Tesla's Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen alludes to new colors coming to North America
Tesla
Tesla's Giga Berlin factory started producing vehicles in the new Quicksilver and Midnight Cherry Red in October 2022. Since then, Tesla enthusiasts, observers and future buyers have been waiting for the new colors to start spreading to other regions. While there have been several changes to the Tesla ordering page, mainly the price, the five colors have remained the same. But that may be due for a refresh.
Tesla's New "Pretty" Colors
Tesla's Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen appeared on the Ride the Lightning podcast. Host Ryan McCaffrey asked about bringing the new colors to North America, pointing out that the same five colors have been available for several years. He asked if we were due for new paint colors in this country, and von Holzhausen replied, "yeah, I hope so." After the host reminded von Holzhausen (at the 43rd minute of the podcast) that he was in charge of that, the designer said, "yeah, wait and see."
While von Holzhausen always has to be guarded with his responses, he may have given enough information earlier in the interview to guarantee that new colors are coming to North America. "Both those colors are so pretty in person," gushed the 54-year-old, "tough to capture how really amazing those colors are until you see them in person."
Gleaming with pride, the designer reminisced about creating those colors, "we developed all the colors here (Fremont) with the team. We evolve them and do all the testing and kind of developments. As with anything we design, we're always trying to make the best we can at the moment. If we can improve it, then we will."
Von Holzhausen Talking Colors
Franz von Holzhausen talks about new paint colors at the 43rd minute mark below.
Time and Resources to Develop
A lot of time and resources went into producing Quicksilver and Midnight Cherry Red just to be used in the Giga Berlin location. We know Elon Musk does not waste time on production, and given the positive feedback, it would make sense to offer more colors.
Given that more Teslas are on the road than ever before and the company continues to pump out thousands of cars daily, it may be time for some more options. Pearl White Multi-Coat, Solid Black, Midnight Silver Metallic, Deep Blue Metallic and Red Multi-Coat have done the company well. But, follow a few Tesla forums, and you will see that many people are wrapping their Tesla to give a unique look and stand out from the pack.
Tesla's production has thrived because of streamlined choices. So, it's unlikely that Tesla would keep the existing gray and red colors and would likely replace them with these new options.
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Rendering of what Tesla's license plate feature could look like
Not a Tesla App
Tesla update 2024.38 has started rolling out to several regions and vehicles. Thanks to Tesla hacker Greentheonly, we have a behind-the-scenes look at some new features coming to Teslas.
License Plate Display
According to Greentheonly, it looks like Tesla may soon let you display your actual license plate in the vehicle’s visualization on the screen. In our article, The Most Request Tesla Features, several readers suggested displaying the vehicle’s license plate in the visualization instead of a blank, white plate.
It looks like Tesla will be doing just that, at least in China. Green found references that appear to conclude that you’ll be able to display your vehicle’s plate on screen. This will likely be user input, so you could have it say anything you’d like, and it doesn’t have to be your actual license plate.
For many owners, who may find it difficult to remember their license plate, this could serve a practical purpose in addition to adding to the visualization's realism.
While Green was only able to say it’ll be available in China, we expect this is due to China’s software development team working on it and that it’ll eventually be released worldwide.
While code for this feature was found in update 2024.38, we may not be turned on in China yet. We suspect this feature may be a strong candidate for Tesla’s upcoming holiday update.
FSD Hardware Version Display
As part of the 2024.38 update, Tesla has now made it easy to determine whether your vehicle includes Hardware 3 or Hardware 4. You can now simply navigate to Controls > Software and tap Additional Vehicle Information. In addition to other hardware information about your vehicle, your Autopilot hardware version will now be listed as well.
You can see whether your vehicle has HW2.5, HW3, or AI4. This in-car display is useful, but if you don’t have access to the vehicle, you can always use our guide on how to determine the hardware version of a Tesla.
New Battery Health Test & Service Mode Improvements
Green found some additional things as well. There’s a new and improved Battery Health Test. The new test will show you how your car scores compared to similar vehicles in the Tesla fleet.
In addition, maintenance records can now be permanently stored “in the car.” It doesn’t appear that this feature is activated yet, but it’s likely in active development with some parts leaking out in the 2024.38 update.
Tesla has included various Service Mode improvements and new visualizations in this update.
Mr Li on X came across some covered-up Project Juniper vehicles recently and he managed to get various shots of the vehicle.
Juniper Images
This front image reveals what looks like two rows of lights, possibly confirming the front light bar for the Model Y refresh — similar to the one on the Cybercab.
The rear side has a lot of lights on it!
Mr Li on X
The rear side shows a ton of brake lights, but it’s not clear why. While it looks like the Model Y refresh will also feature a rear light bar similar to the Cybertruck, there isn’t strong evidence of that in this photo.
Mr Li on X
There's an obvious set of lights at the bottom, so it looks like the Model Y refresh will be similar to the new Model 3 where the bottom lights can operate as brake lights when the one-piece tail lights and trunk are up.
Mr Li on X
In the last photo, we see that the overall form factor of the refreshed Model Y will remain unchanged, and Tesla is focusing the changes on the front and rear ends of the vehicle, much like the Model 3 refresh. However, in this one shot, we can also see what appears to be red light leaking out of the rear camera cover opening, possibly due to the rear light bar.
The Model Y is not only Tesla’s best-selling vehicle but also the world’s best-selling car in 2023. This year, it’s expected to be the best-selling vehicle in the United States and again in the world, so this refresh will be huge for Tesla.
@DominicBRNKMN made another fantastic set of concepts based on these new images. Given he had the most accurate Model 3 Highland concept before the official launch, we’re pretty sure his latest work be close here as well.
@DominicBRNKMN
We’re super excited to see the eventual reveal of Project Juniper, which is expected in the first half of 2025. However, expect to see a few more leaks before production kicks off at Giga Shanghai.
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