Elon Musk and Tesla’s latest PR stunt is extremely dangerous

The Cybertruck would have an exoskeleton and bulletproof windows, Tesla announced in 2019. Nothing came of it, but that didn’t stop Elon Musk & Co. from this stunt.

A Tesla Cybertruck prototype was spotted on the American highway with its left side doors smashed. None of the bullets penetrated the stainless steel.

Tweet from Elon Musk

On Twitter (oh wait, no bullets entered the passenger compartment.”

We emptied the entire drum magazine of an Al Capone-style Tommy gun into the driver’s compartment. No bullets entered the passenger compartment.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2023

What is a Tommy gun?

A Tommy gun is a Thomson submachine gun, a weapon with a distinctive round magazine that most people probably recognize from old gangster movies.

That raises questions

Musk’s tweet raises a number of questions. Why does Tesla think it’s necessary to empty an entire warehouse on a non-armored truck? And then why are you letting this thing drive on public roads?

The only answer we can think of to question number one is: Elon Musk just thought it was cool and seriously let his confused employees conduct such a nonsensical experiment.

Question two is much easier to answer: Musk was once again looking for publicity (which he is now getting). Why else would you let a prototype drive down the street with bullet holes in the door?

Stupid piece of ammunition

Innocent, right? Let this man have some fun. Well, that’s not so innocent. Musk’s tweet is anything but that, as it suggests that the Cybertruck can withstand weapons fire.

And it’s anything but that. A Tommy gun fires a .45 cartridge, a blunt piece of ammunition fired at a relatively low velocity. It’s not surprising that the Cybertruck’s doors can prevent this.

A naive American

The stainless steel sheet would turn into a piece of cheese if Musk had chosen to use a 9mm bullet from a pistol. In addition, the photo shows that only the sheet metal was shot, but not the endangered windows, window styles, etc.

In other words, the fact that Musk is suggesting that the Cybertruck is bulletproof is very strange. There will only be one naive American who tries it for himself.