(February 26, 2024) Tesla Cybertruck owners have sounded an alarm over orange-colored specks that have appeared on the truck's bare stainless-steel exterior after being exposed to the rain. And some fear that it's premature rust. Since the pickup was only launched in November and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has claimed the exterior is practically bulletproof, rust would be unusual, according to Tesla fans in online forums.

And indeed, a Tesla engineer has taken to the Musk-owned social media platform X to assure Cybertruck owners that the pickup is not rusting. Rather, its unusual exterior panels are drawing surface contamination that's rusting, Automotive News reported.

"Stainless steel is reactive and free iron that sits on it will rust," Wes Morrill said on his X account. Morrill is Cybertruck lead engineer and director of reliability, test and analysis at Tesla, according to his LinkedIn page. "It's surface contamination only and can be cleaned off easily."

Musk responded to Morrill's Feb. 16 X post with "Yeah," suggesting he agrees with the 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 vehicle, the 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 profile page. Morrill called the YouTube video "good myth busting" for showing how the orange specks can be removed from the stainless steel with a common household cleaner.

Source: Automotive News