Tesla Pickup Truck Not as Tough as it Looks

TU-Editor

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22nd November 2019

Tesla’s owner Elon Musk saw a stunt go wrong when attempting to show the strength of his new pickup truck’s glass which shattered when hit but a metal ball.

An assistant had previously tested the glass successfully against standard auto glazing but, when asked to throw the ball against the cars glass, the windows shattered in the same way as ordinary automotive toughened glass. The stunt took some of the polish off the distinctly unpolished military stealth-styled BEV dubbed the Cybertruck.

It claims a maximum range of 500 miles on a single charge and a a towing capacity of 14,000lbs. Tesla says there will be three versions, each with different range, towing abilities and sprint times.

The lowest model, with a single motor on the rear axle, is claims to have 250 miles of range, 7,500 pound towing capacity and 0-60mph in under 6.5 seconds. The mid-range, all-wheel-drive, dual motor model, has a range listed as 300 miles, 10,000 pound towing capacity and 60mph from standstill in under 4.5 seconds, while the premium model, which will not start production until late 2022, employs a three motors claiming and a sprint of 2.9 seconds. The payload in each case is up to 3,500 pounds.

In an attempt to prove its performance credentials, Musk claimed in the unveiling that it won a tug-of-war with the Ford F150, America’s most popular pickup truck, and outdragged a Porsche 911.