Franz von Holzhausen | |
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![]() von Holzhausen in 2008 | |
Born | Simsbury, Connecticut, United States | May 10, 1968
Education | Syracuse University (1986–1988), ArtCenter College of Design (1988–1992, BS in Transportation Design) [1] |
Occupation(s) | Chief Designer, Tesla Inc. |
Spouse | Vicki von Holzhausen [2] |
Children | 2 [3] |
Franz von Holzhausen (born May 10, 1968) is an American [4] vehicle designer. Since 2008, he has been in charge of design at Tesla, Inc. [5] He led design for the Tesla Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Semi, Cybertruck and Tesla Roadster (second generation). [6] [7] Prior to Tesla, he worked in design at Mazda, General Motors, and Volkswagen.
In 1992, von Holzhausen started his career with Volkswagen, where he worked on the design for the New Beetle concept project, known as "Concept One," under design lead J Mays. [8]
In 2000, he moved to General Motors as a design manager, where he worked on the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice. [9]
In 2005, he took a role at Mazda, where he was chief of design. [10] He led the designs of the Mazda Kabura concept car that debuted at the 2006 North American International Auto Show and of the Mazda Furai concept car that was unveiled at the 2008 North American International Auto Show, both in Detroit. [11] [12] [10]
In 2008, he went to work for Tesla, where he led the design of vehicles including the Model S, Model 3, Model X, [13] Model Y, [14] Semi, [15] second-generation Tesla Roadster, [16] and Cybertruck. He became known to a wide audience as the result of inadvertently smashing the windows of the Cybertruck during an unveiling event. [17] [18]
Von Holzhausen was born in Simsbury, Connecticut. [19] His father was an industrial designer. [20] An internship with his father's company introduced him to the ArtCenter College of Design where he eventually got his degree. [21]
Von Holzhausen is married to Vicki von Holzhausen (née Vlachakis), whom he met when they were both automotive designers at General Motors. [22] Vicki is now the founder and CEO of von Holzhausen, a company that develops sustainable materials for the fashion and automotive industries. [23]
J Carrol Mays is a retired American industrial designer who served as Group Vice President of Global Design and Chief Creative Officer at Ford Motor Company, and was Chief Design Officer at Whirlpool. His name is simply "J", after his grandfather, S J Mays.
The Mazda Kabura is a concept car shown by the Japanese manufacturer Mazda in 2006.
Laurens van den Acker is a Dutch automobile designer. He is the Chief Design Officer of the Renault Group.
Tesla, Inc. is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas, which designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from home to grid-scale, solar panels and solar shingles, and related products and services. The company is also developing artificial intelligence and robotics products.
The Tesla Roadster is a battery electric sports car, based on the Lotus Elise chassis, produced by Tesla Motors from 2008 to 2012. The Roadster was the first highway legal, serial production, all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells, and the first production all-electric car to travel more than 244 miles (393 km) per charge. It is also the first production car to be launched into deep space, carried by a Falcon Heavy rocket in a test flight on February 6, 2018.
Martin Eberhard is an American engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Tesla, Inc. with Marc Tarpenning in 2003, where Eberhard was its original CEO serving until late 2007. In 2015, he was inducted into the University of Illinois Engineering Hall of Fame.
The Mazda Furai was a concept car revealed on 27 December 2007 and designed by Swift Engineering and manufactured by Mazda. A teaser image of the vehicle was released on 11 December 2007. The Furai officially debuted at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Revenge of the Electric Car is a 2011 American feature documentary film by Chris Paine, who also directed Who Killed the Electric Car?. The documentary, executive produced by Stefano Durdic, and produced by PG Morgan and Jessie Deeter, had its world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival on Earth Day, April 22, 2011. The theatrical release to the public took place on October 21, 2011.
Roadster may refer to:
The Tesla Model 3 is a battery electric mid-size sedan with a fastback body style built by Tesla, Inc., introduced in 2017. The vehicle is marketed as being more affordable to more people than previous models made by Tesla. The Model 3 was the world's top selling plug-in electric car for three years, from 2018 to 2020, before the Tesla Model Y, a crossover SUV based on the Model 3 chassis, took the top spot. In June 2021, the Model 3 became the first electric car to pass global sales of 1 million.
The Tesla Semi is a battery electric Class 8 semi-trailer truck built by Tesla, Inc. since 2022. The truck is powered by three motors, and is claimed by Tesla to have approximately three times the power of a typical diesel semi truck, a range of 500 miles (800 km), and operate at an energy use of less than 2 kWh/mi (1.2 kW⋅h/km).
Tesla, Inc., an electric vehicle manufacturer and clean energy company founded in San Carlos, California in 2003 by American entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. The company is named after Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla. Tesla is the world's leading electric vehicle manufacturer, and, as of the end of 2021, Tesla's cumulative global vehicle sales totaled 2.3 million units.
Nagare(流, flow) is an automotive design language created by Franz von Holzhausen and Laurens van den Acker for Mazda. Incorporated into a number of concept cars, starting with the car of the same name, the Nagare design lineup was intended as a showcase of what Mazda's cars may have looked like in 2020.
The Tesla Roadster is an upcoming battery electric four-seater sports car to be built by Tesla, Inc. The company said it will be capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds. The Roadster is the successor to Tesla's first production car, the 2008 Roadster.
The Tesla Cybertruck is a battery electric medium duty full-size pickup truck built by Tesla, Inc. since 2023. Introduced as a concept vehicle in November 2019, it has a body design reminiscent of low-polygon modelling, consisting of flat stainless steel sheet panels.
The Tesla Cyberquad is an electric quad bike all-terrain vehicle (ATV) concept presented by Tesla, Inc., at the Tesla Cybertruck's November 2019 unveiling. Concluding the presentation at the company's design studio in Hawthorne, California, CEO Elon Musk announced "one more thing", at which point the ATV was shown being loaded onto the back of the Cybertruck. Observers have pointed to elements seen at the unveiling indicating that the Cyberquad prototype had been built by swapping the powerplant and plastics on a Yamaha Raptor. Certain images from the rear suggest the vehicle also appears to have a powertrain borrowed from Zero Motorcycles.
Gigafactory Texas is an automotive manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas built by Tesla, Inc. Construction began in July 2020, limited production of Model Y began before the end of 2021, and initial deliveries of vehicles built at the factory took place at an opening party called “Cyber Rodeo” on April 7, 2022.
Tesla, Inc. has been criticized for its cars, workplace culture, business practices, and occupational safety. Many of the criticisms are also directed toward Elon Musk, the company's CEO and Product Architect. Critics have also accused Tesla of deceptive marketing, unfulfilled promises, and fraud. The company is currently facing criminal and civil investigations into its self-driving claims. Critics have highlighted Tesla's downplaying of issues, and Tesla's alleged retaliation against several whistleblowers.
The Tesla next-generation vehicle is an electric car platform under development by Tesla. The next-generation vehicle will be the third mainstream platform for the company, and it is expected that production volumes will greatly surpass those of the Model 3/Y platform. Although the vehicle has not been given an official name, the moniker Model 2 has been used to refer to the vehicle in the media. The car will be manufactured at Gigafactory Texas, Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, and the planned Gigafactory Mexico.