The Cybertruck versus analog bullets – who will win? Surprisingly, it’s not the coffin-shaped stainless steel electric vehicle, contrary to what Elon Musk says. Yes, Tesla did make a video showcasing the doors of the Tesla pickup truck being shot at from close range, with a Tommy gun and a 9mm pistol, before driving off into the sunset scathed but unharmed. Well, the internet decided to put the Cybertruck knight errant in shiny armor to a real test against several firearms.
Last November, during a press conference, Elon Musk stressed one of the Cybertruck’s lauded features – namely, its apparent indifference to bullets. Insert small print here and translate that into ‘the doors’ 3-mm-thick sheet metal can stop small and medium caliber low-speed bullets.’ However, there’s one major crack in that logical construct: other weapons are out there.
That’s why Zack Nelson, the host of the JerryRigEverything YouTube channel, took one Cybertruck to the firing range and shot it multiple times with different caliber weapons, from the .17 caliber to the .50-cal Barrett. In the November video, the Cybertruck was shot at with a 9mm pistol. Hence, the first round (pun intended) in this ‘scratch test video’ belongs to a Glock 19.
After 15 bullets, the stainless steel Tesla is still airtight and has no extra holes than when it left the factory. So far, the manufacturer’s claims live up to the promotional video – the sheet metal dents but does stop the small projectiles.
Photo: YouTube/JerryRigEverything
With handguns cleared, the YouTubers turn to rifles for a better shot and take a small .22 caliber (5.58mm) against the Cybertruck’s door. Unsurprisingly, the birdshot speed of the minuscule bullets only inflicts insignificant bumps on the 30x cold-rolled stainless steel. With a muzzle velocity of 1,000 ft/sec (305 m/sec), the tiny .22 doesn’t have the kinetic energy required to penetrate the 1/8-inch hard steel sheet.
A .17 (4.31 mm) round leaving the barrel at 2,500 ft/sec (762 m/sec) has no problem putting a hole in the Cybertruck’s bulletproof door. Still, it stops right after it pierces the metal without having the power to make an exit ‘wound.’ So far, Musk’s alleged bulletproofness theory holds water – only just. However, the Colt AR-15 probably hasn’t been informed that the Cybertruck is supposed to protect its occupants from assault rifles.
The famous semi-automatic weapon burns down all official claims with a 5.56-mm-diameter (.223-cal) crack in the Tesla armor. Stainless steel may be effective against sledgehammers and shopping carts, and it will even stop low-energy bullets, but that’s about as high as it will go. When serious weapons are cocked and chambered, the Cybertruck is no more shielding than a flyswat.
Strictly for the fun of it, the YouTuber tests a high-powered .50-cal Barrett sniper rifle against his personal $100k EV truck. The 12.77mm BMG round has a long track record of being a very effective ordnance against all sorts of heavy-gauge steel targets, from train rails to fire hydrants to solid steel plates. Unsurprisingly, the Tesla pickup yields to the monstrous firepower of the ‘shoulder artillery’ in this not-so-elaborate but very effective field test of the armor-protectiveness of the most debated pickup truck of the millennium.
After nearly two decades in news television, Răzvan turned to a different medium. He’s been a field journalist, a TV producer, and a seafarer but found that he feels right at home among petrolheads. Full profile
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