Thread by @EcoHeliGuy

IMO Tesla may have pulled a fast one on the audience during the Investor Day discussions around the next generation platform. I’m going to outline my thought process below.

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When Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck, they eliminated a major headache environmentally and quality assurance wise nightmare of the automotive industry. Paint matching between plastic and metal is a nightmare. Color matching repairs on 5 year old UV damaged paint is a nightmare.

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Now many people after watching the Cybertruck unveiling believe you can’t form stainless, this is wrong. Cybertruck exoskeleton design dictated thicker almost “plate” like paneling. Work trucks age extremely fast, and this robustness is a huge benefit. You can form SS.

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So how would you go about coloring Stainless Steel?
One method is to paint Stainless. But this has two major down sides. Chemical treatments, emissions, water consumption, quality control. And the other being poor durability. I suggest not buying “black” stainless appliances.

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Or there is Electroplating or Electrolytic processes which alters the surface composition of the stainless. My understanding is you can do this process before forming and cutting which is a major pluse in manufacturing. But all the downfalls Tesla ditched already with Chrome.

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So lets look back at the images from the unveiling. Notice the modular process they offered for the next generation. How the panels are finished prior to assembly. And the suspect wording “Stamp and Paint”. What if they omitted paint and just stamped Stainless?

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Tesla could very easily use Stainless, and also offer colors in the process. Simply by Vacuum wrapping each stamped component in vinyl, or another PPF type material. When you wrap at manufacturing, you can hide the edges and achieve better adhesion.

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This process is no different then when they lay electrolyte on film during cell manufacturing, or many other manufacturing process like labeling cans for rapid volume. Or wrap IP and the dash.

Once parts are stamped they can then be wrapped in succession, Vacuum and heat.

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This eliminates the paint process completely. But not only in manufacturing. But also auto repair. Auto repair shops instead of trying to color match to UV damaged paint. Just wraps the vehicle again like new.

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Tesla is in the process of eliminating steps. Improving environmental impacts. And cutting down repair challenges. Which brings this full circle. IMO

@elonmusk @Tesla @teardowntitan @CorySteuben @p_ferragu #cybertruck #TeslaInvestorDay

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@tomzhu_nz @woodhaus2 @baglino