Tesla CEO Elon Musk was left stunned when he unveiled the firm’s Cybertruck last week after the armored glass windows broke in a demonstration.
Despite the disastrous launch, Musk has revealed the firm sold ‘200k’ of the futuristic vehicles in a tweet.
The billionaire also shared that the Cybertruck is a ‘better truck than an F-150’ and included a video of the two vehicles in a game of tug-of-war – with Telsa’s truck beating the competition.
The Tesla co-founder floundered on stage in California on Thursday when the vehicle’s armored glass windows cracked in a demonstration intended to prove their indestructible design.
Shares in the company plunged 6.1 percent following the truck’s bumpy launch and several lackluster reviews.
Even though the reveal seemed like a nightmare for Musk, it has not deterred the public from purchasing the futuristic truck.
Musk shared on his Twitter ‘200k’ this past Sunday, which is the number or pre-ordered Cybertrucks so far.
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The billionaire also shared that the Cybertruck is a ‘better truck than an F-150’ and included a video of the two vehicles in a game of tug-of-war – with Telsa’s truck beating the competition
The CEO also showed off just how powerful the Cybertruck is in a 16 second video.
The clip opens up with the Cybertruck and an F-150 connected to each other in the back.
They both start their engines and try to drive off, but Telsa’s vehicle quickly pulls the Ford uphill.
The Cybertruck is equip with a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup and has a starting price of $49,900.
Despite the disastrous launch, Musk has revealed the firm sold ‘200k’ of the futuristic vehicles in a tweet
However, some Twitter users are skeptical about the demonstration. One users shared a tweet calling Musk out for ‘pulling the f150 before it had a chance to spin the wheels’
Another user believes it was not a fair match, as Tesla’s Cybertruck has more advantages a regular truck
Even Neil DeGrasse Tyson, an American astrophysicist, is not sold on the ‘stunt’ put on by Tesla
Against it appears to be a F-150 in STX trim, judging by the grille, door handles, and wheels, which had a price of $30,000 for a regular cab XL in 2018, according to Motor1.com
By looking at the two vehicles, it appears that Telsa’s is slightly larger than Ford’s.
However, they Cybertruck only weighs about 1,000 to 1,500 pounds, while the F-150 is 6,100 to 7,050 pounds.
Although the video shows the Cybertruck dragging the F-150 with ease, some Twitter users are skeptical about the demonstration.
One user shared a tweet calling Musk out for ‘pulling the f150 before it had a chance to spin the wheels’.
Even Neil DeGrasse Tyson, an American astrophysicist, is not sold on the ‘stunt’ put on by Tesla.
He wrote on Twitter: ‘A badass @Tesla looking like it’s doing a badass thing. But if the @Ford F-150 is RWD **with no payload** then weight on the Rear Axle is greatly reduced, offering only mild traction for the Tesla to overcome. This contest is more about the Physics of Friction than Engine Power.’
The industrial-looking Cybertruck is covered in the same steel alloy Musk plans to use for his SpaceX Starship rocket and will be able to go from 0 to 62 miles per hour in about three seconds, the Tesla chief executive claimed in his presentation.
Musk also said the entry-level model will have a starting price of $39,900 and a 400- to 250-mile range, while a deluxe option will be able to travel twice the distance and will sell for $69,900.
On a Los Angeles-area stage with Musk (pictured), Tesla design chief Franz von Holzhausen hurled a softball-sized metal ball at the driver’s side window to demonstrate the strength of the glass, which Musk called ‘Transparent Metal Glass.’ It shattered
The clip opens up with the Cybertruck and an F-150 connected to each other in the back. They both start their engines and try to drive off, but Telsa’s vehicle quickly pulls the Ford uphill.
However the much-hyped unveiling went off script when its supposedly unbreakable armored window glass splintered twice when hit with a large metal ball.
On a Los Angeles-area stage with Musk, Tesla design chief Franz von Holzhausen hurled a softball-sized metal ball at the driver’s side window to demonstrate the strength of the glass, which Musk called ‘Transparent Metal Glass.’ It shattered.
‘Oh my … God,’ Musk said, uttering an expletive. ‘Maybe that was a little too hard.’
They tried it a second time on the left passenger window, which spider-cracked again.
Musk recovered with a one-liner: ‘At least it didn’t go through. That´s a plus side.’
Today, the CEO revealed just what went wrong on stage last Thursday.
Musk explained in a tweet that the base of the glass window had already been weakened during a previous demo.
Designer Franz von Holzhausen had hit the car’s door with a sledgehammer to prove its toughness and, while it appeared to go unscathed, this ‘cracked the base of [the] glass’, according to Musk.
It is unclear, however, if this explanation accounts for the breaking of the rear passenger window, which was not similarly hammered.
It is also conceivable that it was the combination of the three different onslaughts — the ball, the sledgehammer and then the ball again — that pushed the glass to its literal breaking point.
Musk also addressed why the Cybertruck’s outer shell is so angular — a design feature that has drawn much amusement online.
‘Reason Cybertruck is so planar is that you can’t stamp ultra-hard 30X steel, because it breaks the stamping press,’ he wrote on Twitter.
‘Even bending it requires a deep score on inside of bend, which is how the prototype was made.’
