Model 3 body is "Hybrid steel/aluminum" - good for future of MS repairs ?

[Lex]

Model 3 press kit is currently at :
Press Kit | Tesla

It says...

Body

• Hybrid steel/aluminum body
• Drag coefficient of 0.23

Interesting as I thought they were moving to an entirely steel body. I'm impressed at the weight ~3500 lbs with std. batt.

If there are similar aluminum elements to Model S then perhaps this will help open up the repair shop challenges and high costs over time.

 

[bkp_duke]

One can hope. The repair costs of the S/X are the Achilles heel of the car.

 

[RDoc]

I don't think Tesla repair costs are because of aluminum vs steel. A lot of body shops have experience with aluminum these days. The extraordinarily high cost and limited availability of parts is a much bigger issue I believe.

 

[bkp_duke]

I don't think Tesla repair costs are because of aluminum vs steel. A lot of body shops have experience with aluminum these days. The extraordinarily high cost and limited availability of parts is a much bigger issue I believe.

The parts, actually, are dirt cheap compared to other manufacturers. DIRT CHEAP.

It's the closed repair network which allows body shops to charge pretty much anything they want which is the problem.