Tesla’s Cybertruck may not be so stainless after all::‘Literally bulletproof’ but needs constant cleaning to stave off corrosion
lol. Cybertrucks are looking like my sink.
They should invest heavily in Barkeepers Friend. Works pretty well on the sink.
yet another feature a regular Car can do better than this truck. its pretty damn sad when your truck fails at basic vehicle properties, before you even get to what its supposed to be, ‘truck’. kinnnnda comical how bad this thing is.
such sweet nectar the schadenfreude, i could live off it for days.
But really who cares, we are not forced to buy these cheesy blobs of cheap grade stainless. Let the tech bros take one for the team.
Stainless is not stain proof. Different grades of stainless have different levels of rust resistance depending mostly on chrome, nickel, molybdenum, and carbon levels, but even the most resistant grade will rust under some conditions. The primary method of rust protection, what makes stainless stainless, is a continuous layer of chrome oxide on the surface. The problem is that layer is weak to chlorides like salt or bleach so exposure to such can allow rust to begin. Adding more nickel, more chrome, and more moly can help but nothing is rust proof, even extreme marine grades like 317L can rust.
Edit: the cybertruck is made using their own “30X” grade. The most common is 304 or 18/8, which has around 18% chrome and 8% nickel. 302 has less, 309 has more. I would bet it is near 304 as that is the most common austenitic (nonmagnetic) stainless steel. This grade does not have the molybdenum added to “marine stainless” grades like 316 and 317. That molybdenum provides some resistance to chlorides which is why it is used in marine applications and commercial kitchens. It is also quite a bit more expensive.
Lol. Tesla stock down 30% since June.
Tesla, seriously, that roaring sound that’s rising in pitch is y’all about to slam into the ground. Eject the dead weight already.
i dont thibk musk would self-eject
zooms out 5 years
Up nearly 800%
My dude, even legacy stocks that pay dividends like fucking Costco and Microsoft are up 250+% the past 5 years. The market has been absolutely bonkers the past 5 years, and acting like Tesla is some incredible investment and not just a meme gambling stock is pretty hilarious.
Yup, keep riding that baby down. I bought in 2011, sold 2021. Thanks for buying me a house!
Now I get to watch that child Elon fuck up this golden goose, and I don’t have to lose money while I laugh!
Oh I don’t own the stock. But you can’t deny that it’s been a great asset for anyone that got in early. Saying it’s down 30% from 6 months ago without looking at the big picture is short sighted.
Also, fuck Elon
The stock is down 30% since June, if you want more context, it’s lower now than it was January 2021. Meaning if you’ve been holding Tesla stock for 3 years, you are in the red. This In a period where inflation has also undermined the value.
Seems to me that a warning that Tesla might not be a good stock to hold anymore is in order.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/TSLA/
The big picture is that Tesla is really only worth 5-10% of the current market cap, when you compare to for instance VW.
Ignoring that the market cap is higher than the combined market cap of all other car manufacturers, whilst producing not even half as many cars as VW alone, is also short sighted. The stock is vastly overrated and will correct itself one day. The question is just when that day is going to come
Yeah. My understanding is that Deloreans were shockingly rust resistant but were also panels specifically so that they could be replaced.
I don’t know metallurgy/material science well enough to know if cybertrucks actually used good quality stainless steel or cut corners. And I can easily see a world where people assume the dirt is rust because of paranoia or just looking for internet drama/clout.
But… Rust or no rust, those cars are pretty fucked. Because they don’t even have a clearcoat. And considering we are in the season where roads are covered with salt and sand and cars are constantly bombarded with a highly abrasive slurry at speed, those panels are going to see a LOT of wear and damage.
Even “good quality” stainless steel can easily rust, as anyone who’s owned quality kitchen knives will tell you. Some stainless alloys are more resistant than others – but exposed to the right conditions they all corrode.
Tesla uses SS301 stainless. DeLorean used SS304.
301 is cheaper, less resistant to corrosion, can resist more force applied to it before failure, formes better in stamping, doesn’t tolerate high-temperatures as well.
My guess is they used 301 due to cost and forming properties. Supposedly they use 301 on the Starships, so bulk pricing would help keep production costs low. Had they used 304 the raw material cost and cost of production at volume would be higher but they would be less likely to have these corrosion issues, assuming they aren’t welding the panels.
SS301 is a great material. It’s workable, ductile, and still plenty hard. It’s absolutely perfect for work holding in an industrial spot welding environment.
Why on earth they’d use that for body panels is fucking beyond me. Ok, it’s bullet proof, kinda, which is cool I guess? I’ve never been shot at in a car, I don’t know anyone who’s ever been shot at in car.
I know lots of people with cars that they don’t like to rust. Or scratch tho. Seems like the bigger problem in car design honestly
I believe their intention was to make it more dent-proof which ended up making it bullet proof(ish) at the same. I think that’s a good feature. Modern cars are made out of cardboard
That’s by design. It’s called crumple zone and it saves lives
On cars yeah but I’m not sure if that’s so much of a factor on “body on a frame” trucks because the frame does not crumble much. Cybertruck doesn’t have such frame because it has an exoskeleton but if you were to make it out of thinner metal then you’d need to add the sub-frame anyway so the end result is still the same.
Also, Tesla has a pretty impressive track record on when it comes to IIHS and Euro NCAP crash tests so I’d be surprised if Cybertruck was an exception.
So what you’re saying is not only is it ugly, rust prone, and poorly designed, it’s ALSO unsafe.
SS301 is a great material
Totally agree. But is this an appropriate use for it? I regularly have to use sandpaper to remove surface rust from my SS301 knife. And I don’t leave that out in the rain. It’s just surface rust, doesn’t damage anything, but it is rust and it’s very ugly.
Thankfully with a knife, it takes two seconds to remove the rust. With an entire car? And body panels with areas that are hard to get to? Honestly if I was going to buy a cybertruck I would paint it.
If you want “real” stainless, you want 316, but it’s not as strong and would require significant modifications - making it thicker/heavier/more expensive/worse battery range/etc.
Maybe the cyber truck owners will convince themselves the rust is a beautiful patina (and your cat sucks because it doesn’t have one!)
Don’t you talk about my cat that way!
Instead of gold versions, rich people will get inconel-pannel cybertrucks!
Real stainless steel does not rust. I brew beer and daily soak down my stainless steel sink/kettles daily. Even harsh chemicals (muritiac acid, chlorinated caustic soda) don’t affect it.
What makes stainless steel stainless is that it corrodes quickly, uniformly and forms a dense rich en Cr carbide coating (I dont know how it is called in english). This reduces the rate at which it corrodes enormously. This is the same on most “corrosion resistant” metals and alloys, like aluminium, titanium and zirconium.
There are multiple grades of SS, some of them are better at halting corrosion than others. And given the right environment (chemical + temperature) it will ultimately corrode.
Some geometrical obstacles* can produce other, more localized, types of corrosion… again, sorry, I dont know the technical words in english.
There are a lot of grades of stainless, but they all can rust. What you’re doing with your kettles is unlikely to cause rust, because you are actively cleaning them daily. Letting a contaminant sit on them and periodically get wet without being cleaned our dried is a worst case scenario, and also what constantly happens to cars.
https://www.unifiedalloys.com/blog/stainless-grades-families
Theres no such thing as “real stainless”. Stainless steel 304 is corrosion resistant, it’s the cheapest and most common. 316 is better at corrosion resistance and is “marine grade” since it will hold up better to salt water. 316L is some of the best at resisting corrosion, it’s more expensive than 304 and is used in lab and surgical equipment. There are a lot of other types, like 309 for higher heat applications, etc.
Cybertruck is probably made from 304.
Definately not supprised that cybertrucks are having this issue. Especially with road salt in the winter. I’m sure the engineers at Tesla saw this coming too.
Not the cheapest, there’s 17-4 and 18-8 before 304.
I deliver to a Tesla dealership/lemon farm everyday, and they had one on display. It had a smudge on the driver side rear quarter panel that they never got buffed out.
You don’t buff these things. You have to regrain them by rubbing an abrasive material across the panels in one direction same as a DeLorean.
Yeah that certainly reinforces a sense of longevity. Just rub off part of the door every time you have to clean it.
It’s sad that there’s nothing your can put on the metal, like something to paint on top of it or something. Like something clear, or in different colors even. Ah here I go again, being crazy with my imagination.
Apparently clear coat would also corrode the steel. This car annoys every last one of my redneck sensibilities.
same as my underwear bitch what do you think about that
What a pos. Links to pictures here- https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/threads/cybertruck-spots-corrosion.12242/
Lmaooo
Yeah it’s like “I actually like getting brutally raped at the dealership, excited to get my backside exploded!”
Yes this forum sounds a lot like Elon’s exclusive club, where you are not allowed to say anything critical of the godfather or his products.
Insane levels of copium.
One of the replies in that thread:
I’m know I’m a weirdo but I actually kinda like the corrosion and hopefully the associated patina that will come with it.
Wow.
I dunno, a patina can look quite good though, if you like that aesthetic.
The cope is strong with that one.
