Tesla has recently filed a patent for manufacturing paint-free vehicle body panels which is expected to be first used on the forthcoming autonomous Cybercab. 

The innovative new process injects colour directly into plastic panels during production, eliminating the need for a traditional paint job. At present it seems that only gold is planned for the new vehicle, however, if successful it is likely the innovation will be used in other future Tesla models. 

Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Tesla Lars Moravy, said, “You inject the polyurethane paint as you are forming the plastic panels. That car has no paint shop.”

The move has potentially huge implications for the future of the automotive world. Paint is a costly and time consuming element of vehicle production and is also a process with one of the biggest environmental impacts. 

The Tesla Cybercab is expected to be commercially available in 2027.