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Aerodynamic Wheel Covers Of the Tesla Cybertruck Found To Damage Tires
A recent report broke out that the most recent Cybertrucks were shipped without the aerodynamic wheel covers, and now we know why. Their unorthodox angular design causes severe wear and tear on the tires.
Even though the tires have a recess that accommodates the seven pointy angles of the covers, they rub against the side wall of the tire. This happens when the tire comes into contact with the road, deforms, and touches the cover.
These covers improve aerodynamic efficiency by up to 5–10%. However, the disc brakes still need some cooling, so there’s a small gap between the covers and the tires so air can go in and cool the discs.
During the initial testing, Tesla found the gap to be too big, and sometimes the covers would fly off the wheels at high speed. However, by narrowing the gap, the tire comes into close contact with the cover, resulting in substantial wear and tear.
Tesla has acknowledged the issue, and it’s going to redesign the wheel covers. In the meantime, there are two workarounds. The first one is quite obvious: just remove the wheel covers to avoid unwanted damage to the tires. The second one is less certain to work but far simpler: inflate the tires a bit more so that the side wall doesn’t deform as much when it comes into contact with the road.
