Tesla Cybertruck may have a rust problem

[jaarse]

You have to admire the marketing when they can convince their fans that not clear coating a vehicle is a feature not a bug.

It wouldn’t even look different or cost all that much. The only downside is you would be able to leave it parked outside.

What will Tesla think of next?

[tivert]

> You have to admire the marketing when they can convince their fans that not clear coating a vehicle is a feature not a bug.

It's not rust, it's an attractive patina!

[serial_dev]

Huh, interesting.

It would be hilarious* if these cars really had a serious rust problem, and all the hipsters with their 60-100k cars will explain how rust is completely normal on a 3 years old car. Or that it is "cosmetic tarnishing".

* hilarious in the abstract, if it happened to you and you take a financial hit, I'm sorry

As one reddit comment mentioned, if people start wrapping this car, but the "wrapping" company is not doing a perfect job, moisture and dirt under the wrap can wreck the car without owners noticing it for a long time.

However, I'm not sure if the issue is really widespread, I'd imagine we had more photos if it were. I guess we will see.

[phone[phone]]

> if it happened to you and you take a financial hit, I'm sorry

I'm not. The people who bought the Cybertruck either knew or should have known that there'd be issue like this given the well documented Tesla QA issues and the fact that this is a completely new product so they're the beta testers.

[Terr_]

> Or that it is "cosmetic tarnishing".

I'll give it a pass if it turns out it was made with weathering steel. :p

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weathering_steel

[ThrowawayTestr]

You don't know what a hipster is.

[Volundr]

> cosmetic tarnishing

We call that patina.

[qwerpy]

I haven't decided if I'm going to wrap my Cybertruck, lean into the Mad Max rust aesthetic, or lovingly wipe it clean every week like my neighbor and his pristine Shelby. Most likely, option 3 until I get bored, followed by option 2 until the wife gets embarrassed, then option 1.

Ah yes, I'm well aware of the financial hit. I'm buying a new car after all!

[pompino]

You can also passivate, powdercoat, etc. Not that you should need to do this after dropping that kinda cash on a car (refuse to call it a truck :P)

[somat]

It really is a terrible truck.

And on that subject I was thinking on pickup truck beds today. None of them are really very good. A good bed would be made out of solid steel and be full of tie down points. That is, the way work trucks are made. As is stands they are made of car body steel and have almost no tie down points, and never one where you need it.

As a postscript I have been watching the edison motors channel(they are developing an electric semi truck). and my first thought was "there is no way these guys are going to be able to make it in the industry, They make way too much sense" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an6e2Lh9u58

[Symbiote]

Posts on the source (forum) linked in the article suggest this is dust from railway tracks that lands on the cars and rusts.

It needs to be carefully removed, but is common on new cars transported by rail.

[Reason077]

This “rust” is cosmetic tarnishing, not structural corrosion. Over time I imagine it will develop into a beautiful patina. Every CyberTruck will look unique.

If you really want to keep it looking shiny and pristine, you can always get a clear protective wrap.

[defrost]

That's right kids, It's A Feature, Not A Bug!

( and if it goes wrong it's your fault for not fixing it yourself )

[XorNot]

Or they could've clear-coated it from the start, because the vehicle wasn't advertised as "will develop a patina" it was advertised as "stainless steel that's why we're not painting it".

[booi]

lol what. Without a clear coat or some protective coating, all metal will corrode over time and 100x faster near the ocean. Even marine-grade 316 stainless steel. Steel patina is basically just corrosion.

[abledon]

the Cybertrucks near Starbase are gonna look wild after a year or so of the sea-salt air eating away at them

[iwontberude]

This has been the way I've seen it. It's a true testament to the ruggedness and off-road dedication.

[phone[phone]]

Ah, yes, they're just driving/washing it wrong

[maximinus_thrax]

> Over time I imagine it will develop into a beautiful patina. Every CyberTruck will look unique.

This is sarcasm, right?

[icehawk]

Is that even a thing available?

[iamthemonster]

In industry we don't use bare uncoated stainless steel in marine environments at elevated operating temperatures due to chloride stress corrosion cracking risk. I do wonder what metallurgists think of this bare 301 stainless steel from a CSCC point of view.

[dzhiurgis]

What on earth is this article

> If things like rain, car washes, bugs, and pine tar need to be cleaned off immediately and regularly, road salt, rocks, and debris from off-roading will surely wreak havoc on the truck’s body.

Clean off car washes?

Has no one driven Cybertruck in salt or off-road yet?

> stainless steel body doesn’t have a clear coat, so there’s nothing to protect the body from dents, dings, scratches,

Clear coat protects from dents and dings?

How is this article written worse than a bot.

[madaxe_again]

I don’t understand why people want their truck to look pristine.

Mine is all of seven years old, and is more dents and scratches than it is intact bodywork - because it’s a truck, and it gets used for truck stuff.

If you don’t use it for truck stuff, and want a shiny object, for god’s sake, don’t buy a truck.

[jaarse]

I think there is a very good chance that exactly zero Cybertrucks are used as actual work trucks.

[JohnBooty]

Car rust is a little bit more than a cosmetic issue. Eventually it destroys things.

[hindsightbias]

The majority of trucks sold are status symbols. I’ve never seen a muddy Raptor.

[i_am_a_peasant]

Initially I expected it was about software running on the cybertruck, was disappointed, and amused.

[r0ckarong]

Disrupting the "cars that can stay outside" industry from the ground up.

[moepstar]

Meta:

What is it with Tesla that each little thing is being blown epically out of proportion by news outlets, press, TV, etc.?

I mean, i get it - bad news are good news, bring clicks etc.

But with Tesla?

- Cybertruck? Rust, tyre problems - "recalls" which are OTA software updates - waste disposal in CA - ...

Elon is of course no saint, a controversial figure - in fact, i think he's pretty much a clown and at this point in time, he's doing Tesla a disservice by still being "in charge".

But that's not the point with the recent (?) reporting, i feel this seems to be bigger and across much of the media i observe - as if every troll factory in the world has a contract to bash on Tesla...

Recently, it's gotten so bad, i had to use RSS-Bridge with the filter plugin to filter each headline that contains "Tesla" - right now only sparing HN from this treatment - not sure if i'm keeping that up for much longer :(

[ShamelessC]

Seems obvious to me. Tesla has an absurd valuation. Their CEO is the richest person alive (or was at one point) and has a cult-like status amongst many online fans. This person has historically used his loudspeaker to lie, pump, dump, you name it. Finally, Tesla as a company is premised on subverting an existing industry with very established players - it’s entertaining news when that doesn’t go according to plan.

Probably similar reasons why the press jumped all over every Apple mistake when Jobs was around.

[grecy]

One of the richest men in the world has a billion dollar short position on Tesla.

A lot of people stand to lose a tremendous amount of money if the stock price doesn’t come way down

[throwup238]

Finally, concrete evidence that the rewrite it in Rust fad has gone way too far!

It’s about time we put object oriented oxidation to rest.

[yobert]

Seems like if they went with a different language, the truck would Go better.

[signaru]

I just want a truck that can deliver cargo and packages in crates.

[Ctyra]

Why capital 'R' in rust here? I thought somehow they were using Rust in their software, and ran into some problems with it.

[ftorres16]

Title case can be confusing sometimes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_case

[Reason077]

Exactly right. And Tesla engineers known as May and Havé are believed to be responsible for the bugs.

[rconti]

It's almost as if there's a pattern to which letters in the headline are capitalized...