
Here’s why the Tesla Cybertruck armored glass broke at the unveil
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Cybertruck tweetstorm is coming every few hours and in a frenzy, a follower asked him if the shattering of the Tela armored glass on the Cybertruck was planned to make it to the top stories and headlines next morning? Musk said ‘NO’.
Elon Musk said they actually tested the armored glass several times before the presentation with the same steel ball and there was not a single scratch on the glass, he tweeted about the pre-launch testing and also shared a video where Tesla Chief Designs Franz von Holzhausen tested the Cybertruck glass successfully:
We threw same steel ball at same window several times right before event & didn’t even scratch the glass!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2019
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
Update: According to Elon Musk’s latest statement, they made a mistake in the sequence of the presentation at the event, they should have tested the window durability first and test the body toughness with the sledgehammer next, he tweeted:
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
The shattering of the Cybertruck glass took over the internet and mainstream media by storm yesterday, actually, the windows broke because of the repeated strikes they took backstage before the actual live test took place. A more scientific explanation is provided by an expert in the same twitter discussion thread by an Elon follower and experienced in armored vehicles and related stuff.
The important thing is that the ball still was not able to penetrate the window, in a normal truck or car, a steel ball of that much weight would have gone through the glass in the first attempt and with that much force.
Important to remember is that this is the same ballistic glass used in the SpaceX shuttles, so it is reliable, Elon and the team learned it the hard way, maybe it was time constraint or missed Physics lessons.
Remember, ballistic glass is not "bullet proof". Bullets (projectiles) don't bounce off. The true effect of ballistic panels or glass is to absorbed the force and transfer it so there is no penetration.
— Sean Hodges Connell (@sean_h_connell) November 23, 2019
Hence, what U saw.
Force into window, transferred outward into glass panel
So please educate us all on you experience inside any armored SUV you have ever been inside of?
— Sean Hodges Connell (@sean_h_connell) November 23, 2019
I simply was attempting to explain why armored glass might "fail", which it did not. It transferred the force & did not provide penetration.
It actually worked as designed.
Says U?
Tesla Cybertruck’s Unibody Design (Exoskeleton)
A few months back a Tesla patent was revealed that showed a giant unibody casting machine used to cast a car’s body and frame in a single go, everyone thought that Tesla will use this new technology for the Model Y compact SUV but it was actually intended for the Cybertruck.
As we can see in the above picture and from Elon Musk’s comments, the toughness of the Tesla Cybertruck lies in its unibody design which the Tesla CEO likes to call an ‘exoskeleton’, that’s right, a touch of Blade Runnersque’ terminology is needed to pitch to generation z and he did that pretty successfully.
A stainless steel body that can take sledgehammer hits without a dent coupled with impenetrable glass windows can withstand normal car accidents easily with minimal damage to the occupants and the vehicle, which should result in acquiring an easy and affordable insurance policy.
Despite the polarizing views about the Cybertruck, people are constantly reporting on social media that they have ordered one for themselves, sounds insane but a reality, most are saying it is growing on them.
Did the design grow on you? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Dennis Mann
Posted at 05:02h, 28 NovemberI will say it does have to grow on you and it does. It will not replace all Pickup trucks but it will fill that need for speed, reliability,and no carbon footprint ( at least from a tail pipe )