We’re talking about indestructible windows again. It must be Cybertruck season.
The first customers are set to take delivery of Tesla’s long-awaited, near-mythical cyberpunk pickup truck at the end of November — four years to the day since Tesla CEO Elon Musk first rolled the prototype onto a stage and promised delivery in 2021.
24 Days To Go and 1 Million Questions
Less than a month from the truck’s debut, it remains more a mystery than a contender. InsideEVs recently polled reservation-holders only to find that “nobody who reserved a Cybertruck has a clue about what they’re supposedly taking delivery of soon. Not its price tag, its final specs, or even its electric range. A month out from when at least some of these trucks end up in customers’ hands, and they remain a total enigma.”
Not to worry. Elon Musk and Joe Rogan are here to clear away the smoke with facts.
Musk appeared on Rogan’s podcast to discuss details late last week.
Among other things, he promised the truck would have a “beast mode version” but did not explain what that meant.
Unbreakable Windows — This Time
He also promised that the truck would be offered with bulletproof steel panels and bulletproof windows, though those features may be limited to a higher-cost version of the truck. The windows will be fixed in place. “You can make anything bulletproof if you want, but the glass has to be very thick to be bulletproof, so it can’t go up and down,” Musk explained.
The claim has a difficult history. When Musk first debuted the vehicle, he promised the windows were unbreakable. He attempted to demonstrate by asking presenters to throw heavy steel balls at them. The balls famously broke the unbreakable windows. Though, to be fair, the balls did not penetrate the cabin.
Rogan did, however, fire an arrow from a compound bow at the truck. It did not penetrate the door.
200,000 Per Year
Musk told Rogan the company was “aiming to make about 200,000 [trucks] a year at point production.” The company has claimed more than 1 million reservations for the truck, so even at that pace, some buyers could be waiting until 2028 or later.
“Point production” may be some time in the future. Musk recently told investors the truck is “just incredibly difficult to bring to market to reach volume, to be prosperous.”
So peak production may not come in the first year.
But it may not need to.
When Tesla first showed off a Cybertruck prototype, no other automaker had public plans to develop an electric truck. The hype around the preproduction version caused many others to develop plans.
They almost all beat Tesla to market.
The Chevrolet Silverado EV, Ford F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer EV pickup, and Rivian R1T are all already in customer driveways.
But demand for them may be ebbing. Both Ford and Chevrolet have recently scaled back production plans due to lower-than-expected sales volumes.
