Elon Musk loves steel. The rockets of his company Space-X are built from it. So why not a truck? But it wasn’t that easy. The idea for the futuristic Cybertruck was this: the car should have a so-called exoskeleton, i.e. it should be held together from the outside, not by load-bearing elements on the inside. However, this required a particularly hard steel mixture. This led to two things: Firstly, to the angular shape. The hard steel cannot be shaped in the usual presses. On the other hand, there is a small aesthetic problem: rust. Some owners of the expensive electric cars are now reporting, more or less disappointedly, traces of rust on the steel surfaces.
All they had to do was study the manual. In order to protect the outer shell from damage, contamination such as bird droppings, tar stains, dead insects or tree sap must always be removed as quickly as possible. “Don’t wait until it’s time for the Cybertruck to be completely washed,” the manufacturer expressly recommends. And: It is completely normal for the surface of stainless steel to mature over time, the manual continues.
Tesla claims to have developed a special alloy specifically for the unusual car. But even that is not immune to rust. Owners of high-quality knives know this. Even expensive blades will rust if they are not cared for. What the cutting tools don’t like: acids, for example from fruit, salt residues or just moisture, which can take effect for a longer period of time. If you love your knife, you always clean it immediately after use and give it a drop of oil every now and then.
Stahl: It’s the mixture that counts
In order to give steel special properties, certain substances are mixed into it during production. The best known is carbon. This makes the steel particularly hard. Other additives include metals such as molybdenum or chromium. Roughly speaking, the mixing ratio determines how hard and how sensitive the steel is to rust. But no matter how you do it, sea air with its salt will eventually attack even the most resilient steel.
However, some Cybertruck owners seem to be surprised that the expensive vehicle – the starting price is $60,000 – can show something as mundane as rust. Company boss Musk had advertised how tough the electric car was.
In the Cybertruck owners’ forum, tips are already being exchanged on how best and most gently to get rid of the stains. The cleaning product “Barkeeper’s Friend” is very popular. However, this leaves a Cybertruck owner pretty cold. He is probably in the minority here, he writes, and also an oddball. But he loves the rust spots and hopes that a corresponding patina will develop. But he also admits that he didn’t wash his previous trucks often either. One or two Tesla truck owners will probably be seen polishing the steel surfaces more often in the future.