There was a fantastic moment during the unveiling of the Tesla Cybertruck back in 2019, when lead designer Franz von Holzhausen threw a metal ball at the window of his hard work to prove the quality of the “armor glass” only for it to shatter.
Elon Musk then had to finish the rest of the presentation stood in front of a busted up truck and subsequently explain on Twitter that von Holzhausen smacking the door with a sledgehammer probably softened it up.
As if to make amends and back up the fact that Musk’s truck is tough as nails, he took to Twitter to confirm that the company “emptied the entire drum magazine of a Tommy gun into the driver door Al Capone style” and that “no bullets penetrated into the passenger compartment.
This came in response to a member of the Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley spotting and filming (below) a shot-up Cybertruck cruising along the highway, as if it was starring in a scene from the next GTA game.
BREAKING: Cybertruck seen on the highway potentially gone through bullet proof testing ????????????Seen by member of the club. pic.twitter.com/wBr9mNrLl7October 20, 2023
The door panels of the vehicle in question do indeed appear to have been peppered with what appears to be ballistic material, even if that process has conveniently not been captured on film.
Keen-eyed commentators across the web were also quick to point out that Musk’s team avoided aiming at the glass – which, given that previous incident at the Cybertruck launch, was probably wise.
Naysayers not impressed
If you do a little online digging, you will find a Tommy gun, as Musk describes it, fires .45 calibre bullets, which to some ammo experts isn’t a particularly powerful round, making this PR stunt slightly less impressive than it appears.
Again, Elon Musk and Tesla aren’t shy of producing a little viral content that magically always seems to find its way on to X (formerly Twitter).
A legitimate bulletproof test or a great way of diverting attention away from a painful Q3 earnings call? You decide.
