Tesla Cybertrucks Are Rusting Despite Being Made Of Stainless Steel

girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to News@lemmy.world – 410 points –
Tesla Cybertrucks Are Rusting Despite Being Made Of Stainless Steel
jalopnik.com

Despite the recent release of these Tesla EVs — and the little road time they’ve been subjected to — Cybertrucks are already developing imperfections on their body panels, leading owners to debate what’s causing the early signs of rust on forums. From Futurism:

One Cybertruck Owners Club forum member says they started noticing small orange flecks appearing on his truck after driving it in the rain for just two days.

“Just picked up my Cybertruck today,” they wrote. “The advisor specifically mentioned the cybertrucks develop orange rust marks in the rain and that required the vehicle to be buffed out.”

The Cybertruck owner posted followup photos after washing the vehicle down with soap, and they didn’t inspire much confidence, showing body panels already pockmarked with small orange spots.

Cross post from https://lemmy.world/comment/7544395

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Tesla agrees ...

Owners say the EVs are not actually stain proof, and even the Tesla Cybertruck manual confirms the steel panels are susceptible to such corrosive substances as grease, oil, tree resin, dead insects, etc., which should be washed off quickly to prevent corrosion.

I can probably find a similar passage in the manual for my 2014 VW. I'll check in the morning and report back.

Surface contaminants such as acid rain, rain dust, airborne pollutants, bird droppings, bug splatter and industrial fallout can cause clear coat finishes to look faded.

but ...

they are more sensitive to scratches and you should be careful not to use abrasive rubbing or polishing compounds on them. Source

The scratches/chips/etc are where rust developes.

Just like any other car with paint on it.

Can't remember the last time my car with paint on it rusted after a couple of days of rain

Show me a properly painted cyber truck with a rust problem.

Show me another car that's sold without paint?

from the article: "The DeLorean features a number of unusual construction details, including gull-wing doors, unpainted stainless-steel body panels, and a rear-mounted engine."

Tbf that car hasn’t been sold for decades, I don’t recall them having this rust problem either so delorean must’ve actually put clear coat over the stainless steel or otherwise treated it

Wasn't it also pretty much unsuccessful until Back to the Future came out?

It was pretty unsuccessful in general, hence the death of the company and several failures in reviving it

No there is no coating, it is plain metal. But on this issue here it seems like the Cybertrucks have particles on them, e.g. from the railway transport, that rust but it's not the CT itself which rusts. There are many types of stainless steel, none of them are totally rustproof, so you have to make sure it's well cared for, just like for any other car.

Other cars with paint are usually not advertised as being made of stainless steel.

And coated and paint. Also, stainless is not stain proof. There are multiple types of stainless steel.

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