Recently, social media users speculated on a video going viral on the internet showing a Tesla Cybertruck riddled with what appears to be indentations from the impact bullets. CEO of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, commented on the video, claiming that the vehicle had been bulletproof tested “Al Capone” style, where no rounds penetrated the vehicle.
The Tesla Owners Silicon Valley X account (formerly Twitter) posted a video of the truck stating, “BREAKING: Cybertruck seen on the highway potentially gone through bullet proof testing Seen by member of the club.” Elon Musk himself, known to be quite interactive with users on his platform, replied, “We emptied the entire drum magazine of a Tommy gun into the driver door Al Capone style. No bullets penetrated into the passenger compartment.”
We emptied the entire drum magazine of a Tommy gun into the driver door Al Capone style. No bullets penetrated into the passenger compartment.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2023
Since the announcement of the Cybertruck, Tesla has maintained that the electric truck is virtually bulletproof. “Cybertruck is built with an exterior shell made for ultimate durability and passenger protection. Starting with a nearly impenetrable exoskeleton, every component is designed for superior strength and endurance, from Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless-steel structural skin to Tesla armor glass.” the company said.
However, the vehicle infamously failed a live demonstration of the Cybertruck’s armor glass when a steel ball shattered the window. “Maybe that was a little too hard…a little room for improvement,” Musk said during the event.
Furthermore, some have speculated on the validity of the claims that the truck is actually bulletproof, pointing out that the .45 caliber Tommy gun rounds fired at the vehicle aren’t a good indicator due to their ballistic nature. One person pointed out that ammunition from a slew of other calibers could easily penetrate the car.
“The stunt by Tesla by shooting a .45 caliber bullet at the cyberpunk doesn’t prove it’s bullet proof. A 45 is a low-velocity round with a very large blunt nose. If they shot it up with an ak47 round or a 5.56 out of a AR15, they would have made Swiss cheese out of that door panel. There are many high-velocity pistol rounds that would do this also. One is a 5.7mm or a .22 magnum,” they said.
Elon Musk appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where he explained the motivation behind creating such a tough, impenetrable electric truck. “Why did you decide to do all that? Make it bulletproof and make it like you can hit it with a sledgehammer like what was the motivation to make it different than just like a Model S?” Rogan asked Musk.”You know, it’s like what’s cool about a truck, trucks are tough. Okay, what’s tougher that truck? A tank. What about a tank from the future?” Musk responded.
However, Musk noted that the Cybertruck is an impractical product that is posing challenges from a business perspective when attempting to produce the vehicle at scale. “We dug our own grave with the Cybertruck,” Musk said. It’s “one of those special products that comes along only once in a long while. And special products that come along once in a long while are just incredibly difficult to bring to market to reach volume, to be prosperous,” he explained.
Note: Featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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