slate truck body panels are 3d printed panels or steel molds

[g1nNrum]

Thinking about Slate's pre production models, and a couple of questions came to mind.

Do you think they already have the massive body panel molds ready to go, or are the panels on these early builds more likely to be 3D printed or hand laid composite?
And on a related note, I'm really curious about the inner door frame. Is it going to be a traditional steel stamping, or are they going with a composite material for weight savings?
Also, about the repairability. If the inner door frame were made of a composite material, how would that affect a body shop's ability to repair it after a collision? Would it have to be replaced entirely?

What do you all think? I'd love to hear some educated guesses!

 

[Miyuki_Itsumi]

I don't see them printing the actual panels, more like printing bucks or molds to shape them. The pre-production trucks we've seen probably use small-batch methods, not the full steel tooling yet. As for the inner door frame, if it's composite, yeah, repairs get ugly... most shops don't patch those, they replace them. Steel is still king for easy fixes.

 

[SlaterDude]

Thinking about Slate's pre production models, and a couple of questions came to mind.

Do you think they already have the massive body panel molds ready to go, or are the panels on these early builds more likely to be 3D printed or hand laid composite?
And on a related note, I'm really curious about the inner door frame. Is it going to be a traditional steel stamping, or are they going with a composite material for weight savings?
Also, about the repairability. If the inner door frame were made of a composite material, how would that affect a body shop's ability to repair it after a collision? Would it have to be replaced entirely?

What do you all think? I'd love to hear some educated guesses!

Slate is all-in on injection-molded composite for production for body panels. The inner door frame is almost certainly structural steel. That component contains the intrusion beam and is critical for crash safety and chassis rigidity. It's too vital and complex to swap for a composite on a budget-focused startup vehicle. So about your repairability concern.. the easy part is the outer composite panel as it is designed to be bolted off and replaced cheaply. The hard part would be the structural steel inner frame sincce it is designed to be worked on by traditional body shops.