Comment on The stainless steel body of Tesla's Cybertruck is reportedly leading to issues with gaps in between the panels

kent_eh@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

• WaterWaiver@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Other manufacturers of all manner of stainless products seem to have figured out a solution to the problem.

  Two design choices probably make it worse:

  1. Flat (rather than curved) panels. These take very little force to distort, they are not as stiff as curved pieces.
  2. Mechanical parameters of the stainless alloy they’re using (eg it might retain the coiled shape more than some other plain steel alloys).

  I can’t get over the flatness… those panels surely rattle too? Or do they void-fill the doors and body with something?

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  • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Flat panels are not anywhere as stiff as curved panels

    Same for windows. So much for “thermonuclear explosion-proof glass”, Elon.

    Also, the shape has horrible aerodynamics. If it had a combustion engine, they couldn’t sell it in large parts of the world due to fuel efficiency.

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    • Aganim@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Also, the shape has horrible aerodynamics. If it had a combustion engine, they couldn’t sell it in large parts of the world due to fuel efficiency.

      I also doubt it will get a type approval in Europe, seems absolutely no consideration for pedestrian safety has been given. If this thing is as stiff and solid as Musk said it was it is also going to fail miserably during crash testing. Having been in a car crash this weekend I can testify how crumble zones save lives. Good thing the whole “but it’s a light truck” loophole they used in the US isn’t going to fly here.

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      • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Knowing about crumple zones makes you ask why you would even want a “stiff and solid” vehicle in the first place lmao.

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  • orclev@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Point 2 in particular is huge. Depending on the exact alloy steel can vary wildly in characteristics. One alloy might bend almost as easily as aluminum, while another might be nearly as hard as tungsten. Adding to that proper heat treatment and the difference in the mechanical characteristics of the finished product can be absolutely massive.

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    • HessiaNerd@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Yes but that can be adjusted. The factory can provide what you need. The design is the limiting factor here. Flat panels are simply bad design.

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      • orclev@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Flat panels cause problems but they’re not insurmountable, they just need to be taken into consideration. It’s going to be more expensive to make them flat because you’ll have to include more material behind the panels. In a sense they cease to be structural and instead are more decorative.

        From an engineering perspective it’s a horrendous choice, but a perfectly valid one from an aesthetics perspective and it’s far from the first time some designer has made a decision that the engineering department has cursed them for.

        I imagine the real issue here is that Musk or the upper management at Tesla is trying to penny pinch and is unwilling to make either design concessions or to pay for the engineering time and materials necessary to fix this right.

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  • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Don’t older cars have mostly flat panels? So it should be possible, right?

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    • WaterWaiver@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      How old?

      Early 1900’s: Yes. Metal panels had the same problem, timber panels did not (their thickness stops them from flapping).

      Late 1900’s: I don’t think anyone used flat? There were definitely designs intended to look flat (esp 80’s and early 90’s), but there were still subtle curves to those panels to bias them and stop them flapping, as far as I recall.

      Happy to be proven wrong :)

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      • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        but there were still subtle curves to those panels to bias them and stop them flapping

        Okay, that explains it. Thanks!

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• mosiacmango@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Seems like tesla has an answer too:

  sell the poorly made trucks to rubes while you crank out more as cheaply as possible.

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• MonkderZweite@feddit.ch ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Company doing stuff they have no expertise with.

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