Elon Musks Tells Us Why Tesla Cybertruck ‘Armour Glass’ Broke On Testing
I think we all laughed when Elon Musk shouted, “oh my f***ing God!” as the new Tesla Cybertruck sidewindow was smashed by a steel ball. The glass was said to be bulletproof, like the rest of its interior, but somehow this mere steel ball put not only one, but two large smashes in the truck’s windows. Now Elon has explained why this happened.
Yup. Sledgehammer impact on door cracked base of glass, which is why steel ball didn’t bounce off. Should have done steel ball on window, *then* sledgehammer the door. Next time …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2019
“Sledgehammer impact on door cracked base of glass,” he said. Which is why steel ball didn’t bounce off. Should have done steel ball on window, *then* sledgehammer the door.”
The steel ball, thrown by Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhuasen, managed to visibly damage the glass on both impacts. Obviously, the Cybertruck was taken back to base and research was carried out as to why this happened. Their conclusion is as follows:
The sledgehammer impact on the door apparently smashed the bottom of the glass at the base of the window. This made the ‘armour glass’ more fragile, meaning that when it was hit by the steel ball, it smashed. That works for the front window, but what the rear window? Both windows were damaged from the hits.
Well, the rear window apparently wasn’t equipped with ‘armour glass’, but Elon didn’t know this. Although it did smash in exactly the same way the front window did, but hey, if Elon says it’s true, then it’s true. Right?
Franz throws steel ball at Cybertruck window right before launch. Guess we have some improvements to make before production haha. pic.twitter.com/eB0o4tlPoz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2019
The later viral video of the steel ball being thrown at the window before the event has also introduced more questions. Why is the door open? Is it to absorb more of the impact from the ball? We’re not sure what this all means, but we’ll be interested to see the development of the truck push further.
