In Tesla we rust? Brand defends stainless steel Cybertruck promising "you can keep it in the rain for as long as you want"

Good news, Tesla fans; the all-stainless-steel Cybertruck doesn’t actually rust, even though it looks like it does, and its owners think it does.

Multiple owners of the world’s wildest electric vehicle – an off-road-ready ute that weighs three tonnes and yet can hit 100km/h in 2.7 seconds – have claimed that their pick-up trucks are showing rust. This would seem unusual on any vehicle, but this is no ordinary machine, because all of its panels are made of stainless steel.

On a recent visit to a Tesla delivery centre in Los Angeles to drive a Cybertruck for the first time, CarsGuide asked the handover technician about the rust issue.

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“There is no rust,” he said. “So what happens is the rust spots everyone sees, you'll notice they're only on the top-facing panels, you’ll never see it on the sides, you only see this on the hood, and sometimes the back.

“The reason being is all the Cybertrucks come on a train up from Texas, from Austin, and the iron in the train box basically doesn't mix with the steel. So it's something called oxidation, see.

“It's like iron oxidation. Basically it hits the steel and it'll stay on there, it’s basically particles falling off, but it’s super easy to take off, and we do that process here when they arrive.

“So, just like when it travels and sometime you might get those little dots or oxidation like that. Other than that, the rain doesn't do anything to it. Mud, that's not a problem, sea air, you’re all good.

The all-stainless-steel Cybertruck doesn’t actually rust, even though it looks like it does.

“But they don't rust. You can keep it in the rain for as long as you want.”

Wes Morrill, Tesla Cybertruck’s lead engineer, has also previously answered the rust question, pointing out on X that: “Stainless is reactive and free iron that sits on it will rust. It’s surface contamination only and can be cleaned off easily.”

The technician reported that people who have come to pick up their new Cybertruck, some of whom have waited two years since it was originally announced, were unconcerned about rust, because they were more worried about fingerprints, which, we can tell you after spending two days with one, are a constant problem.

Tesla Cybertruck’s lead engineer describes the discolouration as

“They always ask about how to get fingerprints off, the main thing, what I tell everyone, is it's like cleaning a fridge, so it's the same exact material as a steel fridge you have in your kitchen. Isopropyl alcohol is the best, but anything that cleans fingerprints off your fridge will work,” he explained.

“Mainly though, people are just super excited when they see the Cybertruck. I remember the first time I saw it in person, it was just like I had to stand there for a second and just really look at it. What am I even looking at? It kind of almost took my breath away.”

The huge and obvious issues with keeping your Cybertruck clean, and rust-looking-oxidation free, are not ones that Australians will have to worry about any time soon, however. Huge demand for the Cybertruck in its home market means developing a right-hand-drive version might take some time and Tesla in Australia, after initially taking deposits and then expressions of interest, has closed its order books for now.