More than three years after Elon Musk stunned the auto industry with an electric pickup truck that looked more like a stealth fighter than a way to haul two-by-fours and drywall, Tesla said last week it would start building the vehicle last . of 2023.
The announcement has helped spur a rally in Tesla’s stock price, but it also revived a debate over whether the oft-delayed pickup truck, dubbed the Cybertruck, is a work of genius or evidence of Musk’s arrogance.
It would be very different for Musk, the Tesla CEO, to build a truck that resembled the Ford F-150 pickup, Chevrolet Silverado or Ram 1500, three of the best-selling vehicles in the United States.
With its angular stainless steel body, the Cybertruck is an attempt to redefine the truck in the same way that Tesla upended the conventional wisdom of the auto industry by proving that battery-powered vehicles can be practical and cost-effective.
Tesla advertises that a higher version of the truck will be able to tow 14,000 pounds and accelerate faster than a Porsche 911. The Cybertruck’s doors will open automatically when the driver approaches.
The pickup is significant because it will be Tesla’s first new passenger vehicle in three years and could help breathe life into a model lineup that some buyers consider dated. Established automakers like Ford, General Motors and Hyundai have launched several new electric models since the Model Y, Tesla’s most recent car, went on sale in early 2020.
But the Cybertruck is so far behind the times that some auto experts wonder if it has become another example of Musk’s penchant for pushing technological limits to the brink of disaster. In 2018, his determination to build a highly automated assembly line for the Model 3 sedan landed him in “production hell” and nearly killed the company before it switched to more standard manufacturing practices.
This time it’s the use of stainless steel for the Cybertruck’s bodywork that has industry insiders shaking their heads.
Stainless steel resists corrosion and does not need to be painted, eliminating cost and the need for environmentally toxic chemical coatings. But it is also expensive and difficult to form and weld. Stainless steel is typically heavier than the steel used in most other cars, reducing driving range.
There’s a reason only one car company has tried to mass-produce a car with a stainless steel body. That was DeLorean, which went bankrupt after building fewer than 10,000 cars, which are best known for its starring role as a time machine in the “Back to the Future” movies.
“Musk is an example of how the fetishization of tech startups and their leaders can eventually lead those leaders to make poor decisions,” Patrick McQuown, executive director of entrepreneurship at Towson University in Maryland, said in an email. “To me, the insistence on stainless steel is a manifestation of his belief that he has a unique understanding of the market and that the market will buy anything he offers because it comes from the mind of Elon Musk.”
Stainless steel costs more than the steel used in most cars because it contains chromium and often other ingredients such as nickel and molybdenum that are in high demand. Stainless steel’s tendency to spring back to its original shape means it can’t be stamped into fenders and other parts as easily as the more flexible steel used by most car manufacturers. It also requires special welding techniques.
These challenges likely help explain why Tesla is two years behind in manufacturing the Cybertruck, which the company plans to produce at its factory in Austin, Texas.
“Tesla thinks they can solve any problem and they don’t have to learn from anybody else,” said Raj Rajkumar, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, “and then they get stuck in a corner.”
Tesla said in an earnings report last week that it would start producing the Cybertruck before the end of this year. But Musk qualified that statement during a conference call with analysts and investors, saying the company wouldn’t start mass-producing the vehicle until 2024. When Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck, he said the vehicle would go on sale in 2021.
The vehicle “will not be a significant contributor to the bottom line” in 2023, Musk said, “but it will be next year.”
Tesla’s delays have allowed traditional automakers to beat the market with electric trucks and leave Tesla with nothing to offer the many Americans who prefer trucks to cars or sport utility vehicles.
Buyers are clamoring for electric trucks. Ford has stopped taking reservations for its F-150 Lightning, a battery-powered version of the best-selling vehicle, because it can’t make vehicles fast enough. Rivian, a newer electric vehicle company, is also struggling to produce enough of its pickup truck, the R1T, to keep up with demand.
GM’s GMC division is selling a Hummer pickup, but in relatively small numbers. And Chevrolet is expected to start delivering an electric Silverado this year. Ram has said that he will launch a battery-powered 1500 pickup next year.
“The first-mover advantage that Tesla could have taken advantage of is completely gone,” Rajkumar said. “It’s a huge missed opportunity.”
Tesla has shared virtually no details about how it will overcome the challenges of working with stainless steel, which include safety. The steel used in most cars is designed to deform in a crash, absorbing energy and protecting passengers. Stainless steel does not wrinkle as easily, exposing passengers to a greater force of impact.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
There are indications that the truck will use a stainless steel formulation that is the same or similar to that used by SpaceX, the rocket company headed by Musk. Charles Kuehmann, SpaceX’s vice president of materials engineering, holds the same position at Tesla.
Mr. Kuehmann was a co-founder of QuesTek, a materials design company, and worked on a design team at Apple. His reputation as a pioneer in the use of new materials gives some engineering experts confidence that Tesla has developed an alloy that will overcome the challenges of stainless steel.
Mr. Kuehmann did not respond to a request for comment.
The Cybertruck’s bodywork lacks the typical curves of most vehicles, instead consisting of flat steel panels that experts say are likely laser-cut and then welded, eliminating the need for powerful stamping machines. .
“Broadly speaking, the concept might make sense,” said Kip Findley, a professor of materials and metallurgical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines who has done research on advanced vehicle steel. “This is driving the development of steel and making people think about steel in a different way, which is good.”
“But there are some open questions,” Findley added. These include how owners will repair damage to the body of the Cybertruck, which Tesla refers to as an “exoskeleton.” Stainless steel dents less easily than conventional auto body steel, but once damaged it is more difficult to get back into shape.
As the only company to mass-produce stainless steel vehicle bodies, Tesla will not be able to take advantage of the economies of scale shared by other automakers. That could make the truck more expensive to produce.
When Tesla introduced the Cybertruck, it said the starting price would be just under $40,000. But the final price is expected to be much higher.
Tesla is taking reservations, which cost $100, for the Cybertruck without naming the price of the vehicle. Tesla has not said how many reserves it has accumulated.
If nothing else, the Cybertruck will stand out in a crowded field.
Stainless steel auto bodies are “certainly possible,” said Wei Xiong, an associate professor of metallurgy and materials design at the University of Pittsburgh, noting that computer-aided design allows researchers to develop high-performance materials much faster. faster than a few years ago. “I can understand why you want to go there.”
