Episode 499: Special Guest: Tesla Engineering VP Lars Moravy

Tesla's Vice President of Engineering Lars Moravy joins me for a candid conversation spanning a wide-ranging number of topics, from the new Model Y to his memories of pivotal moments in Tesla history to the next-gen Roadster and even the upcoming more-affordable cars. Enjoy! Timecodes: 6:39 Interview begins 7:36 Lars on when he first got into cars 9:42 Remembering his first job in the auto industry, at Honda, and what led him to Tesla 14:01 Early days at Tesla 15:19 He knew the Model S was going to be a special car 17:22 Engineering the falcon-wing doors of the Model X 19:34 The charger snake prototype and its "hubris" 20:21 The Cybercab will be road trip capable 23:26 The most satisfying vehicle project he's worked on 26:07 Why Tesla doesn't have any plans to build any more HFS vehicles 26:43 The Cybercab isn't "painted" in the traditional sense 28:44 Remembering Model 3's "production hell" 31:20 Tesla fully expected the Model Y to become the world's best-selling vehicle 33:50 Building the next-gen Roadster prototype 35:36 Status update on the next-gen Roadster 40:55 Learnings from the Model 3 refresh that have been applied to the new Model Y 43:25 Balancing between pushing the envelope and playing it safe on the new Model Y 45:42 The reason the new Model Y doesn't have steer by wire 47:25 Why the new Model Y doesn't have a 48v architecture 48:54 The status of the Model S and Model X 50:45 What Lars daily drives 51:50 Why the new Model 3 doesn't use gigacastings 52:38 Lars's favorite piece of engineering on any of the cars 54:58 Will the front bumper camera come to the S, X, and 3? 55:09 Will the turn signal stalk return to any of the other vehicles besides Model Y? 55:38 A teaser for the upcoming more-affordable vehicles If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support my efforts, please check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/teslapodcast and consider a monthly pledge. Every little bit helps and there are stacking bonuses in it for you at each pledge level, like early access to each episode at the $5 tier and the weekly Lightning Round bonus mini-episode (AND the early access!) at the $10 tier! And NO ADS at every tier! FOR FIRST-TIME TESLA BUYERS: The referral program is back and it's the best one in a while! You can get $2500 off of your Model 3 or $500 off your classic Model Y purchase (or $1000 off of Cybertruck, Model S, or Model X) by ordering through my referral link. Clicking this will take you to the Tesla website where you can order with the discount applied: https://ts.la/ryan73014 And don't forget to leave a message on the Ride the Lightning hotline anytime with a question, comment, or discussion topic for next week's show! The toll-free number to call or Skype is 1-888-989-8752. LAST CALL: Win the custom-configured Tesla of your dreams in the 9th annual Climate XChange raffle! The taxes are paid if you win, and either way, the money goes to a great nonprofit cause. To get your tickets, go to https://carbonraffle.org/RTL Engineering innovation doesn't just build great electric cars. It builds the foundation for an entire automotive ecosystem. And being a part of that means ensuring your Tesla is protected long after its original warranty expires. Get XCare, the first extended warranty built exclusively for EVs. Last chance to use our special anniversary code RTLOVE for $200 off our "One-time Payment" option! Go to www.xcelerateauto.com/xcare to find the extended warranty policy that's right for you and your Tesla. P.S. Get 15% off your first order of awesome aftermarket Tesla accessories at AbstractOcean.com by using the code RTLpodcast at checkout. Grab the SnapPlate front license plate bracket for any Tesla at https://everyamp.com/RTL/ (don't forget the coupon code RTL too!).