Elon Musk unveils an electric 'Cybertruck' that outruns Porsches and shrugs off bullets

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Elon Musk unveils an electric 'Cybertruck' that outruns Porsches and shrugs off bullets

The Ford F-150's 3.3-litre engine fires up with a guttural roar.

You put the vehicle into gear and feel the 290 HP of brute horsepower being channeled to the four wheels.

The tires squeal as they paint the tarmac with molten rubber.

But there's no joy on your face, only consternation, and despair.

The truck is going backwards. The wheels have no traction. The F-150 is being hauled up a slope, by an otherworldly beast that doesn't appear to notice its existence.

That beast is the Tesla Cybertruck. And this actually happened.

The otherworldly design of the cybertruck is sure to turn heads. Image: Tesla

The otherworldly design of the cybertruck is sure to turn heads. Image: Tesla

The Cybertruck is unlike anything we've seen before. A traditional pickup truck is brawny. The Cybertruck is angular, purposeful, alien. It would seem more at home on Mars.

Its monochrome exoskeleton is made from cold-rolled stainless steel and can shrug off a blow from a sledgehammer. Tesla CEO Elon Musk claims it's bulletproof, impervious to 9 mm pistol rounds.

The glass is armoured and can absorb tremendous impact, says Musk. The glass did shatter during the on-stage demo, but Musk says that wasn't supposed to happen. "We'll fix it in post," he quipped.

 

And there will be no guttural roar when this beast powers on. All you'll hear are the screams of your passengers and the muted electric hum of powerful motors as the vehicle surges forward on a wave of torque that only an EV can generate.

Three electric motors drive the four wheels. Together, they propel the vehicle to 60 mph (about 97 kph) in under 2.9 seconds. That makes it quicker than a Porsche 911.

This truck can also do a quarter-mile drag in 10.8 seconds, the Porsche can only manage it in 12. And this is from a truck with storage capacity of 100 cubic ft and a towing capacity of a little over six tonnes.

 

Ground clearance is 16 inches, but the suspension is pneumatic and it can be independently raised or lowered by four inches. The vehicle even has a self-levelling feature that will keep the load secure on uneven or tilted terrain.

Creature comforts haven't been denied to us either. The interior is as futuristic as the exterior and seats six in comfort. As with the Model 3, the dash is replaced by a touchscreen.

Tesla-Cybertruck-Interior-720

Additional storage can be found under the rear seats, and the bed can hold 1.5 tonnes of stuff. There's even a cover to keep your load safe from the elements, human or otherwise.

Tesla's Cybertruck can be pre-ordered right now and it's available in three variants. Sadly, vehicle production is only expected to start in 2021, and the most exciting variant won't be available till at least 2022.

Single motor AWD: $39,900

  • Acceleration (0-100 kph): ~6.5 s
  • Range: ~402 km
  • Towing capacity: ~3.4 tonnes

Dual motor AWD: $49,900

  • Acceleration (0-100 kph): ~4.5 s
  • Range: ~482 km
  • Towing capacity: ~4.5 tonnes

Tri motor AWD: $69,900

  • Acceleration (0-100 kph): ~2.9 s
  • Range: ~804 km
  • Towing capacity: ~6.3 tonnes

And that's not all: complementing the truck is an all-electric ATV that can be loaded onto the bed and even be charged from it.

The 'one more thing' at the Cybertruck event was an all-electric ATV, and it even charges from the truck's bed.

The 'one more thing' at the Cybertruck event was an all-electric ATV, and it charges from the truck's bed. Image: Tesla




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