Ride The Lightning: Tesla Motors Unofficial Podcast

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 mut