Tesla has recently made a significant hire, one that could patch one the most persistent complaints owners and pundits alike voice out about their cars: the quality of the interior, which has been described as sub par compared to other luxury vehicles in the same price bracket.
The new blood arrives from Volvo. Anders Bell was the Head of Interior Engineering at the Swedish outfit and has reportedly been tapped to institute a sweeping improvement for Tesla cabins where he’ll be occupying an equivalent role at the Californian EV maker.
The move was reported by Electrek and later confirmed by Bell himself via an update to his LinkedIn profile over the weekend.
At Volvo, with whom he had been spending his entire career since 1998, he had been in charge of all interior engineering, including those of concept vehicles. The current crop of Volvo flagships, the XC90 and S90 both have received unanimous praise for their interiors, projects that Bell no doubt had plenty of involvement in.
He won’t likely have a chance to really sink his teeth into the Model S’ cabin but could instead focus his efforts to creating a dramatically improved interior for its successor. Also, the more affordable Model 3 could be the first car Bell can institute some positive change, with it being planned for customer delivery at the tail end of 2017 and 400,000 pre-orders.
If future Teslas can blend forward thinking personal mobility, desirable EVs, and Volvo levels of interior sophistication, they’d have quite the winning formula.
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