As Tesla has expanded the number of vehicles it makes, and the number of trim levels associated with them, one aspect of the automaker’s offerings has remained strangely limited: paint colors. But that may soon change.
Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s design chief, recently sat down with the host of the Ride the Lightning podcast and as Noteateslapp noticed, he was asked if American customers could look forward to any more colors in the near future. Although he was guarded, von Holzhausen’s answers were encouraging for fans of variety.
Asked if Americans are due for more color options in the near future, he said, “yeah, I hope so.” Pressed on the matter, and reminded that he is in charge of design, von Holzhausen added, cryptically, “Wait and see.”
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The question was inspired by the Model Y, which recently started production in Germany. Examples made at that plant get two colors that others don’t: Quicksilver and Midnight Cherry Red. Despite only being produced at its Berlin plant, though, the colors were developed in the U.S., according to von Holzhausen.
“We develop all of the colors here, with a team, and we evolve them, and we do all of the testing, and the development,” he explained. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the colors will be used here, though. The ultimate arbiter, according to the designer, is CEO Elon Musk, who has “the final say.”
With challenges around production a continued issue for Tesla—such that the company has brought the man who got its Chinese plant up and running to the U.S. to lead global production—it is perhaps not surprising that the automaker is averse to introducing new complications.
Despite von Holzhausen’s non-committal answer, though, it seems that there is hope for potential Tesla customers who wish that they could get a vehicle in a broader range of colors.