It was November 2019 when Elon Musk got the Cybertruck up on stage and wanted to prove it was unbreakable. But the windows instantly cracked when they were hit with a metal ball. Four years later, someone runs the experiment again. Will they crack this time or has Tesla fixed the issue?
Many thought that the windows cracking on the stage on the night of the official unveiling of the Cybertruck was just a publicity stunt to get more attention to an already hyped-up model. The people at Tesla supposedly knew right from the start that, the moment Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen would slam that metal ball into the windows, they would shatter into pieces and get everyone talking about the electric truck with a futuristic design and stainless steel body.
The Tesla team seemed surprised, as if what happened on stage that night simply did not go according to plan. If they faked it or not, we will probably never know. But the thing worked, and reservations for the model poured in. For a $100 deposit, potential customers could reserve a Cybertruck that was supposed to enter production in 2020, could change their minds anytime, and get their money back right away. But you know Tesla when it comes to deadlines. Low-volume production eventually started in July 2023, with plans to ramp it up in 2024.
Three years later, following extensive and unconventional testing, when the Cybertruck entered production, Tesla announced that the issue was fixed. Furthermore, Elon Musk says that the Cybertruck had bulletproof windows and doors, and several tests have proven it over the past few months.
While other carmakers run the usual safety tests, Tesla ran shooting tests. Cybertrucks sporting traces of gunshots while up on flatbed trucks surfaced online. But we all know that Tesla is not your usual carmaker, and the Cybertruck is far from being your usual truck.
Photo: TechRax | YouTube
The news on the shooting test prompted the host of the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast to ask Elon Musk if the Cybertruck would be able to withstand an attack from a hunting bow. There was no way in the world Musk would have missed the opportunity to get the Cybertruck in the headlines again. So, Rogan showed up with his 90-pound compound bow that shoots 525-grain arrows at 300 feet per second (205 mph) for the test.
The podcast host and the Tesla CEO made a symbolic bet on $1, as Musk let Rogan shoot the arrow at the Cybertruck he arrived in at the studio. Musk has been spotted driving the vehicle with VIN 001, which is the first Cybertruck to roll off the production line.
Rogan fired the arrow from close range, sure that it would easily pierce the body of the vehicle. But all the arrow did was leave a small dent in the rear door. The tip of the arrow, though, got pretty deformed.
You can shoot bullets and arrows at it, and still, the stainless steel won't give in. The Tesla team even fired at it with a Tommy gun before it kicked off deliveries, just to make sure they weren't wrong. The truck looked every inch indestructible. But is it really?
Photo: TechRax | YouTube
You can kick the stainless steel Cybertruck, and not a single dent shows up. During a test drive that Thomas and James of Throttle House ran in California just last week, the two of them kicked the doors of the pickup truck, catapulted a shopping cart in it, and even jumped on the tonneau cover, both at the same time, and it held up without breaking a sweat.
Fast forward four years from the evening of the official unveiling, and someone runs the 2019 metal ball test again. Will the glass hold up this time? The metal ball used in 2024 is almost identical to the one from 2019. The owner of the TechRax YouTube channel, with over 7.6 million subscribers, throws the ball straight into the front window on the passenger's side but does it without putting much force into it the first time. So, nothing happens.
On a second attempt, there is a bit more power in the throw, and the third time, things go pretty much the same. However, the 2024 thrower didn't seem to put half the power that the Chief Designer used back in 2019 to smash those windows.
Even though the channel specializes in destroying expensive smartphones, you could tell the two of them setting up this test were afraid not to actually break the window. And that is totally understandable, even though the windows of the vehicle are not terribly expensive to replace. How do you tell your insurance agent that you cracked the windows on your car, throwing metal balls at it? So, the window was intact, but a small scratch showed up on the ball.
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