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Comment by Alupis | Hacker News Reader

Because Stainless Steel != No Rust Ever... kind of a major "duh" for anyone who's ever owned a stainless pocket knife, or even silverware. You don't even need to read the article, it should have been obvious to everyone - particularly the designers at Tesla.

There's a fairly good reason modern vehicles are mostly made from Aluminum and Plastic.

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Modern vehicles are still made with steel, if I am not mistaken (since I own two). I also think the designers did a fine job over at Tesla. It's more baffling that the automaker decided to forego a layer of clear coat---just like with all other cars---because they think they can defy the elements, or up-sell you on that $5000 wrap that they are offering.

That depends. Many auto bodies are made from aluminum and plastic these days, while the ones that continue to use steel for some body panels coat them not just with clear coat, but also paint. Chassis/frames are steel, but not exposed directly to sunlight, and typically have a coating as well.

Bare, exposed steel is pretty dumb in all things except perhaps looks (until it rusts).

> not just with clear coat, but also paint.

Most are phosphated, then e-coated, then primed, then painted, then clear-coated.

Thank you. This seems to just further emphasize the absurdity of selling bare stainless vehicles to consumers that drive on public roads, in all kinds of conditions including salted winter roads.

It's a choice. All engineering choices have consequences, and no material is perfect. It doesn't seem much more absurd than other parts of the vehicle, to me. Bare stainless has been used on other vehicles before. It provides a certain aesthetic.

To be pedantic, this was more of a cosmetic choice rather than an engineering choice.

The other bare stainless vehicles learned the same lesson (and are not produced today).

Engineers deal with more than just functional design requirements. There were also undoubtably other requirements pertaining to manufacturing, cost, and cosmetics which were a factor here. If cost and manufacturing weren't a factor, they could have just CNC'd the panels out of very fancy stainless grades that are a pain to stamp and cost a lot.

I think the issue is they decided what it should look like before they designed the rest of the vehicle. They wanted something that looked unusual... and now they have unusual problems to deal with.

There's no practical reason to make the vehicle have bare stainless panels, or "unbreakable" breakable windows, etc. It's marketing gimmicks that now seem to be developing into a PR issue. Time will tell..

The very fact that they try to upsell a wrap is absurd enough and obviously indicates Tesla was worried this might become an issue. The wrap should have been included... or some form of coating.

Other manufacturers also make new engineering choices in the name of styling that create unusual problems. Because selling the car is part of the design requirements.

As one of many examples, Mazda's Soul Red Crystal paint has some special formulations and application steps that were a departure from other types of automotive paint. It has no purpose other than cosmetics, and it had some issues when it was introduced. It was also more challenging and expensive to repair.

Styling may be a 'marketing gimmick', but it is an inherent requirement to selling cars in volume.

> The very fact that they try to upsell a wrap is absurd enough and obviously indicates Tesla was worried this might become an issue.

Some other manufacturers do this for painted cars too, because clear-coat is brittle and chipping is a known cosmetic issue that can occur.

e.g. https://autoparts.toyota.com/products/product/paint-protecti...

At the end of the day, I don't think it's any more unacceptable that cybertruck owners need to hit their truck with some scotchbrite to remove tiny rust specs than it is unacceptable that toyota owners need to hit their hood with some touch up paint to remove tiny paint chips. It's all just minor cosmetic wear and tear.

> At the end of the day, I don't think it's any more unacceptable that cybertruck owners need to hit their truck with some scotchbrite to remove tiny rust specs than it is unacceptable that toyota owners need to hit their hood with some touch up paint to remove tiny paint chips.

I'd argue both are unacceptable, and sure enough you'll find plenty of complaints from owners with chipped paint.

The difference is, the rust issue was predictable.

> Because selling the car is part of the design requirements.

> it is an inherent requirement to selling cars in volume

Let's not kid ourselves here - it's a Tesla truck and it would have sold in similar numbers even if it didn't look like something out of a video game. It may have actually sold better if it's design wasn't so divisive...

The reality is a bunch of people are buying/have bought this particular vehicle expecting luxury/premium and instead are being surprised by rust. Hence... the negative PR.

It is a choice. The choice is also motivated by a Big Idea: ELiminate every part you don't need. This sounds like a good idea to the point some people will adopt it uncritically, but when you start eliminating parts, like paint, or an anti-pinch sensor, or LIDAR, that you might actually need, you just create technical debt and future recall liability. Bad dogma.

I'm curious to see how the material looks after a few years in the wild. If it were clear coated, we wouldn't get a proper stress test. Solving this problem is basically the only reason for the Cybertruck to exist.

It'll be a great *eats popcorn* scenario for those who didn't buy one.

wow, I think this is the first time I've read someone in support of the dealership offering the clear coat option.

Modern vehicles use plastic or aluminum on the most common rust points. Rockers, wheel wells, bumpers.

Go look under the car, that’s where all of the steel is. Unless your car is new or has literally never seen water/salt, that’s where the rust is going to be.

Maybe you can cultivate and streak the rust to look like woodgrain panels, like the Griswold family's Ford LTD Country Squire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Country_Squire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Country_Squire#/media/Fil...

https://www.insidehook.com/autos/buy-the-national-lampoons-v...

Seems like a good time to share https://youtu.be/qFXWjv65JWg?si=zI7TuqZRLomXFlhq

sacrificial anode

For the truck might be really easy to attach and not such a bad idea

I don't fully understand how a sacrificial anode works, beyond the basics. Wouldn't each body panel need one? They must also be replaced regularly from my understanding.

It seems like it would have been easier for Tesla to just coat the metal from the factory... or include the wrap in the price of the vehicle.

Naaaah. Musk is a G.E.N.I.U.S (tm) He clearly identified that Tesla owners want a "Rat's Style" custom car.

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Rat%E2%80%99s+Style+cars&at...

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