Tesla Engineer Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 244 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Tesla.
Tesla
Failure Analysis Engineer
Mid Very difficult Positive experience Accept offer 1 round
Interview process
Onsite
Interview formats
Technical
During the interview, I got a series of tough technical questions that mainly targeted the idea of impact in mechanical systems. To answer these properly, it would help to go through different mechanical engineering textbooks that explain the basics of dynamics and material science. Also, the interview atmosphere felt pretty unprofessional, since the interviewers were rude in a way that just added more stress. Their dismissive attitude made it hard to have any kind of constructive discussion.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Can you describe jerk behavior in a dynamic system?
Tesla
Cell Engineer
Intern Average Neutral experience Accept offer 3 rounds
Interview process
Technical screen Technical screen Recruiter call
Interview formats
Technical Behavioral Other
There are three interview rounds: the first one is mainly about electrochemical battery technology, the second one is focused on data, and the last round is a behavioral interview with the hiring manager. Each interview is around 30 minutes long, and the whole process is pretty fast, usually finishing with results in about 2-3 weeks.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Lithium-ion battery charge and discharge mechanism
Tesla
Paint Engineer
Entry Average Neutral experience No offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Phone screen Panel
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical Case
The interview process had two rounds. The first round was a virtual behavioral interview with an HR representative, where I talked about my background, experiences, and interest in automotive coatings. The second round was a technical interview with a panel of engineers. They asked in-depth questions about paint application systems, defect analysis, and surface preparation techniques. I was also given a case study to assess a paint defect situation and suggest a solution. The interviewers were friendly and gave me time to think through my answers.
Confirmed questions1 question
- Can you walk me through the steps in the automotive paint process and how you would maintain consistent quality?
Tesla Engineer Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Tesla interview reports.
“If you are only given the force applied to a steel rod and its elongation, can you compute the engineering stress? Can you compute the true stress?”
Read reports →“Tesla cars use electric motors that can generate a very large torque, and by Newton's 3rd law there must be a reaction torque. Where on the vehicle body would you expect this counter-torque to appear, and if you were a design engineer, how would you strengthen the mounting points to withstand this torque?”
Read reports →“If you have 8 balls, 7 of them with the same mass, how can you figure out which one is the heaviest in just two iterations?”
Read reports →“Suppose you have a rod of infinite length with a maximum allowed square cross-sectional area of side length 20 cm. What cross-sectional shape or modifications would you choose to maximize the torsional stiffness of this rod?”
Read reports →“Describe why someone would want to transform a 3D stress state and look at it in its eigen-basis.”
Read report →“If I handed you this broken (snapped) bolt, how would you go about finding the root cause of the problem?”
Read report →“What design and material factors do you consider when you design a reusable container versus a one-way (single-use) container?”
Read report →“You have special sensors located directly under the frunk of the Model 3 that must not be damaged. If you were to load the frunk, what design decisions would you make so the frunk is as rigid as possible and deflection is minimized?”
Read report →“What would you do if you get unexpected results from a test that is supposed to measure "something"? The test was performed in "such a way"; what do you think might have caused those unexpected results to appear?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 244 Tesla interview reports.