Tesla Cybertruck's Aero Wheel Covers Are Chewing Up The Custom Tires, Will Likely Get Redesigned

[usonian]

https://jalopnik.com/tesla-cybertruck-s-aero-wheel-covers-are-chewing-up-the-1851218721

The Tesla Cybertruck is probably the most controversial vehicle launched in a decade due to its overall absurdity, and now that absurdity is causing wheel covers to inflict significant damage to this nearly 7,000 pound truck’s custom tires. This electric truck’s aero wheel covers have an unusual design that actually extends beyond the alloy wheel and onto the sidewall of the tires, the part of the tire that needs to flex to absorb impacts, as well as flexing every single time the tire rotates.

The YouTube channel for Tesla upgrade and accessory brand T Sportline investigated this phenomenon, and found significant sidewall damage on the tires of a Cybertruck that only has “a couple thousand miles on it” according to the host Brian Reese. Most of the aero wheel cover is made of plastic, but the ends of the spokes that extend over the tire sidewall are made of a rubberized material, so at least it’s not a hard plastic part that’s scraping away at the sidewall — but even rubberizing these wheel cover extensions doesn’t prevent damage. It’s honestly shocking that this defect was not identified in pre-production vehicle testing, but Tesla is known to utilize its customers as beta testers.

Every single time a tire rotates, the sidewalls deform and flex when the weight of a vehicle is put onto the tire, and sidewalls deform even moreso when absorbing the impact caused when a tire makes contact with something on the road. This goes for every car on the road, and tires are designed for this flexion. Tires are not designed to have rubberized spokes secured only millimeters from the sidewall that chip away the rubber with every rotation of the wheel.

Reese explains that these aero wheel covers are currently on backorder, so they are likely to be redesigned soon due to this potentially dangerous design blunder. Reese recommends current Cybertruck owners remove their aero wheel covers to stop tire damage from worsening.

Is this a case of “I MEANT INCHES OF CLEARANCE, NOT MILLIMETERS”?
Or just a case of “GEE, THAT SURE LOOKS NEAT, LET’S DO IT”?
We may never know.

And custom tires? That sounds pricey. Are you old enough to remember how autos became affordable with the use of many INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS? Showing my age, I guess.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. My Monster Truck has ELMO WHEELS!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Who is surprised by this?

[Old Crank]

3. Shows no testing involved.

Any road use at all unless onglass could deflect the tires enough.

Tesla should replace every damaged tire and wheel cover. Make it a safety recall.

[Old Crank]

4. Those custom tires are molded to match the spokes on the cover.

So they will be some type of limited edition tire so they will be even more pricey.

I just don't know if the ridges on the wheel covers negate any aero savings from covering the rim tire junction which does contribute to drag.