Elon Musk’s glitzy unveiling of the first Tesla “cybertruck” descended into farce when a PR stunt testing the “bulletproof” body strength of the electric vehicle resulted in smashed windows.
The Blade Runner-meets-cyberpunk themed launch of the $39,900 (£30,000) futuristic armoured vehicle was meant to take aim at the traditional Detroit carmakers, proving that Tesla could make a credible electric version of America’s favourite vehicle, the pickup truck.
In a theatrical series of demonstrations hosted by Musk, black-clad Tesla staff attempted to demonstrate the vehicle’s durability with tests involving sledgehammers, a simulation of a 9mm bullet strike and hefty metal balls.
“We created an exoskeleton,” Musk said to rapturous whoops from those attending the Los Angeles launch. “It is literally bulletproof to a 9mm handgun.”
Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s chief designer, asked Musk if he could lob a metal ball at the window of the vehicle. “Really?” said Musk. The window smashed. “Oh my fucking God,” said Musk. “Maybe that was a little hard.”
Showing confidence in the vehicle, Von Holzhausen then suggested he should lob it at a second window. “Try that one? Really?” asked Musk moments before the rear window was also smashed. “It didn’t go through, that’s the plus side,” a stunned Musk said.
Musk, who has previously boasted of the vehicle as a “really futuristic-like cyberpunk, Blade Runner pickup truck”, tried to laugh off the incident with a joke: “Ah, not bad, room for improvement.”
Earlier, attendees at the futuristic event were treated to electricity-themed entertainment, actors in cyberpunk costumes and stalls selling noodles, a theme from the Blade Runner film.
The South African-born American entrepreneur, whose net worth is estimated at more than $20bn, has a penchant for eccentric and at times divisive behaviour.
His decision to smoke marijuana on a live web show last year resulted in a 6% fall in Tesla’s share price, and the departure of two of its senior executives. Asked about the wisdom of smoking marijuana while he was under investigation by the SEC for tweeting that he had “secured” funding to take Tesla private, Musk told the Guardian by email: “Guardian is the most insufferable newspaper on planet Earth”.
The 48-year old has also been involved in an extended feud with Vernon Unsworth, a diver who helped rescue a team of young soccer players stuck in an underwater cave in Thailand, after Unsworth criticised Musk’s plan to save them with a submarine. Musk called Unsworth a “pedo guy” on Twitter and referred to him as a “child rapist” in emails to a BuzzFeed reporter. Unsworth is suing Musk for defamation.
Tesla says production on the cybertruck is expected to begin in late 2021. Musk earlier tweeted that the design was partly influenced by the Lotus Esprit sportscar that doubled as a submarine in the 1970s James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.
Tesla’s Model 3 sedan is the world’s top-selling battery electric car and this is the carmaker’s first foray into pickup trucks, a market dominated by Ford’s F-150 and competitors from General and Fiat Chrysler.
Tesla has so far sold mostly Model S and Model 3 sedans but also offers the Model X SUV and, starting next year, the Model Y compact SUV. The company has delivered 255,000 vehicles this year, more than it achieved in the whole of 2018, and the Model 3 has become the world’s best-selling battery-powered car.
Ford and GM are gearing up to challenge Tesla more directly with new offerings like the Ford Mustang Mach E electric SUV as well as electric pickups. Electric pickups and SUVs could help Ford and GM generate the significant EV sales they will need to meet tougher emission standards and EV mandates in California and other states.
