Metal...body?

[acamara]

The issue with Steel body panels is weight and rust. The benefit is price.

Aluminum would be a better option....like the first generation insight. It would cost more though.

I have read that Aluminum Oxidation is more detrimental to Aluminum panels then rust is to steel panels.

Road Salt happens to be more damaging to Aluminum than it is steel. Most steel used on automobiles needs to be coated with Rust inhibitor.

 

[Sailor Dog]

I have read that Aluminum Oxidation is more detrimental to Aluminum panels then rust is to steel panels

Read that as well!

 

[Coss]

One other problem with aluminum is that you cannot repair it; if you dent it, the only fix is to replace it.
Once aluminum has been stretched, you can't shrink it back to size, ask anyone who had a 60's - 70's era British car (like an MG, or an Austin) the hoods were aluminum. Something people with the new Ford pickups are about to learn.

 

[wizard of ahs]

One person sending, no, it won't; many sending, maybe you can get them to talk openly about it rather than a 1 or 2 line in an email or a 2 second soundbite from a video.
Maybe many asking can get them to be more aware of what people are thinking about. They are not building the Elio for themselves, they are building it for the masses. But it has to start somewhere.

I voiced MY opinion to Elio motors.....their response was they will forward it to the appropriate department !?

 

[Sailor Dog]

The issue with Steel body panels is weight and rust. The benefit is price.

Aluminum would be a better option....like the first generation insight. It would cost more though.

I wanted steel all along...even though I never posted on it. See other posts liked for the why.

 

[Horn]

I guess some of you haven't lived in the rust belt.....Look at the average 15 yr old steel body car and compare it to a 15 yr old Honda Insight. The insight always looks better and the Insight crowd doesn't really complain about corrosion. I'm not talking about the small surface rust either. In certain areas, cars rust out in 10 yrs!

Coss - You can fix Aluminum body damage. Go ahead and google it. There are videos of it. It is more expensive though and there are different techniques.
https://gasqcollision.com/blog/differences-aluminum-repair-traditional-collision-repair
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmu...-a-sledgehammer-the-repair-bill/#3afcc6cb4e9b

I would never want an aluminum bed truck though. But in terms of weight (and mpg), aluminum is the way to go. Again, this is the reason that the insight went that way and it was rated at 69mpg hwy. It has the hybrid system, heavy battery and was only around 1800 lbs.

Lets say you get a bad dent on the front fender. Often times it is just cheaper to replace the fender with a new one whether it is steel or aluminum.

 

[Sailor Dog]

I guess some of you haven't lived in the rust belt.....Look at the average 15 yr old steel body car and compare it to a 15 yr old Honda Insight. The insight always looks better and the Insight crowd doesn't really complain about corrosion. I'm not talking about the small surface rust either. In certain areas, cars rust out in 10 yrs!

Coss - You can fix Aluminum body damage. Go ahead and google it. There are videos of it. It is more expensive though and there are different techniques.
https://gasqcollision.com/blog/differences-aluminum-repair-traditional-collision-repair
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmu...-a-sledgehammer-the-repair-bill/#3afcc6cb4e9b

I would never want an aluminum bed truck though. But in terms of weight (and mpg), aluminum is the way to go. Again, this is the reason that the insight went that way and it was rated at 69mpg hwy. It has the hybrid system, heavy battery and was only around 1800 lbs.

Lets say you get a bad dent on the front fender. Often times it is just cheaper to replace the fender with a new one whether it is steel or aluminum.

Logging out but I suspect this will be easily contradicted by the morning!

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Steel:
+Easily Reparable
+Inexpensive to manufacture with existing technologies
-susceptible to corrosion
?weight (not sure of steel is lighter or heavier than composite)

Aluminum:
+lighter than steel (generally)
-more expensive to manufacture
--difficult to repair
-susceptible to corrosion
?weight

From a manufacturing point of view, it's actually a good idea to go with steel.
I am curious what the weight penalty would be (if any) and what the logical progression was to make the (possible) change.

The idea is to get the car into production as quickly, efficiently and inexpensively as possible. If going to steel panels helps, I say make the change.

They can research and implement composite panels on later models.

 

[Marshall]

The idea that steel is cheaper than composite just blows my mind. But I want the price point to be the primary MUST and will live with the results.

But it seems to me that corrosion protection for steel is a very labor intensive multi coating process. A single dip didn't used to be enough. It evolved into a process of around 22 steps at least at one point. But that could be my unreliable memory playing tricks on me. I seem to recall a recall concerning one step that was poorly considered that cause paint to peel between layers.

 

[NSTG8R]

I have read that Aluminum Oxidation is more detrimental to Aluminum panels then rust is to steel panels.

Road Salt happens to be more damaging to Aluminum than it is steel. Most steel used on automobiles needs to be coated with Rust inhibitor.

Nope. Aluminum oxide (the whitish coating you see on exposed raw aluminum) protects the underlying aluminum, and is very hard and abrasion resistant. We anodize aluminum using alodine or iridite to 'create'/speed up aluminum oxide on surfaces that were exposed during sanding and trimming. I do it every day, and it's an aerospace process requirement.

Everybody and their cousin has aluminum john boats out here because of all the rivers. They're all beat to crap and are constantly exposed to water and the weather. No such thing as a aluminum boat corroding away.

My order of preference on the Elio body is CF [Carbon Fiber - wheel fairings, hood and trunk lid are first on my list for possible replacement parts] , SMC, aluminum, with steel being dead last. [I'm also a 'rust belt' inhabitant].