Revealed: Tesla CyberTruck Held Together by Glue

[B.See]

Revealed: Tesla CyberTruck Held Together by Glue - Dailykos

According to an NPR story, the State Department announced recently that it is abandoning plans to purchase $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles, “after a public document detailing federal contracts for fiscal year 2025 gained wide attention.”  

Or maybe they saw recent reports of the trucks shedding body parts while driving down the road and watched a video showing the cheap glue that holds them together. Maybe both. Who knows?

With reports of body parts flying across highways and putting lives in danger, it would seem Tesla has added “road hazard” to its list of standard features.  

Then again, with self-igniting batteries and the tendency to explode while parked and unattended for weeks, I guess Tesla already had a big presence in the road hazard space.   

[jls4561]

1. Really? I thought it was magic Elon spit.

[tanyev]

2. Maybe someone should take a long look at SpaceX rockets.

[Permanut]

3. Okay, that does it..

The solution, of course, is to eliminate the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

[BadgerMom]

5. Honestly, I thought it must be on Elon's wish list.

I’m surprised it’s survived this month.

[Pas-de-Calais]

4. Just like this administration

[Meowmee]

6. Someone posted a video about that the other day

Last edited Tue Feb 25, 2025, 03:48 AM - Edit history (1)

The glue is failing and the wrapped parts are falling off sometimes while people are driving. In addition they have rust/pitting issues after driving in rain in CA and in colder areas also. They used cheaper stainless steal.

[Permanut]

9. Okay, your spell checker might have done this to you .

nevertheless, I like "stainless steal".

[Meowmee]

11. LOL, maybe, or it was a freudian typing slip 😹

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Close To Accurate

They stainless steel they used (N-304L) is cheaper than 316L or the 20 series, but there are cheaper stainless alloys.
The decision wasn't made strictly for cost.
In fact, they could have used spring steel for the entire unibody for a lot less money.
I saw a site that said the unibody is made of aluminum. More than carbon steel, but cheaper than stainless.
That all said, 300 series stainless was, in fact, a poor choice for the ocean states or the cold weather states where road salt is used.
It still doesn't rust but is susceptible to chloride cracking & subsequently pitting when the cracking gets beyond the microscopic stage. (Which is exponential vs. time as surface area is increased!)
It also explains the glue. Welding stainless to aluminum is a questionable practice, taking VERY high precision, challenging even a robotic welder. 10°F too high at the point of maximum local heat can split the aluminum.
So, while they didn't use a more expensive 20 series, they didn't really use a cheap grade. Still pretty pricey.
But, it was still a foolish choice.

[Meowmee]

13. Interesting, if it was less expensive than the 20 series it seems it was in part for cost reasons

Either way, it has very serious issues which are not acceptable to put it mildly, and they are charging 150,000 for it.. anyone who buys them is crazy anyway imo. Rusting and pitting after driving your car in the rain for a day, I have never heard of that before much less pieces flying off etc. 😹 They are lucky they don't have a law suit for a flying part hitting someone etc. Maybe they do for the explosions etc. and the auto pilot drive accidents.

Another thing I noticed right away and he discussed it in the video was that you can't see well out the back windshield... not only because it has a flap to open and close but because it is badly designed and too small. The angle is also crazy. This dumpster truck should not have been approved imo.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. 20 Series Is Harder To Work With

It's not as malleable, and a bit lower coefficient of restitution.
But, there are cheaper alternatives, like those grades used for inexpensive flatware.
Since these panels aren't load bearing, they don't need higher tensile strength.
If it was a cost consideration, they would have used those lower grades.
So, I can't accept they used 304 for cost.
The whole design appears to be "weird for weirdos sake".
They make it wedged shaped for aerodynamic reasons, but then have hard angular edges which doesn't create fluid flow to reduce drag.
There is a general lack of sense in the whole design.
BTW: stainless doesn't rust at all. The nickel & chromium oxides that for at the surface of each crystal (as most of the crystals have those atoms face-centered, or the center of the side of whatever polyhedron shape the crystal takes).
Those oxides are very stable and take up a lot of space. So, they can't oxidize further & nlock oxygen atoms from getting to the iron atoms.
What can happen though, is those nickel and chromium atoms can be metathetically removed from the crystal.
The nickel chloride is green; the chromium oxide is purple. Mix green & purple and we get brown.
So, it can end up looking like rust, but isn't really rust.

[Meowmee]

15. I wonder why they used it then?

I have had stainless steel steak knives, or which claimed to be, which rusted etc. And other things like a stainless steel dish rack and litter pans, the pans did not rust but had some damage etc. I wonder if it was the process you described.

Yes, badly designed all round imo and it looks like a sci fi dumpster 😹

[Best_man23]

7. Actually, auto manufacturers have used glue to hold vehicles together for years

GM started this practice in the early 90s with the Chevy Lumina and Pontiac Trans Sport vans. Most panels were partially bolted, but the primary holding agent was automotive grade adhesives.

That said, GM (then and now) employs actual automotive engineers. I don't know who the hell Leon has designing and building his shit.

[dalton99a]

8. Kick

[jmowreader]

10. Of course it is

Welding stainless steel to the low-carbon steel of the Cybertruck's space frame is more complex than welding low-carbon to low-carbon, and bolts are beneath him.