This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
You mean the thing everyone said was going to happen actually happened. Lmao
The Cybertruck's steel is made in "coils that resemble giant rolls of toilet paper,"
All steel is shipped from the steel mill in coils just like that.
Other manufacturers of all manner of stainless products seem to have figured out a solution to the problem.
Other manufacturers of all manner of stainless products seem to have figured out a solution to the problem.
Two design choices together probably make the problem multiplicatively worse:
I can't get over the flatness... those panels surely rattle too? Or do they void-fill the doors and body with something?
Flat panels are not anywhere as stiff as curved panels
Same for windows. So much for "thermonuclear explosion-proof glass", Elon.
Also, the shape has horrible aerodynamics. If it had a combustion engine, they couldn't sell it in large parts of the world due to fuel efficiency.
Also, the shape has horrible aerodynamics. If it had a combustion engine, they couldn't sell it in large parts of the world due to fuel efficiency.
I doubt it will get a type approval in Europe anyway, seems absolutely no consideration for pedestrian safety has been given. If this thing is as stiff and solid as Musk said it was it is also going to fail miserably during crash testing. Having been in a car crash this weekend I can testify how crumple zones save lives. Good thing the whole "but it's a light truck" loophole they used in the US isn't going to fly here.
Knowing about crumple zones makes you ask why you would even want a "stiff and solid" vehicle in the first place lmao.
Point 2 in particular is huge. Depending on the exact alloy steel can vary wildly in characteristics. One alloy might bend almost as easily as aluminum, while another might be nearly as hard as tungsten. Adding to that proper heat treatment and the difference in the mechanical characteristics of the finished product can be absolutely massive.
Seems like tesla has an answer too:
sell the poorly made trucks to rubes while you crank out more as cheaply as possible.
I saw one of the “RC” release candidates in the wild in San Francisco two weeks ago. It looked like shit in person. Marker lights weren’t aligned, the stainless already had fucked up scuffs and discoloration, etc. Water spots showed up just like my stainless kitchen sink.
You can see the stainless smudges and water spots here. I wish I got the tail lights when the brakes were off.
Also, the brakes flashed at you. Super annoying.
It's not even smudge free stainless? LMAO
Similar to the one I saw in Oregon a few weeks ago. It had fingerprint smudges all over the body. Seems like it'd be a huge pain to keep clean and probably need a sealant or clear wrap over the top.
Well, Duh. Everything is over promise, delay, underdeliver. All Teslas have crappy panel gaps. Why would anyone expect anything better?
I wonder how much better Tesla quality would be if they dumped Elon. Is it a systemic problem, or just poor leadership?
I'm hoping shareholders do push him out. They're still in a great position to compete if they focus on the right things (build quality, designing cars people actually want, etc). The charging network is still the best around and they're still ahead in battery tech, but they need to stop chasing FSD and give up on this cybertruck thing.
Charging network doesn’t matter anymore for them since basically every manufacturer (save for VW as of this writing) has signed on for the NACS. You should be seeing fords charging at Tesla chargers by either late December or early January.
Battery tech they’re mid on. They haven’t seemed to improve the pack much compared to rivals. Some Chinese manufacturers are even producing better packs.
FSD is something they should continue to pursue, but Elon needs to pull his head out of his ass and accept that things like LiDar and Radar are important additions to the car so that it can continue to “see” even when the cameras aren’t seeing perfectly or at all.
Build quality is their biggest uphill. It could be systemic, but I also suspect there is a bit of “move it along” coming from upper management and Elon. So that’ll never get fixed.
Not a Tesla fan but this article is garbage. Basically all sheet metal comes on coils "that resemble toilet paper" including the metal that other manufacturers use.
It definitely seems like an irrelevant point. All car sheet steel arrives in rolls.
I'd be more concerned about how it is formed into panels, how resistant it is to corrosion, what tolerances parts have, how easy is it to replace parts, whether there are visible production flaws due to it being naked steel, and if construction techniques or material thickness makes it more dangerous to occupants or pedestrians in collisions.
I certainly won't be surprised if pictures start appearing in a year or two of cybertrucks that have been completely fucked by salt water corrosion, or heat warppage or other issues caused by their design.
yeah. panel gaps aren't a sheet metal issue, it's been a Tesla issue since forever.
Flat panels suck for resistance to bending, the compound curves and folds pressed into most car panels give them more rigidity
If only someone had figured that out in the last 120 years. Oh wait...
What’s funny to me is how fast the Korean car companies learned “metal bending.” They went from generic easy shapes with little forming to adding in creases all over the damn car just to prove they could do it and replicate it, and they did that in the span of a couple decades at the most.
Well at least Elon can pretend that all the panels were within 10 microns of gap when they left the factory, and it totally warped 2 cm (20000 microns) on the way to the customers.
So wait. You're telling me that materials can expand and contract due to many conditions such as shifts in temperature? Ya don't say (that was directed at Elon, not you).
Sure, he could say that. It's still his/Tesla's fault. Shipping the product is part of the process, and they'd still be responsible for that (or should be at least. Who knows in this dystopia).
He'd probably just say that it arrived in perfect shape, the customer just fucked it up and are lying. Or something like that.
What a surprise! The other well known stainless steel car, the Delorean DMC-12, is FAMOUS for being a huge pain in the ass to work on. Dents and dings are tremendous problems, and stainless steel is super heavy.
Panel gaps are just a ubiquitous feature of a Tesla. This isn't a surprise, and the apologists will say it's no big deal.
Tesla's quality control just reflects Elons concern for all his biological children.
This isn't even the first time this has happened to a Tesla, at this point this particular problem is just expected.
Much like the wealthy expert who built his own sub, there is a need to listen to other experts. Your employees that aren't fired will be the "yes" people
Every single thing you've ever had that had sheet metal in it came from "coils that resemble giant rolls of toilet paper". But it's the WSJ, I just assume the writer has never met anyone who works for a living.
Watch what happens when people eventually discover what completely flat panels of sheet metal do in heavy wind.
There is literally a reason why no other auto manufacturer uses flat body panels on cars.
Cybertruck would be the time machine in a Back to the Future shitty remake if they would make one.
I love how this is a joke that just went too far. Elon presented a stupid design, just for attention, as with everything he does. And now they are seriously taking about releasing the ugliest car since the Fiat Multipla.
If they were smart, they would pursue nitinol body panels or a similar memory metal. Get a ding in a panel? Take a heat gun to it or leave it out in the sun and the dent is gone. Another benefit would be a ~25% weight reduction.
All they would have to do is figure how to make large panels; which is no easy task, but neither is rocket science. The patent licensing could be a major revenue stream.
2 million idiots clambering over themselves to preorder this brainfart of a vehicle.
Just leaving a "Aber die Spaltmaße" comment here.
At this point Tesla customers deserve this crap
