Is the folded exoskeleton actually easy to manufacture

[Tinker71]

While the majority of the CT visible body might be easy to bend, how about all the transitions around the door frames etc. Does anybody have an idea how they will be made and how they will be connected to the flat/bent plate shell?

Supposedly the exoskeleton was going to be cheap to manufacture. I am not so sure now that I think about it. Maybe the body construction will be the source of the delay.

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[97trophy]

In case you didn't know SpaceX already uses this alloy. That experience gives them a huge advantage and I going to suggest they have all that already figured out.

 

[Crissa]

That's the idea.

Since no one has done it before, we're not sure.

It has been used to make things cheaply for other products... But it takes alot of planning.

The metal plates are scored and then bent; then they're welded to other plates. It skips the extruding and stamping, which is pretty complex.

Think of how carboard boxes are folded, and how complex they can get. Machines are really good at that.

-Crissa

 

[97trophy]

Since no one has done it before, we're not sure.

What about Delorean? To different a design perhaps.

And BTW Sandy Munro helped setup the Delorean factory. lol...circles within circles

 

[Crissa]

What about Delorean? To different a design perhaps.

The only thing that shares is the 'stainless' part. It was stamped out of softer stainless sheets. And some say it ended up heavy, but I think someone on this board disabused me of that notion.

I do know that Deloreans were masters of surviving outside. I had a landlord who had a collection of them. Their weakness was the early-80s plastics.

-Crissa

 

[Cyberman]

The 3mm exoskeleton will be spot welded to a thinner, softer stainless steel which is stamped into the needed shapes for the inner frame, door frames. It's not all 3mm thru and thru. It's really nothing like the Delorean, which was a thin skin of malleable SS shafted on a fiberglass structure, and a steel frame under that. So to answer the question, I think it'll be much easier than other vehicles, as it'll be largely automated, with no paint shop. Score, bend, weld, spot weld, next. I still think Elon is going to make it happen by late 2021, even if he has to get out on the production floor himself, again.

 

[EVCanuck]

I was thinking about this subject a lot and I just don't see how they achieve the necessary rigidity just by using 30X SS sheets. I would say Tesla will use some HSS profiles to strengthen Cybertruck structure, easily available and inexpensive.
BTW a similar exoskeleton body design was used for Paradigm aircraft by Munro & Associates. I would not be surprised if Sandy Munro has its hand on Cybertruck's design, but he just cannot disclose the fact

 

[Cyberman]

I was thinking about this subject a lot and I just don't see how they achieve the necessary rigidity just by using 30X SS sheets. I would say Tesla will use some HSS profiles to strengthen Cybertruck structure, easily available and inexpensive.
BTW a similar exoskeleton body design was used for Paradigm aircraft by Munro & Associates. I would not be surprised if Sandy Munro has its hand on Cybertruck's design, but he just cannot disclose the fact

Methinks they'll be HSSS profiles, already in the works.

 

[Dids]

I was thinking about this subject a lot and I just don't see how they achieve the necessary rigidity just by using 30X SS sheets. I would say Tesla will use some HSS profiles to strengthen Cybertruck structure, easily available and inexpensive.
BTW a similar exoskeleton body design was used for Paradigm aircraft by Munro & Associates. I would not be surprised if Sandy Munro has its hand on Cybertruck's design, but he just cannot disclose the fact

So you are saying you think they will use a frame.

 

[Crissa]

So you are saying you think they will use a frame.

They show the body on their sales website.

Even crabs have structures under their shell for stiffness and to support their organs (well, some of them, annyhow) inside.

-Crissa

 

[CompMaster]

I remember something about Tesla "cross training" or something 20ish Tesla employees with SpaceX earlier this year. Maybe getting fertilized with the custom SpaceX 30x alloy?

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/28/tesla-sent-20-employees-to-temp-at-spacex-filing-shows.html

 

[EVCanuck]

So you are saying you think they will use a frame.

Basically yes, but I do not think it will be a full-frame by itself from front to back, some parts of the car's structure will look like a frame and others will be made only by SS sheets/windows, like maybe the front, for a crumple zone.

 

[Dids]

Basically yes, but I do not think it will be a full frame by itself from front to rear, some parts of the car's structure will look like a frame and others will be made only by SS sheets/windows, like maybe the front, for a crumple zone.

I think there will be frame front to back... it just won't be hollow. It will be filled with batteries and they call it a structural battery pack. That in conjuction with the truss triangle created by the 3 mm sides is probably stronger than a typical frame. Where do you think the will need hss , probably at the roof peak and on the b pillar...

 

[Tinker71]

The 3mm exoskeleton will be spot welded to a thinner, softer stainless steel which is stamped into the needed shapes for the inner frame, door frames. It's not all 3mm thru and thru. It's really nothing like the Delorean, which was a thin skin of malleable SS shafted on a fiberglass structure, and a steel frame under that. So to answer the question, I think it'll be much easier than other vehicles, as it'll be largely automated, with no paint shop. Score, bend, weld, spot weld, next. I still think Elon is going to make it happen by late 2021, even if he has to get out on the production floor himself, again.

Thank you for that info. I kind of assumed they would have to do that. That being said stainless is never really soft. I think there will be a learning curve building the machines to make the body to acceptable tolerance. I hope they take the time to perfect motor/suspension interface. For many of us wanting a legacy/heirloom vehicle we don't want to worry about fatigue cracks 10 years from now.

Does anybody out there have view of the bottom? I think the chatter in the thread of structural members is crazy talk and would waste the inherent strength of the 3mm SS skin. It is all about the structural battery pack. I can't wait to see it.

 

[EVCanuck]

I think there will be frame front to back... it just won't be hollow. It will be filled with batteries and they call it a structural battery pack. That in conjuction with the truss triangle created by the 3 mm sides is probably stronger than a typical frame. Where do you think the will need hss , probably at the roof peak and on the b pillar...

Batteries in the frame, interesting...
Yes, the roof peak definitely, both lateral sides and more importantly the cargo structure I believe will be a full frame, it is supposed to withstand 3500lbs of load