Tesla Allegedly Pauses Cybertruck Deliveries | Hacker News Reader

Tesla Allegedly Pauses Cybertruck Deliveries

theautopian.com

24 pointswzm29 comments

I can't help but to feel schadenfreude. It's what you get with what looks like a "meme-first" approach to product design.

Also, am I the only one who keeps thinking of the Simpson's Canyonero when reading cybertruck news?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI_Jl5WFQkA

I think much more of "The Homer", the car that was designed solely to Homer Simpson's specification...

https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/The_Homer

I think of the Aztek and its beautiful styling (compared to the Cybertruck).

And also Truckla, which is the (apparently) the most problem-free Tesla truck. Right now, Tesla should be kneeling at Simone Giertz’s feet, begging for her help.

They had a ton of demand for them, but when the reality set in that stainless steel is a nightmare to align (sub 10-micron accuracy!!) and a nightmare to maintain, the car fell into the niche category.

How it got this far will be written about for a decade, a great example of not performing real world testing and validation.

You know somewhere deep in Tesla product people and engineers we're warning of the issues to come, but Elon had to have his Halo warthog.

Why don’t we just wait to see how things play out before making that kind of judgment? Production has barely started to ramp.

Things have been playing out before our eyes for a few years now. I know, because I put down a deposit for a cybertruck on Day 1.

Glad I canceled it several months ago.

We don’t need Elon to discover the properties of stainless steel for us, thanks.

I think you vastly underestimate the complexity of metal chemistry.

If by "barely started to ramp" you mean "paused".

Edit: or "laid off more than 10% of their global workforce".

https://electrek.co/2024/04/15/tesla-lays-off-more-than-10-o...

>But the squeeze on the company’s operating margin — which came in at 8.2% in the fourth quarter, down from the 16% for last year — remains, and Tesla has warned investors to brace that vehicle volume growth this year “may be notably lower” than the rate logged in 2023, noting it is “currently between two major growth waves.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/15/tesla-shares-dip-in-premarke...

>Tesla will lay off more than 10% of global workforce: Read the Elon Musk memo

>The company’s stock was down 1.20% in premarket deals at roughly 7:30 a.m. ET.

>“As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in an internal memo obtained by CNBC.

>[...] But the squeeze on the company’s operating margin — which came in at 8.2% in the fourth quarter, down from the 16% for last year — remains, and Tesla has warned investors to brace that vehicle volume growth this year “may be notably lower” than the rate logged in 2023, noting it is “currently between two major growth waves.”

> Why don’t we just wait to see how things play out before making that kind of judgment?

The car was announced in November 2019 - almost 5 years ago. Delivery was delayed by 2 years and the car still clearly has manufacturing defects. Things have played out.

I'm curious how stainless steel is a nightmare to maintain. My (basic) understanding of the material is it's meant to be very low maintenance.

No clear coat.

> To prevent damage to the exterior, immediately remove corrosive substances (such as grease, oil, bird droppings, tree resin, dead insects, tar spots, road salt, industrial fallout, etc.). Do not wait until Cybertruck is due for a complete wash. If necessary, use denatured alcohol to remove tar spots and stubborn grease stains, then immediately wash the area with water and a mild, non-detergent soap to remove the alcohol.

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/cybertruck/en_us/GUID-653...

Literally any car will have its clear coat eaten away from the same list of corrosive substances. It’s very common to get rings around where bird poop drops on a car and sits, because it etches the clear coat. Don’t see how this recommendation is different.

LOL. I've been buying new cars for 40 years now and I've never had my paint damaged by bird poop.

Maybe the birds are more corrosive where you live.

I don’t know where you’ve been, but you can find endless articles about bird poop etching paint. With plenty of photos too.

Here’s a few:

https://www.adamsforums.com/topic/38396-can-this-be-removed-...

https://www.civic11forum.com/threads/bird-poop-ruined-my-cle...

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-your-detailing-ques...

LOL. LOL. Are you a professional Tesla defender?

I've lived on the west coast, the east coast, and the midwest. I've never experienced paint damage due to bird poop in 40 years.

Since you seem to know so much about the issue - do you know of any other car manufacturer who recommends immediate removal of bird poop as the first line of their exterior car instructions?

Are you specifically anti-Tesla? Let me help you, since you can't seem to find these on Google, here's two:

Kia EV6 Manual: https://www.kia.com/content/dam/kwcms/au/en/files/owners-man...

Excerpt:

> Insects, tar, tree sap, bird droppings, industrial pollution and similar deposits can damage your vehicle's finish if not removed immediately. Even prompt washing with plain water may not completely remove all these deposits. A mild soap, safe for use on painted surfaces, may be used. After washing, rinse the vehicle thoroughly with lukewarm or cold water. Do not allow soap to dry on the finish.

Mustang Mach-E Manual: https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/Catalog/owne...

Excerpt:

> Immediately remove fuel spillages, additive residuals, bird droppings, insect deposits and road tar. These may cause damage to your vehicle’s paintwork or trim over time.

Just because Tesla (and many others) say it may/can damage finishes, doesn't mean it's because of something unique about Tesla. This isn't a failing on Tesla's part, it's just a industry standard 'cover your ass' statement.

Why thank you for finding these for me. I admit, I searched around a bit on Toyota's and Honda's sites and found no such warnings - just generic "make sure to wash your car every couple weeks." It's quite remarkable that you were able to pinpoint this information in such a short amount of time.

So, in the end, would you agree that the stainless steel finish is no more resistant to damage than a typical car? It's no more rugged or durable?

Depends on how you quantify rugged or durable. It certainly seems far more resilient to dings/dents/scrapes, which the average car is definitely not resilient to currently. Whether it handles rusting/environmental conditions well seems TBD at this point. Probably worse for “looking nice” after a wash than the average car, but these things are so damn new I don’t want to pass judgment yet.

Having to immediately wash bird poop off my car doesn't seem rugged or durable to me. I guess we'll just have to disagree on this subtle point.

You’re focusing on a statement from the owners manual that’s no different than any other car with paint, though. You gotta look at the whole picture.

Is a ford bronco rugged? What about a jeep wrangler? How about a rivian? Cause every single one of those will look like hell if you drive it off road and have it scrape against tree branches or something. I suspect the cybertruck panels would be substantially more resistant to trail striping… which is a huge plus in the durability/ruggedness side in my book.

I think we'll just have to disagree on this "subtle" point.

You have the right idea, stainless steel is supposed to require minimal work, but on a car its much different. You don't typically drive your stainless steel piping and sheet metal at 70-80mph into debris that can result in its surface being ruined over time.

I have a stainless steel fridge and its a fingerprint magnet, I use bar keepers friend on it every week. As far as I can tell from the Cybertruck subreddit, its the only product that works, but thats just for the finger prints.

The most telling sign to me is that you have to do bug removal immediately, no other car requires this.

Anyone who drives highway daily is screwed.

Bird poop is quite corrosive. Never park it under a tree.

Or the sky for that matter...

Certain stainless steels like one used on cybertruck are actually well not so stainless... But many things can corrode, rust or stain them...

The stainless effect is due to a very, very thin oxide layer - stainless is basically "pre-rusted". Now if you damage that layer it will rust just like any other steel (any steel alloy is still mostly iron!). So pretty good for your kitchen, not so good for a lot of other applications.

When I saw my first one in the Houston area I noticed they had already wrapped it (for as ugly as I think it is, the black wrap with the LED headlights actually was kind of sharp)

>Get yourself killed in Tezla Garbage Truck because someone skimped on adhesive quality and quantity keeping decal in place

Genious move by master visionary richest person in the world who sleeps on factory floor to save humanity

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