{"id":80687,"date":"2025-02-24T11:42:15","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T16:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=80687"},"modified":"2025-02-24T11:42:15","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T16:42:15","slug":"tesla-loses-two-of-its-top-car-designers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=80687","title":{"rendered":"Tesla loses two of its top car designers"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"img-border featured-image\">\n\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"800\" height=\"372\" src=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/12\/tesla-inside-design-studio-e1450450245247.jpg?quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;w=800\" class=\"skip-lazy wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/12\/tesla-inside-design-studio-e1450450245247.jpg?w=320&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/12\/tesla-inside-design-studio-e1450450245247.jpg?w=640&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/12\/tesla-inside-design-studio-e1450450245247.jpg?w=1024&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/12\/tesla-inside-design-studio-e1450450245247.jpg?w=1500&amp;quality=82&amp;strip=all&amp;ssl=1 1500w\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Tesla has lost two of its top car designers, including a founding member of its design studio, amid a broader talent exodus.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-402978\"\/><\/p>\n<p>After a few years designing concept cars for GM, David Imai joined Tesla in 2011, when the automaker was a little-known California company trying to ramp up production of the Roadster and bring Model S, its first EV built from the ground up, to production.<\/p>\n<p>He quickly became Tesla\u2019s manager of exterior and interior design.<\/p>\n<p>Imai was promoted to \u201cDirector of Design\u201d in 2019. He has been credited for several design aspects of the Model 3. Along with Bernard Lee\u00a0and Franz\u00a0Von Holzhausen, he was one of Tesla\u2019s earliest and longest standing car designer.<\/p>\n<p>\t<span class=\"outbrain-ad-label\">Advertisement &#8211; scroll for more content<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1292\" src=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-11.13.05\u202fAM.png?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-403004\" srcset=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-11.13.05\u202fAM.png 1584w, https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-11.13.05\u202fAM.png?resize=150,122 150w, https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-11.13.05\u202fAM.png?resize=300,245 300w, https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-11.13.05\u202fAM.png?resize=768,626 768w, https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-11.13.05\u202fAM.png?resize=1024,835 1024w, https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-11.13.05\u202fAM.png?resize=1536,1253 1536w, https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-11.13.05\u202fAM.png?resize=350,285 350w, https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-11.13.05\u202fAM.png?resize=140,114 140w, https:\/\/electrek.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/Screenshot-2025-02-24-at-11.13.05\u202fAM.png?resize=1226,1000 1226w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>Earlier this month, Imai confirmed that he has left his role at Tesla to join Arc, a manufacturer of electric boats. He announced on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7292587745187614720\/\">LinkedIn<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\" readability=\"10\">\n<p>I\u2019m pleased to announce that I\u2019ll be joining Arc Boats later this month as Chief Designer. In this new role, I hope to bring my experience, leadership, and passion for design to help Arc reach new horizons.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Looking into Tesla\u2019s design team, <em>Electrek<\/em> also found that another top Tesla car designer whose departure from Tesla went unreported.<\/p>\n<p>Bernard Lee came to Tesla from Mazda along with Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla\u2019s chief designer, back in 2008. Along with von Holzhausen, he was one of the founding members of Tesla\u2019s design studio.<\/p>\n<p>His first tenure at Tesla lasted a decade during which he was credited as lead and supporting designer of many Tesla vehicles:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2017 Supporting Exterior Designer 2nd Gen Tesla Roadster<\/li>\n<li>2017 Principle Exterior Designer of Model 3 Final Production<\/li>\n<li>2016 Principle Exterior Designer of Model S 2016 Production Refresh<\/li>\n<li>2016 Principle Exterior Designer of Model 3 Prototype<\/li>\n<li>2015 Principle Exterior Designer of Model X Final Production<\/li>\n<li>2012 Principle Exterior Designer of Model X Prototype<\/li>\n<li>2012 Supporting Exterior Designer of Model S Final Production<\/li>\n<li>2009 Supporting Interior Designer of Model S Prototype<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>He briefly left in 2018 to teach at the Art Center College of Design in California, where many Tesla car designers come from, but he came back in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Lee was then credited with several more designs at Tesla following his return:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2024 Senior Exterior Design Manager Cyber Cab Demo and Production vehicle<\/li>\n<li>2024 Senior Exterior Manager Model 3 (highland) Standard and Performance<\/li>\n<li>2021 Senior Exterior Design Manager Model X refresh<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We now learn that Lee has also left Tesla. He updated his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bernard-lee-632ab21\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LinkedIn profile<\/a> to confirm he left in November 2024, but his departure wasn\u2019t reported until now.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-electrek-s-take\">Electrek\u2019s Take<\/h2>\n<p>Congrats to both Imai and Lee who are responsible for, in my opinion, some great designs that helped the electric revolution.<\/p>\n<p>At a time when automakers were often producing weird designs for electric vehicles that felt like they didn\u2019t want to sell, Imai, Lee, and their team produced fresh yet simple designs that are still beautiful 10 years later.<\/p>\n<p>Tesla still has several talented car designers on its staff, but it\u2019s certainly going to hurt to have two of Tesla\u2019s top car designers leaving in the space of a few months.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also happening amid a broader exodus of talent at Tesla that has been going for a year since a wave of layoffs last year hurt moral at the company.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-disclaimer-container\" readability=\"6.3518518518519\">\n<p class=\"disclaimer-affiliate\"><em>FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/electrek.co\/about\/#affiliate\">More.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- post ad --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tesla has lost two of its top car designers, including a founding member of its design studio, amid a broader talent exodus. After a few years designing concept cars for GM, David Imai joined Tesla in 2011, when the automaker was a little-known California company trying to ramp up production of the Roadster and bring [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}