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Tesla: You’ll Have to Wipe Dead Bugs and Bird Poop off Your Cybertruck ASAP to Avoid Corrosion
(www.motorbiscuit.com)
this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024
238 points (95.8% liked)
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This is a good example for bad design. Apart from the odd shape (this is debateable - perhaps some people like the design) the choice of the exterior material is not to be considered a good one, concidering the vehicle's exposure to the elements (dead bugs, tree sap, salt, dust, dirt, etc.) is nothing out of the ordinary. These are normal things an ordinary vehicle is exposed to.
Maybe Tesla could sell accessories like some kind of panel covers to protect the body of the car, in a similar way phone covers are being sold to protect phones. Which in itself is also the result of bad design: not only a phone cover hides the original design of the phone, the necessity to use a cover on a phone shows that the phone probalby is not built strong enough to withstand daily usage, like falling on the ground or being carried in a pocket.
This is why proper cars are build with their metal parts dipped in protective enamel instead of exposing them raw to the elements like a dumbass.
They could have just painted all exposed parts in clear coat and kept the raw look while protecting the metal from the elements. But that would probably require an actual car design expert to be a part of the process.
Or Tesla could offer a different material choice, like COR-TEN steel. Its rusty surface will hide all the bugs and dirt and one does not need to wash the car immediately after exposure. Also, this choice of material comes with the same disadvantages stainless steel has to offer: e.g. no proper alignment of the body panels. This means that Tesla doesn't have to change their way of assembly.
Hold up; are you actually blaming Teslas poor panel alignment on the material they chose and not their 'craftsmanship'?
Well, of course most of it is attributed to the (lack of) craftmanship. I've seen videos of Teslas that are falling apart, because of sloppy assembly.
I have read somewhere else that stainless steel sheet metal has different properties than the regular metal cars are usually made of, which makes it harder to process. I can imagine that it is harder to align such material in general.
Honestly, this would be pretty convenient. Some people may think it's ugly (though you're already driving this piece of shit), but it'd hide a lot of dirt and stuff so you don't need to worry about keeping it clean as much. If you're using it for an actual truck to haul cargo and stuff, this would be ideal, though we all know these cyber trucks are never going to have any cargo in their beds.
If executed well enough, it an look pretty good: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/international-automotive-scene/71202-rat-rod-bmw-e28.html
Although this is not COR-TEN steel. The original body parts, which are made from "normal" metal have been altered chemically in their surface. This kind of appearence is called "Rat Style".
I like how the last few years has been Elon making simple mistakes that people have figured out a long time ago.
Just shows that if you have enough money, you can stumble your way through the rest of your life and be well off after one decent play.
Dude could accomplish so much more if he actually listened to orhers and was a good leader.
Can you get a clear enough enamel to make it look like bare metal?
Yes, easily.
A cover would probably be worse. It'd trap moisture and other things against the metal and it'd probably make the issue even worse. It needs an enamel coating or something, but that'd make far too much sense. Alternatively, since it's bare metal, you could remove any rust that occurs pretty easily, but it wouldn't look as smooth anymore. They could also possibly cheaply manufacture and sell replacement parts, since it should be (assuming they didn't do things too dumb, which is a stretch) fairly easy to fabricate.
I think the phone cover thing is because the original iPhone wasn't built very well. Maybe they're still bad, I don't know never owned one.
I've been using rawdog phones for over a decade, dropped them many times and no real issues other than a chip in a the plastic of one of cheaper ones I've had.
The evolution path of the cellular/smart phone didn't always need a protective cover. That was a result of smaller easily handheld devices and more fragile components, as well as a convenient add-on product. Remember the earlier Nokia-types and their belt clip-ons for this same dropping problem? Plus they were still a bit heavy for slipping into a pocket.
The reason why the comparison doesn't work is that there is a century or more of experience and research for cars and similar surfaces exposes to the elements, Tesla/Musk just decided to be different despite the glaring evidence it was a bad idea.
Idk, every Delorian I've seen still looks great! Granted, there's probably a lot of survivor bias there. But if you take care of it, stainless steel lasts forever.
I agree with you - they do look great indeed. Regarding survivor bias: those cars you see around probably are maintained well. With a sufficient level of maintenance, even a Yugo can be kept in pristine condition (given the supply of spare parts in this particular example).
When it comes to Tesla in general, many people complain about insufficient panel alignment, although it its barely noticeable. But given the pice range (this is a upper class car) one needs to pay to afford such a car this issue shouldn't be present. On the other hand: when I look at my car (Mitsubishi Mirage) closely, the panel alignment ist't done well either. But considering the price range that car has been sold, I can live with that.