Smashed
It was an embarrassing moment.
At Tesla’s reveal event for its newly-announced Cybertruck, chief designer Franz von Holzhausen tried to show off what the company calls “Tesla armor glass” — but the hefty metal ball he threw at the window smashed it in front of a live audience, prompting ridicule across the web.
20/20 Hindsight
In a Sunday afternoon tweetstorm, Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained that the “sledgehammer impact on door” from a preceding stunt “cracked base of glass, which is why steel ball didn’t bounce off.”
“Should have done steel ball on window, *then* sledgehammer the door,” he added . “Next time…”
Part Count
We already knew that the glass was made to be pretty tough. Minutes before the accident, a group of leather overcoat-clad stage assistants demonstrated that Tesla’s glass could withstand the same metal ball dropping onto its surface from a height of roughly 15 feet.
Musk also revealed on Twitter that his company received more than 200,000 pre-orders for the unusual truck.
“New manufacturing methods are certainly needed, but then I’m confident it will actually cost less, because of its simplicity & lower part count,” Musk tweeted.
READ MORE: Elon Musk explains why Tesla Cybertruck’s glass was shattered by steel ball [CNET]
More on the incident: Watch Tesla Accidentally Smash Cybertruck’s “Bulletproof” Window