© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc unveiled the company’s new truck called Cybertruck in a grand event in Los Angeles, California with the vehicle expected to put pressure on other carmakers. However, the event didn’t go as planned, after two of the truck’s armoured glass windows cracked during a demonstration of their strength.
During the unveiling of Tesla’s new offering, Musk bragged about the vehicle’s strength and first asked a volunteer to smash the vehicle’s door with a sledgehammer. Then came a demonstration to highlight the strength of the armoured glass used in the windows.
The first throw caused the window to break into a spiderweb and an expletive was audibly heard at the Tesla Design Center. As Musk’s assistant laughed nervously, the billionaire said: “Well, maybe that was a little too hard.”
Then came a second attempt, in which the ball bearing was thrown at the rear window. It didn’t go any better, and that window was also badly damaged. “It didn’t go through,” said Musk, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
However, he then had to continue with rest of the presentation with the damaged vehicle behind him, with the image going viral.
But that wasn’t the only talking point. To go on sale with a starting price of $39,900, the truck’s sharp geometric shape inspired many memes online. Musk had earlier tweeted the design was partly influenced by the Lotus Esprit sportscar that doubled as a submarine in the 1970s 007 film “The Spy Who Loved Me”.
#Cybertruck was the biggest trend on Twitter globally, with plenty of opinions mocking the design of the car. Sample these:
https://twitter.com/johnwenz/status/1197752789746634752
https://twitter.com/Avo_NP/status/1197740036453785600
According to the company, the base version of the Cybertruck, with a single motor, is good for 250 miles of range, a tow rating of 7,500 pounds, and a 0 to 60 mph time of 6.5 seconds.
A dual motor version priced at $49,000 can tow 10,000 pounds and reach 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, with 300 miles of range. And the top of the line module, at a whopping price of $69,900, will go more than 500 miles between charges, hit 60 mph in under 60 seconds, tow up to 14,000 pounds.
However, fans have to wait for two years as Tesla will start production in late 2022.
