At the Cybertruck delivery event, Tesla showed off the Cybertruck’s durability rather disappointingly by softly lobbing a baseball at the glass. However, a new video shows Tesla’s top executive team thoroughly testing the Cybertruck glass.
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It was a long time coming but, the Cybertruck is finally here. At the November 30 event, Tesla handed over the first ten out of 1000 Foundation Series Cybertrucks to customers.
The fact that the Cybertruck has finally started customer deliveries after so many years was exciting, especially given that many people, even some automotive veterans, had doubted the Cybertruck would ever see the light of day.
This on its own is a cause for celebration however, the Cybertruck delivery event has also been marred by several unkept promises on Tesla’s part.
When Tesla first unveiled the vehicle in 2019, the EV maker said the cheapest truck version would start at $39,990 and the highest spec vehicle would have a 500-mile EPA range while starting at $69,900.
However, at the delivery event, we got a $100,000 vehicle with a 340-mile EPA range and a starting price for the base model of $61,000.
These are the main issues people had with the truck, however, there were also several unkept promises with regard to the original prototype.
The Cybertruck’s towing capability went down from 14,000 lbs to 11,000 lbs. The carrying capacity went down from 3,500 lbs to 2,500 lbs and the liquid metal glass which was supposed to stop a solid steel ball was demonstrated using a soft lob by Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen.
All the unmet specs are particularly troubling as Tesla almost always over-delivers in comparison to the prototypes it shows.
The range, towing capacity, and payload capacity have all been decided and it doesn't appear as though Tesla is able to do anything about those things however, at least the issue with the Cybertruck’s glass appears to not be as much of a disappointment as the delivery event demonstration made it out to be.
At the event, although the live demonstration was a letdown, Tesla said the Cybertruck’s shatter-resistant glass has been rated for class 4 hail and Elon Musk even added that the glass will not be damaged if you threw a baseball at it at 70mph.
Just to add more context, the class 4 hail rating is the highest level of impact resistance and is usually performed to test out the level of impact roof shingles are able to withstand without breaking.
Given Tesla already sells a glass product that is used as roof shingles – the glass solar roofs – it appears that Tesla is using the same type of glass the company uses in its solar products which gives more credence to Tesla’s claims about the Cybertruck’s “shatter resistant” glass.
And for those of you disappointed to see Franz slowly lobbing the baseball at the Cybertruck, following the delivery event, Tesla’s top executive team was seen doing a more rigorous test on the Cybertruck glass.
As you can see in the video below, Franz and Tesla’s head of vehicle engineering, Lars Moravy are seen bouncing the baseball on the Cybertruck’s glass at a much higher intensity than was demonstrated during the delivery event.
The Cybertruck’s glass appears to take the baseball without any problem. Although we would’ve liked to see this test during the live event, it’s nonetheless nice to see that Cybertruck’s glass is still more durable than most vehicle glasses.
Currently, this is all the testing we’ve regarding the Cybertruck’s shatter-resistant glass however, we’ll be sure to keep you posted as the truck gets out to more reviewers. Until then, make sure to visit our site torquenews.com/Tesla regularly for the latest updates.
So what do you think? Excited to see the Cybertruck’s glass durability being further tested? Also, what did you think about the delivery event, did Tesla deliver on your Cybertruck expectations? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Image: Courtesy of Brandon @Teslaflex on X
For more information check out: Tesla Confirms a Cybertruck Solar Panel Cover That According to Elon Musk “Can Generate 15 Miles Per Day” Will be Offered as an Accessory
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis for several years. He covers everything about Tesla from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
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