# Corrected: Model 3 Body is Not All Aluminum



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Our own @TrevP took a magnet to Fremont and touched all of the body panels. Just as MotorTrend did with the silver alpha car last year. And he got the same result - they're all aluminum. Any steel that Tesla is using in the 3 is in the chassis, not the body.


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/891283306351689729


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

Gotta love the sleuthing!


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2017)

I though that body and body panels are two different things.
For me it's fine if all hatches are aluminum (frunk, trunk, 4x doors) and also front fenders.
But what about door sills and below those?


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

arnis said:


> But what about door sills and below those?


Good question. We'll need someone to go over those with a magnet as well.


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2017)

To be honest, in case of Aluminum, it will be a nightmare. 
AsFarAsICanEstimate there are no Alum. body vehicles that are easy/cheap to fix. 
Nor there are any Al vehicles with cheap/normal insurance payment.
Replacing a removable part (door, hood, bumper) - that's fine.

Rear wheel arch damage (even smaller than on this picture)








with repair bill of 10 000$ can be called extremely and unreasonably expensive.
Now if we have the same damage on Alum. Model3, repair price will still be the same. But there will be no 
10 000$ repair on a vehicle that costs less than half the price of Model S.

PS: Same bad news haunt BMW i3.


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## Badback (Apr 7, 2016)

garsh said:


> Our own @TrevP took a magnet to Fremont and touched all of the body panels. Just as MotorTrend did with the silver alpha car last year. And he got the same result - they're all aluminum. Any steel that Tesla is using in the 3 is in the chassis, not the body.
> 
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/891283306351689729


Real question is if any steel parts are exposed to the elements and what kind of anti corrosion treatment they have.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

arnis said:


> To be honest, in case of Aluminum, it will be a nightmare.
> AsFarAsICanEstimate there are no Alum. body vehicles that are easy/cheap to fix.


Ford updated the F150 pickup truck to have an aluminum body a few years back. That truck remains the best selling vehicle in the USA. That should result in more body shops being able to work with aluminum, and prices coming down (I haven't tried to verify that though). So I'm not too concerned.

https://www.fenderbender.com/articles/5772-the-aluminum-effect


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

from this RC pix, I'd guess at least the rocker panels are steel 
(my logic being if alumn, it would have torn instead of dented like that)


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## eye.surgeon (Feb 20, 2017)

be careful what you wish for when it comes to an all aluminum car...I have a model S and my insurance premiums reflect the all-aluminum construction as do the limited number of repair shops that can work on it.


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## Randy (Aug 1, 2016)

MelindaV said:


> from this RC pix, I'd guess at least the rocker panels are steel
> (my logic being if alumn, it would have torn instead of dented like that)


Melinda;
I am an aluminum welder, It has been my experience that while lighter gauges of aluminum will tear like tin foil. Any material that would be used in a structural / strength position (re; door sill of a uni-body car) would be of sufficient thickness as to dent the way that shows in the picture you referenced. That door sill could be very well be made of aluminum. I personally hope it is aluminum as in the rust belt where I reside, the door sill is one of the places very susceptible to early corrosion .


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## Guest (Aug 24, 2017)

Like I was predicting, not aluminum.
Though still lots of aluminium in the back.
In addition to that, there is also Ultra High Strength Steel.
Repairing M3 will still be a complex procedure in case of medium accident.

PS: Looking on structure pictures, M3 should earn very good rating in small-overlap crash test.
UHSS steel that pushes vehicle away from deformable barrier should be a good idea.


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## John (Apr 16, 2016)

Melinda was right about this.
Also: looks like Trevor didn't touch the rear quarter panel with his magnet at the delivery event...


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## Badback (Apr 7, 2016)

I am actually disappointed in the amount of steel in the Model 3.


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