Tesla designer Franz von Holzhausen says he has been thinking about designing a robotaxi for years

About 12 years ago, not long after Tesla began delivering the Model S, chief designer Franz von Holzhausen began thinking about what an autonomous vehicle might look like.

Von Holzhausen played a central role at Tesla, leading the design team for the Model 3 and Model Y as well as the Tesla Semi. But as von Holzhausen told TechCrunch in an interview on the sidelines of the UP.Summit this month, he had already started designing a robotaxi in his head in the background.

“I just think it felt inevitable that we would get there,” he said, explaining why he thought about it so early on.

Now, more than a decade later, Tesla is poised to unveil a robotaxi at an Oct. 10 event in Los Angeles. It's not clear whether this is just a concept version, a more fully-fledged prototype, or something else. And it follows years of unresolved promises from CEO Elon Musk about when Tesla would unveil such a vehicle or make the underlying technology work without human oversight.

Von Holzhausen didn't share details about what Tesla will show other than saying it would be “fascinating,” “interesting” and “fun.” He said the company's existing vehicle portfolio laid the foundation for the future.

“In a strange way, we have been working – in a very public way – on what an autonomous future will look like,” he said. “So you see the great interface that we have, the way it is configurable and upgradeable, and we bring a variety of entertainment elements and some humor as well. And I think that will continue to evolve.”

Von Holzhausen said the idea of ​​bringing technology closer to customers through design has been a common thread in Tesla's history.

“The self-presenting door handle in the early days – it was like a handshake with technology,” he remembers. “We have become accustomed to the vehicle becoming part of our daily lives.”

Von Holzhausen is hopeful and ready for a future in which autonomous driving is widely accessible.

“I definitely don’t want my kids to have to worry about getting a driver’s license or even driving,” he said.

The designer equated this current era with the disruptive transition from the horse and buggy to the automobile – a comparison his boss has made many times over the years.

“There was a way to get around forever and everyone was used to it – you had to do it,” he said. “Nobody talks about the bad side of this situation,” he said, noting that the horses had to be housed, fed and cleaned afterward.

“And people tolerated it,” he said. “So we’re in a similar situation where we just tolerate what we know.”

“I think the challenge is the possibility of a radical change from something that might seem scary and release a little bit of control. But it’s also an opportunity,” he said. “And I think this opportunity for me as a designer is really great, because now we have the opportunity to shape how people use their time, what their lives can look like, how they can get to places they wouldn't have gone before, and what their experiences can be like.”