Cybertruck Steel Body Creates Panel-Gap Issue: WSJ
- The Cybertruck's stainless-steel body has made it difficult to align its panels, a WSJ report says.
- The EV has faced a series of delays since Elon Musk first announced it.
- Tesla set initial deliveries of the Cybertruck for November 30, but volume production is a ways off.
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The Cybertruck's stainless-steel body has been difficult to work with, especially when it comes to the vehicle's fit and finish, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The stainless steel is difficult to shape into panels without gaps or alignment issues, the publication said, citing individuals who worked on the Cybertruck.
The Journal reported the stainless steel was made in "coils that resemble giant rolls of toilet paper," and as a result, the metal was prone to curving and attempting to resume its previous shape, even when it had been flattened.
A spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report ahead of publication.
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The Cybertruck has been plagued with delays since Elon Musk first announced Tesla would build an electric pickup truck in 2019. In October, Tesla set a delivery event for the first Cybertrucks for November 30 after two years of delays — and there are signs the truck will have a smaller release than initially expected. Tesla's global director of product design, Javier Verdura, said last week that the company would deliver only 10 Cybertrucks at its delivery event.
The futuristic stainless-steel design is part of Musk's plans to create a "tough" truck that would be ideal for an apocalypse. The billionaire has said the vehicle's stainless-steel body will be bulletproof and even comes with an option for fixed bulletproof windows.
Meanwhile, Musk has said that it will be difficult to scale production due to the vehicle's unusual design and that the company aims to produce about a quarter million Cybertrucks a year by 2025.
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"When you've got a product with a lot of new technology or any brand-new vehicle program, especially one that is as different and advanced as the Cybertruck, you will have problems proportionate to how many new things you're trying to solve at scale," Musk said during Tesla's earnings call last month.
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The Cybertruck is the first vehicle to be made from stainless steel since the DeLorean was produced in the 80s.
Giorgetto Giugiaro, the designer of the DeLorean, said earlier this month that he anticipated the Cybertruck would be a success.
But, while the DeLorean is now a cult classic, it faced a series of production issues, including concerns about its stainless-steel body and panel alignment. Despite early enthusiasm from prospective buyers, the company only produced about 9,000 of the vehicles, MotorTrend reported.
Early sightings of the electric pickup truck have generated quite the buzz online, and a September tally by Electrek indicated the company had more than 2 million reservations.
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Yet despite the enthusiasm, some Tesla fans have already taken to criticizing the design, including the vehicle's enormous windshield wiper and images of its finger-print-smudged doors, as well as misaligned panels.
The auto expert Sandy Munro previously told Insider it was unfair to judge the vehicle based off of images of early Cybertruck prototypes.
Munro has also pointed out that the thick stainless-steel body has several perks for owners.
"The thing about stainless steel is it hangs around a while," he said. "Now, if I want to polish that car, I can make it so that it shines like the sun for a while. I can buff the daylights out of it without having to worry about a new paint job. If I get a scratch, I can get that scratch out, no question."
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Do you work on the Cybertruck or hold a reservation for the vehicle? Contact this reporter from a non-work email at gkay@businessinsider.com
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