Is the folded exoskeleton actually easy to manufacture

[TechOps]

Was

This just in, actual pictures of the aftermath of recently conducted Cybertruck crash tests:

Wasn't the Model S so strong it broke the crash testing machine? Hate to imagine what the CT will do..break the machine and then crash through the side of the building?

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[shocker]

Better to crumple than transfer stress into the cabin or traction battery. Small damage to that and the vehicle is totaled; massive damage to the frunk and it's repairable.
-Crissa

Just watched Sandy Munro say it's not a worry about crashed megacastings being difficult and expensive to repair, because these days insurance companies will total any vehicle when there's damage to the primary structure.

 

[fritter63]

Just watched Sandy Munro say it's not a worry about crashed megacastings being difficult and expensive to repair, because these days insurance companies will total any vehicle when there's damage to the primary structure.

yeah, watched that last night. Was one of my primary concerns/trigger points on going ahead with purchase (ie, would insurance be driven up by that).

 

[Cyber1qhorsey]

I hope CT engineers figure out how not to shatter ALL the windows and destroy the inner cage, in an impact. Sledge or otherwise. Crash test videos are going to ROCK!

 

[TechOps]

Just watched Sandy Munro say it's not a worry about crashed megacastings being difficult and expensive to repair, because these days insurance companies will total any vehicle when there's damage to the primary structure.

Yah, the difference is you can have a pretty significant impact to a unibody, OR body-on-frame vehicle, without doing frame damage. If someone slams into one of your doors, or the back of your car, it can be fixed without any frame issues.

If someone slams into the exterior of the CT, by definition, you have damaged the frame (exoskeleton).

 

[T3slaDad]

Yah, the difference is you can have a pretty significant impact to a unibody, OR body-on-frame vehicle, without doing frame damage. If someone slams into one of your doors, or the back of your car, it can be fixed without any frame issues.

If someone slams into the exterior of the CT, by definition, you have damaged the frame (exoskeleton).

I was just thinking the same thing! As a Saturn owner, I enjoyed the flexibility of the all-plastic body panels and the ability to have the extremely strong unibody frame withstand practically every accident that was thrown at it.

The worst one was a t-bone at 65mph with no brakes applied by the offender, and the worst that happened was a 2 inch section of the unibody that needed to be cut and welded with a new piece. And yeah, that totalled the car but we bought it back! I'm really sad that Saturn is gone...

 

[FutureBoy]

I was just thinking the same thing! As a Saturn owner, I enjoyed the flexibility of the all-plastic body panels and the ability to have the extremely strong unibody frame withstand practically every accident that was thrown at it.

The worst one was a t-bone at 65mph with no brakes applied by the offender, and the worst that happened was a 2 inch section of the unibody that needed to be cut and welded with a new piece. And yeah, that totalled the car but we bought it back! I'm really sad that Saturn is gone...

So basically with the CT we are trading away expensive but small visual damage claims for the possibility of having the CT totaled in serious accidents. Basically, any injury that is serious enough to cause more than a cosmetic issue will total out the vehicle. But instead of those cosmetic issues being just door dings, they could also include cars backing into us, a small tree falling on the vehicle, someone jumping on the vehicle, possibly vandalism attempts, breaking and entering (as long as they don't use a large metal ball bearing LOL), maybe even getting side-swiped in traffic, or gentle pushes from aggressive drivers, etc.

I think I can live with that. In general my vehicle will stand up to the normal wear and tear of existing in the real world. But if something happens that would cause a CarFax report to look bad, the vehicle is totaled so I won't worry about the CarFax report. As long as the vehicle keeps the occupants safe during those larger collisions I am AOK with this trade off.

 

[firsttruck]

So basically with the CT we are trading away expensive but small visual damage claims for the possibility of having the CT totaled in serious accidents. Basically, any injury that is serious enough to cause more than a cosmetic issue will total out the vehicle. But instead of those cosmetic issues being just door dings, they could also include cars backing into us, a small tree falling on the vehicle, someone jumping on the vehicle, possibly vandalism attempts, breaking and entering (as long as they don't use a large metal ball bearing LOL), maybe even getting side-swiped in traffic, or gentle pushes from aggressive drivers, etc.

I think I can live with that. In general my vehicle will stand up to the normal wear and tear of existing in the real world. But if something happens that would cause a CarFax report to look bad, the vehicle is totaled so I won't worry about the CarFax report. As long as the vehicle keeps the occupants safe during those larger collisions I am AOK with this trade off.

There is no trade off.

What Sandy Munro said is that any force severe enough to cause Cybertruck to be written off by the insurance company as totaled would have caused a similar sized truck to be totaled too. There would also be some percent of accidents that would have totaled a similar sized truck that would NOT total Cybertruck.
Sandy has answered this question a couple of times.

 

[ldjessee]

Here is my thought, why not just replace the front or rear castings if they are damaged? If you have a modular component, why not just use it as such?

Seems weird to me you would try to repair something that takes just a few seconds to make... It would probably be much cheaper to cast more front and rear mega castings for just such issues.

Sure, there is a lot of labor unconnecting the components from the mega casting and installing it one the new mega casting... but is it less labor than repairing the mega casting? Depends on how modular they make the sub-assemblies that install on the mega casting.

 

[Crissa]

Here is my thought, why not just replace the front or rear castings if they are damaged? If you have a modular component, why not just use it as such?

Seems weird to me you would try to repair something that takes just a few seconds to make... It would probably be much cheaper to cast more front and rear mega castings for just such issues.

...Because removing something like that would be disassembling basically half the car. And many, many welds. VS cutting a piece off and bolting a new sub-part on.

-Crissa

 

[FutureBoy]

Here is my thought, why not just replace the front or rear castings if they are damaged? If you have a modular component, why not just use it as such?

Seems weird to me you would try to repair something that takes just a few seconds to make... It would probably be much cheaper to cast more front and rear mega castings for just such issues.

Sure, there is a lot of labor unconnecting the components from the mega casting and installing it one the new mega casting... but is it less labor than repairing the mega casting? Depends on how modular they make the sub-assemblies that install on the mega casting.

...Because removing something like that would be disassembling basically half the car. And many, many welds. VS cutting a piece off and bolting a new sub-part on.

-Crissa

This is something I could see working either way. Just depends on design, implementation, and the specific damage incurred. For me the most telling will be when Sandy Monroe reports out on his tear down. I would imagine that this is something he will wax on about. Till then we are all speculating about something that could be implemented in a variety of ways and only Elon has the authority to tell us what the actual implementation will look like.

 

[ldjessee]

I guess I just assumed the three components (front, battery, and rear casting) would be bolted together. It would be easy to automate, makes the vehicle easier to pair, and would make replacing the structural battery pack more manageable.

 

[Crissa]

The pack will probably be bolted in, but the megacastings are likely to be welded into the passenger cage.

-Crissa