Cybertruck reportedly getting better stainless steel material -- from 30X s.s. to 304L

[firsttruck]

.....
I mean, in 2019 he announced they were using “30X” but within a year he was publicly saying they allot they were using was changing from what he announced

so one can either take that one or two ways:

(1) “30X” described some specific alloy, which Elon has since said they have changed and so are no longer using that specific alloy, or

(2) “30X” was intended only to be a general description like “we’re going to use some alloy” in which case it was never specific, and continues to be subject to change, and there was never “the alloy”

either way

Elon was not just talking about the material 30x stainless steel. He was talking about it cold-rolled at thickness 3mm. It is the combination of all three.

1mm or 2mm of hot-rolled 30x stainless steel might be fairly easy to stamp.

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[cvalue13]

It's good to know there are soo many power users of the Google machine. Who needs an edumacation when you can be an instant expert in anything including material science. It's like instant coffee, half the taste for virtually no effort.

Carry on my wayward sons ...

apologies if I’m projecting, but *seems* like your comments are directed at mine?

If so, I had intended to be up-front and clear that I’m merely regurgitating what I’m reading - and still trying to learn through these discussions - by either explicitly saying soor placing quotes around bits I was referencing from elsewhere

I’m talking out of my bailiwick here, as in my post above I was only quoting this company

Going back then to quote I posted from the people who model ss and its presses, I take their point to be roughly…

that all said, I’m mostly reciting outloud what I’m reading/learning from elsewhere for purposes of coming to a better understanding of it myself - sounds like you have a view possibly to the contrary

im not only down for my understanding to be corrected/improved, I’m here for it

 

[cvalue13]

1mm or 2mm of hot-rolled 30x stainless steel might be fairly easy to stamp.

again only regurgitating what I understood from the posts by the folks who model SS stamping and pressing linked above: seemed like they were merely saying that any appropriately sized stamping equipment can without issue stamp 1mm or 3mm just fine (although the latter takes much larger equipment to be appropriately sized) - the issue isn’t whether it can be stamped by the appropriate machine, but instead whether the resulting SS product is fit for purpose, insofar as SS that is of a certain high strength (I guess ~regardless of thickness) becomes prone to being unfit/failure if pressed

my nearest analog of familiarity being something like woodworking/landscaping, I sort of take the point to be akin to the characteristics of “hard” woods of higher strength (not to mix nomenclature), which take a lot of force in order to bend, but if bent likely results in breakage. Meanwhile, softer wood takes relatively little force to flex, but can flex well without breakage

At least with wood, I’ve heard the following example: if you take 50 dry spaghetti noodles held together but very loosely in your hands you can without much effort make the bundle flex a bit, due essentially to the spaces left between the loosely held noodles; but if you instead take those same 50 noodles and hold them very tightly together, it will take a lot more force to get the bundle to flex, and when enough force is finally applied to make it budge it most likely will do so by snapping the noodles rather than merely flexing. This is more or less how the wood’s fibers behave.

In the SS scenario, my amateur (at best) understanding is that cold-rolling makes the SS stronger by effectively packing the spaghetti noodles tighter and tighter together - making it harder to bend, yes, but for the same reasons once enough force is applied also making it more likely to bend poorly

 

[ricinro]

30x SS sheet is sold annealed (softer) in rolls. The "L" in the designation refers to a lower carbon content which improves welding.
300 series SS can be work hardened to gain greater strength (tensile/yield).

Some 300 alloys like 301 can be fully hardened while 304/304L can get half hard.

I recall mention that the exoskeleton of the CT would be hardened (bullet proof).

There appears to be a stamped frame under the skin of the CT that would require welding for the purpose of a structural exoskeleton.

So plenty of challenges!

I would think the roll would be unrolled/flattened and thus slightly work hardened prior to cutting (water jet?).

Panels would be further shaped (more work hardening) then welded to the subframe.

With welding it would be hard to hide the welds cosmetically so rather than rely on a fine mill finish from the start of the process they may choose to sand then passivate and possibly electro-finish to remove surface iron and welding discoloration towards the end of the process.

I hear a lot about the origami fabrication of the exoskeleton but close up views of the CT seem to show seams or discontinuations of surfaces.

 

[Buster Highman]

Scuttlebutt via Youtube asserts Tesla have found a better stainless steel for Cybertruck.

Yes, s.s. better for Cybertruck production, environment, longevity and use application the 304L purportedly solves 30X problems. Tesla welds embrittle overtime in 30X. The tensile skin brittles which degrades exoskeleton frame in 30X. And Tesla forming 30X was more problematic than existing production machinery.

Its unclear ramifications for SpaceX dual use s.s. Starships.

LOLWUT? 30X is merely a placeholder for whichever SS alloy they were deciding on.

 

[happy intruder]

Not surprising considering Tesla's penchant for lean-rapid design. Materials science is a big part of Tesla/Space X. The 304L SS variant seems a good choice for the Cybertruck being as it is plentiful, easier to form and better long term durability. Being the skin of the Starship, it certainly is a product Tesla already has in the quiver.

Information like this makes the waiting part much easier as the end product just keeps getting better. The fact that the Cybertrucks will be rolling out of Austin next year is mind blowing and very exciting, This will be the biggest impact product Tesla has produced and a crowning achievement in changing the automobile industry from ICE to EV.

yes, getting better but at what cost?......we are still in the dark....if design is finished as reported earlier, why cant we see it and get a feel of the options.....I think its a game of hide and wait for the BIG surprise

 

[Crissa]

yes, getting better but at what cost?......we are still in the dark....if design is finished as reported earlier, why cant we see it and get a feel of the options.....I think its a game of hide and wait for the BIG surprise

...Because they're busy. It's not like Aptera where they'd get a few thousand eyeballs and a maybe a dozen calls... Anything they do will get millions of eyeballs and thousands and thousands of calls.

And even then, they don't know for certain lots of things. If they get it the least bit wrong...

-Crissa

 

[TheLastStarfighter]

Yesterday I deleted Youtube for reasons just like that. It has been posting dummy links to NOP.

This morning it was on a backup iPad. I should have just deleted. WTF why would someone go to all the narrative scripting, engineering and video trouble to fake out Cybertruck, Tesla and publish something so bs?

Youtube is gone!

Money.

And yes, most Tesla coverage on YouTube is trash. People hashtag Elon or Tesla to get hits, very annoying.

 

[RMK!]

yes, getting better but at what cost?......we are still in the dark....if design is finished as reported earlier, why cant we see it and get a feel of the options.....I think its a game of hide and wait for the BIG surprise

Absolutely, our serious $100 commitment aside, Tesla owes everything to us. I want the final Cybertruck specifications on my desk by 8am tomorrow or I'll ... I'll, well I'll be really unhappy.

 

[rr6013]

Absolutely, our serious $100 commitment aside, Tesla owes everything to us. I want the final Cybertruck specifications on my desk by 8am tomorrow or I'll ... I'll, well I'll be really unhappy.

Maybe.…
Elon has the Cybertruck price back down to the $39,999 USD. Could be a Cybertruck re-spec‘d as a Bimini top, half door model, a hose flush interior with lawn chair webbing seats and Line-X interior. This is the Single motor, natch… LFP batteries. Of course, cushions for seats are included, removable, for life preserver use.

Doors and tailgate will be made out of ballistic grade plastic with integral steel crashbar inside. The S.S. bed is replaced with a composite plastic bedliner in black to match the Bimini tailgate. Wheels include black plastic hubcaps shown at launch over 16” steel rims. Steel fender flares are replaced with nice ballistic black plastic same as door and tailgate.

The front frunk hood will be a grey plastic color-matched to the S.S. body and anti-glare coated.

An optional front bumper/grille in ballistic black may be available to complete the black theme. A powdercoat tube bumper in black is also available with winch mount probably later

Much later a rockcrawler low gear option may be also. Quad motor upgrade will be the $150,000 upgrade from Tesla. LOL

 

[Challeco]

Mostly just a fluff piece to me because there is still not a production model. But, "stronger over time" is a feature that interests me.

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