Tesla's Secret Design Plan Unveiled in Elon Musk Biography

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【Summary】Tesla engineers revolted against the design of the Cybertruck and secretly created alternative designs, according to Tesla's chief designer. The unconventional shape of the stainless steel truck caused dissent among workers, with many expressing dislike for it. Despite the opposition, Elon Musk insisted on the futuristic design, stating that he wanted to build something cool and unique.

FutureCar Staff Sep 13, 2023 11:19 PM PT

Tesla's Secret Design Plan Unveiled in Elon Musk Biography

Tesla's range of vehicles includes the highly anticipated Cybertruck, which is yet to be released. According to the firm's chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla engineers were so dissatisfied with the unconventional design of the stainless steel truck that they secretly worked on alternative designs.

Von Holzhausen revealed that the Cybertruck's unique shape, inspired by the 1960s Lotus Esprit, video games, and sci-fi movies, caused dissent among workers. He stated, "A majority of people in this studio hated it. They were like, 'You can't be serious.' They didn't want to have anything to do with it. It was just too weird."

Upon seeing a full-size mock-up of the futuristic pick-up truck, some designers started secretly developing an alternative version. However, Tesla did not respond to a request for comment on this matter.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, was determined from the beginning that the design of the electric pickup truck should "look like the future" and refused to consider more conventional design ideas. During a meeting in October 2018, Musk stated, "We're not doing a traditional boring truck. We can always do that later. I want to build something that's cool. Like, don't resist me."

According to Walter Isaacson's biography on Musk, the Tesla employees have shown a tendency to keep projects alive even after they have been officially scrapped. For example, when Musk lost interest in developing a $25,000 mass-market car and repeatedly vetoed the idea, von Holzhausen kept the concept alive as a "shadow project". Isaacson describes Musk as "fiercely stubborn" with a "reality-distorting wilfulness and a readiness to run roughshod over naysayers".

Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck to the public in November 2019, along with an all-electric quad bike. The company allowed people to reserve a Cybertruck with a $100 deposit, and within the first three days, they received over 200,000 orders, according to Musk. However, production of the Cybertruck only began this year, and the first deliveries to customers are expected to take place later in the year.