The Model S has a fair amount of aluminum in the body (about 400 pounds or so, IIRC). The Model 3 is much more biased towards steel for most of the body, due to cost.
A lot of guys are telling you it's because it the workability of aluminium which is purified bullshit. Panelbeaters rarely work panels nowadays, they replace them. The problem with Tesla is that they're gaping assholes when it comes to supplying parts to third party repairers. Repairing Teslas is expensive because that's how Tesla wants it to be.
To an extent, for banging into shapes, but it's challenging to add more material to it if needed. None of the options are especially good compared to welding, though that's just my opinion (compared to fasteners - size, brazing - high temperature but maybe).
Other materials have their own issues, but if you cast large pieces of anything you also make it super expensive to replace parts that can't be repaired onsite.
It’s got nothing to do with being an EV and everything to do with Tesla requiring monopolized first party repairs where they dictate prices and refuse to sell parts to third party shops.
Tesla uses Giga Presses to build the body of some of their models. While lighter and stronger than a body build of smaller parts, it also makes impossible to repair damages by replacing some of the smaller parts.
Don't know if the Tesla cars owned by Hertz are built using a Giga Press.
Plus, they’ve spent years prioritizing production and sales, not service. As a result their cars aren’t designed with repairability in mind and their service centers are backlogged, and even when they can work on your car they may not get parts, because they go to new cars.
Getting replacement parts from Tesla has been consistently reported as time consuming. Even if the repair is the same cost, there's more loss of use if you can't get parts in a timely fashion.
