Stainless Steel in Hot Sun

[Fvansan]

I have per-ordered a Cyber Truck and I got thinking about the stainless steel Tesla is going to use which was described as similar to the materials used in cooking pans. If so, I imagine the body of the Cyber Truck is going to get too hot to touch after spending time in the summer sun. This could be a major safety issue if my perception is correct. Did the DeLorean get too hot to touch in the summer? Does anyone know? Your thoughts?

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[59sjordan]

I have per-ordered a Cyber Truck and I got thinking about the stainless steel Tesla is going to use which was described as similar to the materials used in cooking pans. If so, I imagine the body of the Cyber Truck is going to get too hot to touch after spending time in the summer sun. This could be a major safety issue if my perception is correct. Did the DeLorean get too hot to touch in the summer? Does anyone know? Your thoughts?

Check this thread.

https://www.cybertruckownersclub.co...nless-steel-temperature-and-bullet-test.1315/

 

[Fvansan]

Yea, it's going to get hotter than hell. (Good practice for the real thing.)

 

[CyberCop]

Well when your out camping in the hot sun it will be easy to cook breakfast.

 

[59sjordan]

Well when your out camping in the hot sun it will be easy to cook breakfast.

How late do you sleep while you are camping? haha I'm usually done with breakfast before it gets too hot out.... lol

 

[CyberCop]

How late do you sleep while you are camping? haha I'm usually done with breakfast before it gets too hot out.... lol

Good point, I usually have coffee way before the sun is up.
So let’s go with burgers for lunch.
?

 

[59sjordan]

Good point, I usually have coffee way before the sun is up.
So let’s go with burgers for lunch.
?

Great, maybe we can meet when I pick up my CT and have burgers off of the hood.

 

[CyberCop]

Great, maybe we can meet when I pick up my CT and have burgers off of the hood.

When you fly in to get your cybertruck give me a heads up and I’ll meet you at the factory. I’m like 30-45 minutes away,
I’ll bring the burgers ?

 

[Newton]

so far tests are showing its about the same as a typical car, or slightly less hot if the car is a dark color since the stock stainless is quite reflective. but im doing tests when I get the time. Currently about to do black vynl 12x12inch sheet of the 3mm stainless in direct sun all day.

but tests still going, we shall see!

 

[Dids]

When you fly in to get your cybertruck give me a heads up and I’ll meet you at the factory. I’m like 30-45 minutes away,
I’ll bring the burgers ?

Make it impossible burgers or other plant based food and give me a ride from the airport? I will let you drive my cybertruck. I'm about 70k in line

 

[CyberCop]

Make it impossible burgers or other plant based food and give me a ride from the airport? I will let you drive my cybertruck. I'm about 70k in line

You got it brother...

 

[Gvardaman]

Polishing the top should make it cooler as it reflects sun/heat. Not much metal on the roof though, so maybe a roof visor that is reflective? I may actually do something (decal or other) to make the hood as dull as I can so the Sun won’t reflect off it, right at me when it is lower in the sky.

I wonder how effective it will be to “pre-cool” the cab before entering?
I am not very sanguine about running the a/c while the truck is sitting there, seems like a massive battery drain, though maybe that is my old ICE bias showing? Maybe it is the same exact drain whether driving or sitting? If so, that might be the antidote.

 

[alan auerbach]

so far tests are showing its about the same as a typical car, or slightly less hot if the car is a dark color since the stock stainless is quite reflective. but im doing tests when I get the time. Currently about to do black vynl 12x12inch sheet of the 3mm stainless in direct sun all day.

but tests still going, we shall see!

Wouldn't darker mean hotter?

 

[Dids]

Here is a frequency chart that shows just how much of sunlight is not visible. Please notice that it's a frequency and not a wavelength chart. Black color materials absorbs visible light but could be IR reflective and therefore cooler that a white color material. Additionally emission of light can be important in temperature, some materials absorb energy in part of the spectrum and re emit it in other part of spectrum.
So something could be mirror in visible spectrum and still absorb the IR parts and not re emit it will get really hot in sunlight.

 

[ajdelange]

The way this works is that visible and NIR light strikes the outside of the skin and is partially absorbed causing the skin to get hot which in turn causes it to reradiate some heat to the outside and some to the inside but at longer (IR) wavelengths. Thus we want the skin to be highly reflective (light colors, smooth surface) on the outside and low emissivity on the inside. Stainless has, intrinsically, low emissivity and they make it even lower by putting insulation between the cabin and the skin. The real consideration with interior temperature is, of course, not the skin but the glass which transmits visible and NIR and blocks any IR that tries to escape.

As for pre-cooling: it's fantastic. It only takes a few minutes to cool the cabin of a Tesla that has been sitting in the sun so it doesn't use much battery. If, for example, I drive 30 miles to town to do some shopping, park it in the hot sun for an hour and then drive back home I only need 18 kWh for the road and so can easily spare the kWh or 2 it takes to just leave the A/C on for the hour I'm in the shops. This is especially useful if you have dogs or groceries that you'd like to keep cool while you are away from the car. I do not recommend this approach with dogs AND groceries.