach it from scratch.

And by having a completely different package than what currently exists, we allow for a completely different and much better final result for the driver or user of the product. There is much more interior space in the cabin. There is a much better view. We incorporate our safety systems, including autopilot. There are no fumes or vibrations, just a better overall workspace for the driver. Where do you get your inspiration from? My inspiration comes from anywhere. I've been like looking out the window of an airplane or I used to be a cyclist and just getting out on the road and clearing my head allows ideas to come, like running with my kids.

Inspiration really comes from anywhere and I can't really pinpoint it or expect to be able to be inspired at a specific time or moment. You just have to be aware and open your eyes and ears and absorb. Were there any cars when you were little that you loved and that inspired you? A favorite car? I think my favorite car, my favorite car of all time, is a '62 to '50 GTO. I mean, it's quintessentially a crazy car. But I'm also a big fan of this type of wedge era. So the early contortions and all those kind of flat, low sports cars, I was always a poster on my wall.

I'm driving a plaid Model S right now and it's an amazing car. It's arguably the best car we've ever built, it's the fastest car on the road at any time. You know, you're faster than anyone, but it's safe. You can put my family in it. I can put bikes in it. Yes, it is a great car in every way. Still, from the design inception we started in 2008, it still looks modern and fresh on the road today. I'm curious how different the design of electric vehicles is compared to a gas car. Designing an electric vehicle is, and especially the way we design our vehicles with a battery pack in the floor and drive units between the wheels.

It really allows basically everything on top of that type of skateboard or deck to be people's space. The space we designed for people is that there's no longer a big clunky mass of metal in front of you or a transmission tunnel and mission, you know, exhaust pipes, etc., running down the middle of the car. That's open space. Therefore, we have many opportunities to give back to the customer or the car space owner. So there's a front trunk, there's a Model S that we put seven people in the car because we didn't have all these things that are traditionally found in designing internal combustion engines, vehicle semi-trailers, a pretty radical approach for an industry. which does not have No changes have been seen in the architecture of the vehicle since its inception.

And so, by removing the engine and transmission in front of the vehicle, we could place the driver in the middle for the best command view. We could move it far forward and create a teardrop shape around the driver returning to the cockpit for an incredibly aeroefficient package. So this comes with a lot of freedoms. At the same time, cars now have four wheels and need to transport people and need to be safe. So there are many challenges we have to overcome to make the styling of the cars look nice and not look like they are overly regulated.

And that is one of the challenges we always face. Designing a car can happen in your mind quite quickly. Cybertruck was actually a quick sketch and the idea was there. Model S Model three These cars took a lot longer to really evolve and try to really extract an athletic poise from a vehicle, something that seemed efficient. We use the word efficient a lot, so we try to design around this idea of ​​efficiency. Inspiration can come from anywhere. You can formulate that into an idea quickly or it can take a while to actually go from idea to production car.

We are working to try to do it in two years. I believe that the future of transportation is going to change radically. I feel like we're on the verge of that. With the advent of autonomy, autonomous vehicles are becoming the norm and you no longer have to drive yourself to a destination or be the driver of the vehicle, the vehicle that drives you. You can think about changes in the way we use vehicles, the way we get around. We are already quite used to airplanes, air travel, trains and buses to some extent. But I think the next step is really the car.

And I think autonomy is really going to radically change the shape of the car, how it's used, the interior space and potentially the ownership experience as well. I have worked with several different manufacturers around the world and I think Tesla is simply unique in its approach to sustainability. There is no kind of parachute, there is no backup plan. We sink or swim in the products we produce. Elon is incredibly motivated. We are driven by that. We all believe in the mission. And I think when you see the impact that we've been able to have in just a few years in an industry that hasn't changed in many, many years, it's kind of rewarding in a way.

And he is motivating. And it keeps us going because there is so much more we want to do. And, you know, we need to change faster to help save our planet. How do you feel about having your work in a museum? I mean, it's not all my work. Here I represent a little bit of the puzzle piece. This is a surprising approach for the Tesla team. It's nice to see, you know, there'sartwork and representation of people from our studio, engineering, work, manufacturing, all united in one place. I've been involved in quite a few projects here and it's great to see them all together in one piece.

And it's also a nice walk down memory lane. You know, when you're so focused on what's next, sometimes you forget to look back and see what you've accomplished along the way. And this is a great example of the achievements that Tesla has made in the last 15 years. What advice would you give to young

designer

s, particularly automotive designers? Yeah, I think, you know, it was when I was a kid, when I knew you could be a car designer, it felt like being an astronaut. You know, you hear these ideas of, like, chasing your dreams and going after them.

But in that case, there really have to be opportunities to get involved, learn the trade and visit some. There are some amazing schools that can really teach you and put you in a position to get involved with some of these manufacturers in places like this. And if you have any aspirations to do that, do it because it's incredibly rewarding and incredibly fun. The reward is watching people spend their hard-earned money on something you've created and get joy and satisfaction from it. That's the best feeling.