Few automobiles encourage stronger opinions than the Tesla Cybertruck. Drivers and passersby both love or hate the shiny, sharp-angled vehicles, lots of which have been vandalized and even shot with paintball guns as a response towards Tesla CEO and former Trump administration staffer Elon Musk.
So this one’s for you, Cybertruck haters: The Air Drive just lately had 33 automobiles, together with two Cybertrucks, delivered to the White Sands Missile Vary in New Mexico, with plans to shoot them up.
Paperwork first noticed by TWZ present that the Air Drive is seeking to check the sturdiness of the Cybertruck, given its distinctive make-up and options, for target-vehicle coaching check occasions.
Representatives for the Air Drive and Tesla didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Learn extra: Every Tesla Cybertruck Recall Since the Vehicle Was Released
Ever for the reason that Cybertruck was introduced, Tesla has touted it as tough to break. Musk referred to as the car “bulletproof,” and mentioned it will survive an apocalypse. In an infamous 2019 launch event, Musk challenged a colleague to throw metal balls on the truck’s home windows, saying they would not break. They did.
The Cybertruck carried out higher in later assessments. In 2024, Tesla posted a YouTube video the place the truck held as much as gunfire from a Tommy gun, pistol and shotgun.
Due to the Cybertruck’s robust outer construction, product of a proprietary stainless-steel alloy, there’s an expectation that the automobiles may very well be utilized by an enemy. Air Drive paperwork notice that the truck “doesn’t obtain the traditional extent of injury anticipated upon main impression.”
And that expectation is backed up by some proof. In 2024, Ramzan Kadyrov, chief of the Russian Republic of Chechnya, posted a video of a Cybertruck with a machine gun mounted on it, saying it had been despatched to the entrance strains of Russia’s battle in Ukraine.
The deliberate navy assessments will mirror these potential real-world conditions in a live-fire check. We do not know precisely what weapons the Air Drive plans to activate the Cybertrucks, however most likely every thing they have that may make a dent in them.
Learn extra: Cybertruck Recall Hits 46K Vehicles Thanks to a Glue Failure
The opposite automobiles chosen for testing embody pickup vehicles, SUVs and sedans. However solely the Cybertrucks have been referred to as out particularly by mannequin and maker identify.
