Elon Musk broke a Tesla Cybertruck window while proving how indestructible they were
Elon Musk once broke a Tesla Cybertruck window while proving how indestructible they were during a live demo.
Yes, it was very, very awkward:
Tesla’s Cybertruck is designed to have the ‘utility of a truck with sports car performance’, having been built to be ‘durable, versatile, capable and high-performance'.
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It looks a remote-control car made out of stainless steel, but when he unveiled the prototype back in November 2019, Elon Musk seemed happy enough.
In fact, he was so confident in the vehicle’s rock-hard credentials, he asked Tesla design chief Franz von Holshausen to try and break the glass of the 'shatterproof' glass during a launch demo.
"You want a truck that's really tough, not fake tough,” he said.
“You want a truck you can take a sledgehammer to, a truck that won't scratch, doesn't dent."
The only thing is, when von Holshausen launched a steel ball at the car, he actually ended up breaking two windows.
Still, Musk was adamant that the test wasn't a complete failure, telling the room: "A little room for improvement. Alright, let's see... So yeah... We threw wrenches, we threw everything - we even literally threw the kitchen sink at the glass and it didn't break.
"For some weird reason it broke now, I don't know why. We'll fix it in post."
It didn’t take long for people to start comparing the Cybertruck reveal to the moment Homer Simpson unveiled his own disastrous car design at his long lost brother's expense, while others suggested it belonged in a Tomb Raider video game from the mid-90s.
According to Forbes, the embarrassing twist during the big reveal of the futuristic Cybertruck wiped $768 million (£590m) from the Tesla founder and CEO's net worth in just one day, after the company's share price dropped by six percent.
But Musk decided not to shy away from the incident, and later took to Twitter to crack a joke about the incident.
He tweeted: "Franz throws steel ball at Cybertruck window right before launch. Guess we have some improvements to make before production haha."
Musk also went on to explain what had happened, having responded to a fan on Twitter.
He wrote: "Sledgehammer impact on door cracked the base of the glass, which is why the steel ball didn't bounce off.
"Should have done steel ball on window, then sledgehammer the door. Next time."
Topics: Elon Musk, Celebrity, Technology, Tesla
Jess Hardiman