leaked Photos Give More Clues To How Tesla Cybertruck Is Built

Those who have been keeping up with theTesla Cybertruckand all its new developments might have seenvideo footageof the truck being assembled in the Texas Gigafactory. As a follow-up, theCybertruck Owners Clubforum sent us pictures that reveal bits about the vehicle's production process.

The photos below show that building the hotly anticipated electric truck involves body-in-white (BIW) frames. These particular ones are already fitted with front and rear castings, while more castings are seen in the background.

For the uninitiated, BIW frame is the name of a car body's sheet when all its components, except the moving and mechanical parts, have been welded together. Ironically, this can be seen as a traditional method of assembling unibody vehicles.

One commenter on a related thread on the Cybertruck forum observed that the photos lack a true "exoskeleton design," which company CEO Elon Musk mentioned before. However, we'd be remiss not to mention that the BIW frame is an early part of any car's build process, so the exoskeleton might factor in later in the build.

An idea floating around is that the EV truck would function like a lobster. The 3-millimeter-thick stainless steel shell might cover the BIW frame, providing most of the vehicle's structural integrity. The shell might also form the truck's bed and its wheel wells, while the BIW frame is merely a means for the truck's innards like wires, the dashboard, seats, etc. If this turns out to be true, then the EV truck will be one of the first to use this method.