Ryan McCaffrey, host of the Tesla unofficial podcast "Ride the Lightning," presents a special episode, number 499, featuring an exclusive interview with Lars Moravie, Tesla's Vice President of Engineering. This episode marks a bucket list moment for McCaffrey, as he delves into a candid conversation with Moravie, exploring Tesla's journey, innovations, and future plans.
The episode starts with housekeeping items, including thanking listeners for participating in Patreon polls about the podcast's direction. McCaffrey announces that listeners overwhelmingly want to hear about EVs beyond Tesla, a topic he plans to explore in the future. He also highlights the Patreon poll regarding the most anticipated topics from the Lars Moravie interview.
The centerpiece of the episode is the in-depth interview with Lars Moravie, recorded at Tesla's engineering headquarters. Moravie shares his automotive journey, tracing back to his childhood passion for fixing cars, specifically a non-running Volvo 140. He discusses his early career at Honda, where he learned valuable engineering principles in a demanding, startup-like environment. Moravie's transition to Tesla was driven by a desire to merge his automotive passion with environmental concerns, seeing Tesla as the perfect fit.
Moravie recalls his early days at Tesla, working on the Roadster and later the Model S. He emphasizes Elon Musk's clear vision: to create the best car in the world without qualifiers. The Model S's success and Motor Trend Car of the Year award validated their efforts.
The conversation shifts to the Model X and its challenging engineering aspects, particularly the Falcon Wing doors. Moravie humorously recounts his role in designing the doors, acknowledging the engineering complexities they presented. The impracticality of the charger snake project is also discussed.
Cybertruck emerges as Moravie's most satisfying project due to the impossible challenges overcome in its creation. He addresses the skepticism surrounding the truck's stainless steel construction and its five-star crash safety rating. The transfer of Cybertruck technologies to future vehicles is explored, highlighting the potential for wireless charging and new paint processes.
The infamous "production hell" during the Model 3's ramp-up is revisited. Moravie recounts the intense pressure and long hours, expressing gratitude to his wife for her support during that period. He contrasts the Model 3's challenging production with the Model Y's smoother launch, despite the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting launch plans.
The Next-Gen Roadster gets a segment, with Moravie stating is still in development. After seeing a demonstration of new tech at the Tesla Engineering headquarters, the Roadster's project goals were "significantly increased." When asked about testing the SPACEX package, Moravie would "neither confirm nor deny that we are testing it."
Moravie shares insights into the new Model Y. They want to prioritize comfort over performance with the new Model Y and transfer the technologies developed from the new Model 3. The focus was on honestly assessing challenges and managing the factory changeovers. He explains that the Model 3 wasn't designed with Giga-castings due to limited machines at the time. It's all that was available and all prioritized for the model Y.
Moravie states the original heat pump system is the greatest engineering feat in his career. It broke the rules of existing HVAC systems and revolutionized how the industry used the thermal controls. Finally he was asked some quick questions on the inclusion of a front bumper camera, turn signal stock. And finally if he could let out an engineering factoid about the affordable cars Tesla's working on. His response was "I think the most kind of difficult part of doing that is like not making the cars worse."
Following the interview, McCaffrey shares his driving impressions of the new Model Y.