Would you buy a stainless steel model 3?

[earthwormjim]

Why not?

You won't match the finish on the rest of the panel or adjacent panels. The only exception is if the panels are glossy, which wouldn't be road legal. An automaker has already been down this path before, DeLorean. Repair costs were a fortune for those cars, because entire panels have to be replaced if even slightly damaged, if you want to restore the look of the car.

Not entirely true.... 100% depends on the stainless used. Ever worked in a commercial food or bottling plant? Stainless everywhere subjected to harsh chemicals and lots of abuse daily.

Scratches can be buffed our but you have to refinish a whole panel to keep the finish lines similar. I have a 304 stainless exhaust hood that got lots of scratches prior to install... took some sandpaper and blended it all back so everything looks the same.

Stainless is very different than what any automotive finishers are used to.

My company uses stainless steel storage containers and some piping for the potting material in our power supplies. If heavily scratched and etched containers are the look you are going for in a vehicle, I stand corrected.

Also the harsh chemicals used in bottling plants are very specific, and known to be compatible with stainless steel. The same is not true with the outside environment. Finger prints alone will etch stainless. Bottling plants have workers wearing gloves at all times.

 

[puckpurnell]

Liking the Cybertruck a bit more each day.

 

[afadeev]

Unpainted SS was what the DeLorean used and it turned out to be a nightmare what with fingerprints and a raft of other issues...

DeLorean's exterior looks like s*it in real life - uneven body panel oxidation, discoloration, road grease smudges.
PITA to cleanup and maintain.

If anyone has a stainless steel fridge at home, knows what I mean.

NEVER going to happen on a car that I have to maintain!

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[airpor41]

My understanding is that the SS is designed as an external stressed-skin structure, basically unlike any car I've ever heard of. Using extremely thick cold-rolled SS gives it the strength to do that but comes with a number of side effects, like inability to form it into curvy shapes. The result, according to what was said, is an electric 'truck' (I use the term loosely here) which is the same weight as the equivalent size F150 (which uses body on frame structure) -- rather than being considerably heavier as would normally be expected.

It makes no sense to add that type of skin to an existing vehicle like the Mod 3 because it would just get heavier. It needs to be designed from the beginning with that structural approach to get the weight advantage.

While I can't say I really like the looks of the 'truck', Tesla once again should get kudos for doing something new -- possibly even starting a new market segment. Pretty sure I would never replace my old F250 (which I drive to the dump and which friends borrow to move with) with it.

 

[electracity]

Unpainted SS was what the DeLorean used and it turned out to be a nightmare what with fingerprints and a raft of other issues...

Fingerprints was the first Delorean analog attempt at sentry mode.

 

[earthwormjim]

My understanding is that the SS is designed as an external stressed-skin structure, basically unlike any car I've ever heard of. Using extremely thick cold-rolled SS gives it the strength to do that but comes with a number of side effects, like inability to form it into curvy shapes.

There's probably a good reason why it has never been done before, cars need crumple zones to absorb impacts to protect occupants.

 

[RScottyL]

So something like this?

LOL, as soon as stainless steel was mentioned, that was the car that popped in my head!

 

[MacGreiner]

Unpainted SS was what the DeLorean used and it turned out to be a nightmare what with fingerprints and a raft of other issues...

Fingerprints. If this is the level of nightmare, I'm cool with it. @DMC_Ryan was a fan on his DeLorean.

 

[Resist]

Stainless Steel is a nightmare to repair, not to mention very expensive.