Tesla Cybertruck Shows off Bulletproof Windows

The Cybertruck is off to a smashing start.

Tesla’s pickup truck is definitely unique – it looks more like the APC from Aliens than an F-150. And true to form, it’s “literally bulletproof” … despite what seems like a high-profile flub.

At the unveiling in Hawthorne, California, a stagehand with a sledgehammer went to town on the Cybertruck, causing no damage. The “unbreakable” windows weren’t so lucky – a metal ball shattered them.

But bulletproof windows aren’t impenetrable. Bulletproof glass is made from multiple materials, so it flexes instead of shatters. Bullets don’t ping off of it like in Hollywood movies – instead, it spiderwebs the surface and stops the projectile.

Courtesy of Wikipedia, the bulletproof glass of a jeweler's window after a burglary attempt.

The exterior for Tesla’s Cybertruck is made from a newly developed stainless steel alloy, same as the SpaceX rockets. Supposedly, it’s able to withstand smaller firearms, like 9-mm handguns (and you’d assume, other vehicles).

And yeah, Elon Musk’s derp face next to a Cybertruck with two shatter marks makes for a dramatic visual. "But it didn't go through," Musk pointed out.

Perhaps “unbreakable” is the wrong term. I’ll admit I don’t know whether Tesla used that specific phrasing or whether they said “bulletproof” and the press extrapolated (wrongly in this case). Few materials are literally unbreakable.

But what seems like a gotcha! moment was actually a dramatic demonstration of the Cybertruck’s ability to stop small projectiles. So yeah, feel free to take the Cybertruck into Peoria … or Mosul.