Tesla killed the sunroof because owners stop using it

Tesla hasn't built a car with a movable sunroof in years, and on Monday the company's chief designer explained exactly why: owners open the panel for the first week or so of ownership, then almost never touch it again.

Franz von Holzhausen laid out the reasoning during an episode of "Jay Leno's Garage" released Monday, walking Leno around the 2027 Model Y L, which ships with a fixed glass roof. He appeared alongside Lars Moravy, Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering.

"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."

What did Tesla replace the sunroof with?

The Model Y L keeps a fixed panoramic glass roof, but Tesla reworked it. Per the walkthrough with Moravy and von Holzhausen:

• A triple silver coating on the roof reflects heat and keeps the cabin cooler.
• Upgraded laminated glass layers reject heat and sunlight and block both UVA and UVB — von Holzhausen compared the protection to "the best sunscreen in the world."
• The rear glass now extends all the way to the spoiler, with a squarer shape for better rear visibility.
• Thicker, insulated glass cuts cabin noise.
• Antennas are embedded in the glass, eliminating the external roof antenna.

Why does part count matter so much to Tesla?

The second half of the argument is manufacturing. Von Holzhausen said the old motorized sunroofs were "really complicated" and that Tesla saw the assemblies "in service quite a bit" — the mechanism was heavy and required a lot of parts.

"It's just, you know, a lot of parts to build it," he added. "If people aren't using it, why go through the hustle?"

Manufacturing simplicity is one of Tesla's core strengths; its cars use fewer parts and fasteners to assemble than competitors' vehicles. And 2026 shows the company applying that logic at model level, not just component level:

• In April, Tesla stopped making the Model S and Model X. CEO Elon Musk once called the Model X a "Fabergé egg" for its complicated design, including its signature falcon-wing rear doors.
• Last week, Musk posted on X that Tesla is winding down Cybertruck production.
• On Monday, Musk said part of the rationale was the "opportunity cost of the complexity of Cybertruck."

That leaves the current consumer lineup — the Model 3, Model Y, and the soon-to-be-discontinued Cybertruck — with fixed glass roofs across the board.

Leno, for his part, offered a homeowner's analogy while inspecting the Model Y L: a tilting sunroof is like a hot tub, an exciting feature owners use eagerly at first and then quickly forget about.

The takeaway for drivers who want wind ruffling their hair at highway speed: a Tesla isn't for you. For everyone else, the bet is that a cooler, quieter, UV-blocking glass roof beats a mechanism most owners abandon after the first week — and that every deleted part makes the car cheaper and faster to build.