‘Rust-gate’ embroils Cybertruck

Some owners of Tesla’s Cybertruck have sounded an alarm over orange-coloured specks that have appeared on its bare stainless-steel exterior after being exposed to the rain. 

Since the ute was only launched in November and Elon Musk, chief executive officer, has claimed the exterior is practically bulletproof, rust would be unusual, according to Tesla fans debating the subject in forums online.

And a Tesla engineer has taken to the Musk-owned social-media platform X to assure owners the Cybertruck isn’t rusting. Instead, its exterior panels are drawing surface contamination that’s rusting.

“Stainless steel is reactive and free iron that sits on it will rust,” Wes Morrill has stated on his X account. Morrill is the ute’s lead engineer and director of reliability, test and analysis as Tesla, according to his LinkedIn page. “It’s surface contamination only and can be cleaned off easily.”

Musk responded to Morrill’s X post with “Yeah” to suggest he agrees with that assessment.

Other X users replied with images of regular, painted cars with orange rust specks embedded in the paint. 

A purported owner of a DeLorean, a sports car from the 1980s that also used stainless-steel exterior panels, posted a picture with rust “contamination” and said it was “easy to remove”.

Morrill’s post was a reply to a YouTube video by the Bearded Tesla Guy account, which is run by Justin Demaree, according to his LinkedIn page.

Morrill called the YouTube video “good myth busting” for showing how the specks can be removed from the stainless steel with a common household cleaner, reports Automotive News Europe.