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Tesla’s Cybertruck has stirred both fascination and skepticism with its bold aesthetics and unusual materials. But beneath the stainless steel facade lies a complex structural strategy that blends traditional and advanced manufacturing principles. In this teardown, the Munro engineering team takes a closer look at the Cybertruck’s exoskeleton load path, offering automotive engineers and EV enthusiasts a deep dive into how torsional stiffness, structural adhesives, and stamping all come together to support the vehicle’s form and function.
Engineering an Elegant Load Path
One of the most critical challenges in EV design—especially with unconventional bodies like the Cybertruck’s—is managing structural loads effectively. The Cybertruck must support 2,500 pounds of bed load and handle towing loads up to 11,000 pounds. As our team of engineers note, all these forces are routed through a carefully engineered structure that brings stiffness and load distribution to the forefront.
The team derives the Cybertruck’s torsional stiffness—its resistance to twisting forces—from a unified skeletal system. This approach ensures consistent strength across the entire structure and simplifies load distribution. The design links suspension loads, towing forces, and crash protection through a consistent structure that delivers strength without excess material. This elegant load path channels force toward key nodes near the battery and structural corners.
When it comes to crash safety, the team emphasizes a key point. Once they achieve structural stiffness, they can focus on impact absorption. At that stage, the design process becomes relatively straightforward. With the high loads managed, engineers can then focus on where and how to absorb crash energy during rear impacts or collisions.
A Closer Look at the Rear Fender Subassembly
The Cybertruck’s body panels use both stainless steel exteriors and e-coated stamped steel subassemblies beneath. The teardown team examines the rear fender—often called a quarter panel—which significantly enhances structural performance, even though it remains hidden from view.
Munro’s teardown experts explain that the design of the entire inner fender assembly restores structure to the body. This isn’t just a cosmetic panel—it’s a load-bearing element. Made of e-coated stamped steel, it is bonded with structural adhesive to adjacent components. These joints aren’t just about strength—they’re also about longevity and performance under stress.
To prevent corrosion and ensure full coverage, these assemblies go through an e-coat dip. This process demands drainage paths—openings in odd places that allow the coating liquid to escape. These holes may look strange at first glance, but they serve a critical manufacturing purpose. They also hint at Tesla’s lean design approach: nothing is random; everything serves multiple functions.
Manufacturing with Purpose: Why Geometry Matters
The rear fender structure features various flutes, cutouts, and bends. While some might assume these serve only visual or minor utility roles, they’re central to manufacturability. Because the entire subassembly goes through a unified e-coat process, fluid escape paths must be integrated into the design. Engineers add gaps and grooves to the geometry to ensure complete coating and drying. This step is crucial for long-term durability. Without it, trapped fluids could compromise the structure over time.
Further, the assembly is built to handle the challenges of attaching Tesla’s thick, break-bent stainless steel outer panels. Stainless steel is much less forgiving than traditional aluminum or mild steel in terms of forming complex geometries. Its stiffness and springback behavior make it tricky to keep perfectly flat. That’s where the stamped steel substructure comes in. It provides the precise contours, stiffness, and mounting points needed to anchor the stainless panels cleanly.
The Hidden Workhorse Behind Cybertruck’s Look
From a structural standpoint, this stamped steel subassembly does most of the heavy lifting. It provides not only torsional support but also interfaces for the rear liftgate, latching systems, and interior panels. Tesla’s choice to use stainless steel necessitated this hybrid approach, where internal skeletons carry the load and the outer panels are more aesthetic and durable shields.
The Munro team highlights that the “potato chip effect”—visual warping of flat panels—is a known risk with stainless steel. Tesla’s solution? Engineer an internal structure that neutralizes those forces. Thickness variation, springback compensation, and adhesive placement are all dialed in to ensure a smooth, ripple-free finish across the entire vehicle.
This use of what might be called an “exoskeleton” has drawn debate. Sandy Munro himself has been critical of calling the Cybertruck an exoskeleton design. But in practice, the vehicle does rely on its outer shell to maintain form—just not for primary structural support. The hidden internal assemblies, like this rear fender substructure, provide the actual backbone.
The Role of Adhesives and Material Selection
An interesting detail from the teardown is that the stainless steel panels are glued in place. While riveting or welding are common in automotive assembly, structural adhesives offer advantages in distributing stress evenly, reducing vibration, and preventing corrosion between dissimilar metals.
The inner structure, composed of magnet steel (a type of high-strength stamped steel), balances cost, strength, and formability. Combined with precision adhesives, it helps Tesla meet both crash and stiffness requirements without overly complex joints or added weight.
This strategy embodies core lean manufacturing and design principles. By maximizing each part’s function and minimizing production steps, it simplifies assembly. At the same time, it maintains high performance through scalable, efficient processes. It’s a philosophy Munro has long advocated and one that aligns with the broader trend of platform consolidation in EV manufacturing.
Supplier Spotlight: Three-Dimensional Services Group
Recently, Sandy Munro visited the 3-Dimensional Services Group, the prototype and low-volume manufacturing partner supporting this kind of advanced EV development. Founded over 30 years ago, this Michigan-based supplier offers everything from CNC machining and laser cutting to plastic injection molding and stamped assemblies.
Described as a “job shop on steroids,” the firm specializes in bridging the gap between prototype and full-scale production. Their agility and capability allow OEMs like Tesla to move rapidly from concept to market-ready product—an essential advantage in today’s high-speed EV landscape.
Conclusion: Engineering that Enables the Future
The Cybertruck isn’t just a styling statement—it’s a case study in how to reimagine vehicle structure when conventional approaches won’t work. From load path strategy to adhesive integration and smart drainage planning, Tesla has engineered an innovative platform beneath the striking stainless skin.
This teardown highlights the often-overlooked parts that make or break vehicle quality: inner assemblies, adhesives, substructure stiffness, and panel tolerances. For engineers, investors, and EV fans alike, the takeaway is clear: behind every bold design is a network of choices that define performance, safety, and manufacturability.
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