Clever clogs behind Volvo XC40 design snapped up by Tesla

You wouldn’t expect someone called something as suburban as Ian Kettle to be behind one of the prettiest, cleanest and most Scandi-tastic exterior car designs in recent years.

But Kettle quickly became one of the big names in car design after the Volvo XC40 crossover was unveiled.

Universally praised for being something special, the XC40 took plenty of design cues from Volvo’s existing SUVs but added plenty of new-look stuff, too. Now, it turns out even Elon Musk (pictured) recognises talent when he sees it and has hired Kettle as a senior designer for Tesla.

Kettle’s first task? A longpromised update of the now-quite-dated-looking Model S, which has been around for six years.

Until now, Tesla has carefully side-stepped the expensive and messy issue of model life updates by dispensing with model years altogether.

You haven’t purchased a 2012 Tesla Model S, sir. You’ve purchased a Tesla Model S with the latest generation software installed.

It kind of makes sense, actually. Tesla never refer to its cars as . . . well, cars, They’re devices.

But when other companies start treading on your electrified toes with flash new rival models featuring the latest automotive exterior design language, it’s easy to start looking behind the game. With big players such as Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and even Kettle’s old paymaster’s Volvo (by way of Geely and Polestar) joining the EV fray, it appears Musk has realised his products need to be beautiful, as well as clever.

Musk has also promised a fourth model — a budgetpriced hatchback — by 2023. Let’s hope Kettle can keep delivering on all these big ideas his new boss loves conjuring up.