The big reveal of Tesla’s electric pickup on Thursday went embarrassingly wrong when the supposedly impact-proof windows shattered, leaving a flustered CEO Elon Musk to flounder through the rest of his presentation in front of a badly damaged vehicle.
The Tesla cofounder unveiled the all-electric battery-powered Tesla Cybertruck in California, daring staff to hit the vehicle with sledgehammers and showing a video of it withstanding bullets shot from a 9mm gun.
However, the demonstration of the vehicle’s indestructible windows did not appear to go entirely to plan after one assistant threw a steel ball bearing at the truck — only to see the armored glass shatter.
Photo: AFP
An expletive could be heard at the Tesla Design Center and, as his assistant laughed nervously, Musk said: “Well, maybe that was a little too hard.”
However, a second attempt fared little better and another window was left badly damaged.
“It didn’t go through,” said a clearly uncomfortable Musk, who was forced to push on through the remainder of the chaotic launch with the two smashed windows in full view.
The futuristic Cybertruck — covered in the same stainless steel alloy Musk plans to use for his SpaceX Starship — would have a starting price of US$39,900 and can go from 0 to 100kph in about three seconds, the CEO claimed.
No date has been given for its release, but analysts said that it would not be ready before the end of 2021 at the earliest.
Tesla dominates the global electric car market and has an especially firm grip on the US.
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