The Tesla Cybertruck might be a divisive automobile, but it is already outselling all the electric pickup trucks on sale, except for the Ford F-150 Lightning. In fact, the unusual electric pickup has already become a status car, with celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Pharrell Williams happily posting the Cybertrucks on Instagram. Its massive stainless steel body has also become a blank canvas for car customizers to experiment with whacky ideas. Popular YouTuber Zack Nelson, aka JerryRigEverything, has created the world’s first gold-plated Tesla Cybertruck. While you might have encountered a rose-gold Cybertruck on the internet, that particular electric truck and several similar examples are covered in vinyl wrap films. Zack’s Cybertruck is the first in the world to be plated with real 24K gold.
Like most of his other crazy DIY projects, Zack documented the whole gold-plating process of the Cybertruck for his YouTube channel. Obviously, it was not going to be an easy task to cover the stainless steel panels of the massive pickup with actual gold. The painstaking procedure to gold-plate the EV required three distinctive steps. The first stage involved using an electro cleaner to turn the ultra-hard cold-rolled stainless steel panels hydrophilic.
In the second step, the YouTuber used a specific type of acid to poke microscopic holes in the chromium surface of the stainless steel so that the gold plating stuck onto the panels. The third and final step involved a proprietary process in which a violet paste was applied to the panels using electroplating. The paste is a mixture of 24K gold and cobalt, turning into a thin sheet of shiny yellow metal once applied.
Just to give you an idea of how time-intensive the whole job was, it took three people four days to gold plate the Cybertruck. Furthermore, the process requires a lot of coordination and patience, as any small mistake might lead to starting over again. To protect the expensive 24K gold plating from scratches and other damages, Zack had the Cybertruck wrapped in a self-healing paint protection film. While we don’t know how much money was spent on the project, the YouTuber says the gold plating has increased the value of the Cybertruck by at least $100,000. It will be interesting to see if this video starts a trend of gold Cybertrucks.
Who is Zack Nelson?
JerryRigEverything is a popular YouTube channel created by Zack Nelson, known for its in-depth reviews and durability tests of various electronic devices, primarily smartphones. It is famous for its straightforward, no-nonsense approach to evaluating tech gadgets’ build quality and repairability. It all started when his Jeep broke down. While fixing the SUV, he shot a video with his cell phone and uploaded it on YouTube. Beyond durability tests and teardowns, his channel also features reviews of gadgets and accessories, offering opinions on their usability, design, and overall performance. Zack is a vocal advocate for the right-to-repair movement, promoting consumer rights to repair their own devices and criticizing manufacturers who make it difficult to do so.
