Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils ‘Cybertruck’ in demo marred by shattered glass
- The electric-powered pickup truck starts at US$39,900 and will come in three variants
- Cybertruck can be ordered with a deposit of US$100, though production is in late 2021
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk took to the stage late Thursday to reprise a familiar role: pitching a future vehicle to a throng of adoring fans. This time, it is the “Cybertruck” – Musk’s name for Tesla’s new electric pickup truck.
The futuristic vehicle starts at US$39,900 and will come in three variants, Musk told an audience in Hawthorne, California, on Thursday. The truck can already be ordered with a deposit of US$100, though production “nears in late 2021”, according to Tesla’s website.
After a Blade Runner-inspired introduction, Musk had Tesla’s long time chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, smash the truck’s steel exterior with a sledgehammer, showing that it did not dent.
The second demonstration, of “Tesla armour glass”, was the real show stopper: von Holzhausen unintentionally shattered two windows with a metallic ball, causing Musk to say “Oh my f---ing god”.
Given how product launches are usually scripted and rehearsed, the broken windows were the evening’s big surprise.
The evening began with a slide show of standard pickup trucks throughout the years, and Musk’s vow to make something different that runs on sustainable energy.