Key facts
- Franz von Holzhausen said Tesla's data showed owners used the sunroof mainly when they first got the car.
- Von Holzhausen said the old motorized sunroofs were "really complicated" and appeared "in service quite a bit."
- The designer said the sunroof assembly was heavy and required a lot of parts to build.
- Tesla's Model 3, Model Y and Cybertruck have glass roofs fixed in place, the report said.
- Tesla stopped making the Model S and Model X in April 2026, the report said.
Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen said the company stopped offering opening sunroofs because its data showed drivers used them mainly when they first got the car, and because the motorized assemblies were complex and heavy to build. He made the comments on an episode of "Jay Leno's Garage" released on November 9, 2026.
"I mean, we're a very data-driven company," von Holzhausen said. "We looked at the data and realized that people use the sunroof when they maybe first get the car." He said Tesla's old motorized sunroofs were "really complicated" and that Tesla saw the features "in service quite a bit." The assembly was heavy and required a lot of parts, he added.
Tesla's current consumer models, the Model 3, Model Y and the soon-to-be-discontinued Cybertruck, offer glass roofs fixed in place, according to the report. The movable glass roof panels once offered on the Model S are no longer available.
Host Jay Leno, walking around a 2027 Model Y L with a fixed glass roof, compared tilting and opening sunroofs to a home hot tub: an exciting feature owners might use at first but one that quickly loses its appeal. "It's just, you know, a lot of parts to build it," von Holzhausen said. "If people aren't using it, why go through the hustle?"
Tesla has taken other steps to simplify assembly. In April 2026 the company stopped making the Model S and Model X. Musk posted on X that Tesla was winding down Cybertruck production, and on November 9, 2026, he said part of that rationale was the "opportunity cost of the complexity of Cybertruck."