This Is Why Tesla's Stainless Steel Cybertrucks May Be Rusting

[The_REAL_Ecumenist]

Who knew stainless steel might not be such a good idea for the exterior of an electric SUV? The entire automotive industry, that’s who.

DURING THE CYBERTRUCK'S unveiling in 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that the electric vehicle's "ultra-hard stainless steel" body might be "literally bulletproof." However, the Tesla truck's exterior panels appear to be defenseless against water pistols. They apparently rust, as some owners claim.
Posting on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum, a user named Raxar risked the wrath of the Tesla faithful—already exercised by the Cybertruck's numerous alleged design flaws—by stating that when they collected the $61,000 truck, "the advisor specifically mentioned the Cybertrucks develop orange rust marks in the rain."

In a separate thread, the user vertigo3pc reported that "corrosion was forming on the metal" of his Cybertruck after it spent 11 days in the rain in Los Angeles.

Raxar, who also lives in California, posted what appeared to be close-up, rust-flecked images of his truck after driving it for two days in rain.
SNIP
https://www.wired.com/story/this-is-why-teslas-stainless-steel-cybertrucks-may-be-rusting/

WHY am I NOT surprised? Tesla will NOT end well....

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

Other care instructions—highlighted in this YouTube video at 23 minutes in—reveal how delicately Cybertruck owners need to treat their stainless steel electric SUVs. The washing stipulations alone include, somewhat amazingly, “Do not wash in direct sunlight,” “Some cleaners and car shampoos contain chemicals that can cause damage or discoloration,” and even “Do not use hot water.”

[canetoad]

2. Kick

I'd like to know too.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. DeLoreans were also made is stainless steel

They also rusted.

[SoFlaBro]

5. Not if you get it up to 88 mph

[Blue Owl]

4. The fugliest looking vehicle is even fuglier

I hate those abominations….

[The Unmitigated Gall]

6. Swayte Jayzus, that's an ugly "truck"!

[RockRaven]

7. Why? Can be explained in 5 words (or even less): "b/c stupid idea is stupid"

[Auggy74]

8. Things I've discovered -

From what I've been lately about the Cybertruck, they may have used a type of stainless steel that has a bad reaction to salt. Which would overall mean the ones in snowy areas where they a lot of salt on the roads or areas with a lot of salt in the air (thinking coastal regions) are going to be looking a lot worse in a few years.

And that's in addition to the fact that it looks like a prop in some B-grade scifi movie where the director said "I need a vehicle that's all angles."

[ProfessorGAC]

21. A Lot Of Stainless Grades...

...do not play well with chlorides. This is particularly true of the austenitic stainless steels, like the 300 series.
If I recall correctly, these trucks use 304.
However, my experience is not that chloride causes oxidative corrosion but rather, pitting & cracking. The latter can greatly compromise structural integrity.
There is a steep temperature effect, so at the ambient conditions a vehicle would experience it shouldn't be something we would see in weeks or a few months, but in years.
I've misapplication of reactors & blending vessels on a high chloride environment cause such bad cracking that they could not pass process safety muster & needed to be thrown away & replaced. A pricey mistake!
Rust can form on stainless when the cracking/pitting is significant enough (but still microscopic) to causes the chromium content to "wash away". Now the top half millimeter at the surface isn't "stainless" anymore.
I'm a little surprised at how fast this happened to an owner in California, though.

[keep_left]

31. Yeah, it's pretty clear that Tesla used the wrong grade of stainless for the Cybertruck.

The question is...why? They certainly have engineers with a chemistry background, and even if they didn't, their suppliers would be happy to help. I wonder if the stainless they really needed was impractical or impossible to use for their purpose (too heavy, impossible to machine, etc.).

Someone here mentioned that the DeLorean cars also corrode. I have done a lot of paint work, and I am pretty sure that it's not possible to clearcoat something like stainless without some kind of interposing layer. For example, aluminum requires a conversion coating; those used to contain very toxic and carcinogenic Cr(VI) compounds. These days, far less toxic metals are used, like Cr(III). And in less stringent applications, "etching primer" is the first coat. Those primers usually contain silicates. Without such priming, the clearcoat (or any topcoat) will eventually start flaking off and may even begin to lift off entirely.

In general, it's hard to get paint to stick to bare metal, especially when that metal is rather inert, like stainless or aluminum. And most conversion coatings and primers are either strongly colored or opaque, which defeats the "look" of a Cybertruck or a DeLorean.

[ProfessorGAC]

32. Stainless Steels Have...

Last edited Sat Feb 17, 2024, 06:59 PM - Edit history (1)

...an outer surface of oxidized chromium or nickel. This enormously reduces the opportunity for oxygen in air from reacting with the iron.
That oxide layer makes getting a coating to stick extremely unlikely.
If we go to a chemical plant, I could walk you through for a week & we would see zero painted stainless lines. Color coding is done with wrapped polypropylene bands. Under operating conditions, paint wouldn't last a week.
So, I think you're right. They went with stainless for the look.
Interestingly, 400 series (ferritic steels) are better with chlorides. It's used in cookware and we use salt in cooking all the time! It doesn't quite have the stiffness of 300 grade, but for a car fender or door skin, how stiff do we really want?
You make a good point in asking why they just didn't consult with the suppliers. Those companies know everything about metals.

[TeamProg]

9. Musk sure is entertaining! Thanks for posting. nt

[Warpy]

10. Definitely not one of his better ideas

He should have talked to DeLorean owners first. Coolest thing about that car wasn't the stainless steel, it was the gull wing doors.

His offering is boxy and butt ugly.

Maybe a Brillo pad would get rid of the rust.

[dchill]

11. To quote Condoleezza...

..."No one could possibly have imagined!"

[Inkey]

12. Should have gone with the

clear coat !

[orleans]

13. i just googled for a picture of the thing

omg! ugliest fucking thing on the road!

[doc03]

29. It makes the Edsel look good.

[sakabatou]

14. Not only is it ugly as sin

But it could kill pedestrians due to design alone, has no crumple zones, is expensive to fix, has rust issues, very difficult to fix. It underperforms, doesn't live up to promises, heavy, and more

[dchill]

23. Sounds like he modeled it after himself.

[sakabatou]

24. XD

[global1]

15. It Will Develop A Rust Patina All Over - Like When Copper Ages & Turns Green......

This Tesla truck will turn a red rusty color and look like the Golden Gate Bridge.

If Elon was smart now - he should say - that's the way we planned this. He should just go with it.

[sky_masterson]

16. I've always found that stainless steele was pretty rust resistant.

I wonder what they did to it to change that.
I work with stainless steel grab rails that go on buses.
I just did a google : '" Even with these impressive features, stainless steel can and does rust after all, it's 'stainless' not 'stainfree'. Some types of stainless steel are more prone to corrosion than others, depending on the chromium content. The higher the chromium content, the less likely the metal will rust."

[Submariner]

17. cancel

[Former3rdCommittee]

18. Flat body panels also tend to rattle

Which is why light vehicle body panels are pressed with 2-dimensional curvature.

[genxlib]

19. Quality matters

There are two different primary alloys referred to as Stainless Steel. The difference matters. I suspect they are not using the best kind. It would certainly cost more.

https://www.thyssenkrupp-materials.co.uk/the-difference-between-stainless-steel-304-and-316.html

[tanyev]

20. That truck just has the look of something Elon drew on a napkin

and said, "This would be super cool. Make it happen."

[hatrack]

22. $61,000 for a dishwasher with wheels on the bottom that rusts . . . .

Lone Skum - Automotive Genius!!!!

[Mosby]

25. The reports are pretty dubious.

Experts are saying the spots are probably from rail dust. Just superficial staining. Using stainless steel was stupid though, for a lot of reasons.

[joshcryer]

26. The class action for this is going to be overwhelmingly expensive.

I would bet money that Musk was so adament that they don't have a clear coat that they literally don't have the clear coating tech in their factory. It's going to cost so much to resolve this and it will never really resolve.

[cloudbase]

27. That'll leave a mark.

[DoBW]

28. Chinese?

If it's Chinese stainless it's crap; will start rusting fast; learned that observing Chinese production water craft

[dalton99a]

30. It is from Finland

Tesla Inc. is sourcing some stainless steel panels for the exterior of its new Cybertruck from Finnish supplier Outokumpu Oyj, which has worked to accommodate the electric vehicle’s unconventional design, according to people familiar with the matter.

The materials will be shipped to Tesla’s assembly factory in Austin, marking a major product shift for Outokumpu, the people said, asking not to be identified because the contract is private. The Helsinki-based company is Europe’s largest producer of stainless steel, and is well known for working with automakers when making exhaust systems.

https://archive.ph/xMOWU

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

33. Heckuva job Eloon