A Cybertruck was captured on the expressway with bullet-like marks on the door. Elon Musk confirmed that the car was shot at: “We emptied the entire drum magazine of a Tommy gun into the driver door Al Capone style. No bullets penetrated into the passenger compartment.” Cybertruck deliveries will start on 30 November 2023.
Cybertruck with bullet marks
The video was posted on the X portal by the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley club:
BREAKING: Cybertruck seen on the highway potentially gone through bullet proof testing ππ½π€―
Seen by member of the club. pic.twitter.com/wBr9mNrLl7
β Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 20, 2023
It was confirmed shortly afterwards by Elon Musk himself. From Musk’s statement and comments, it appears that these were 0.45 calibre bullets:
We emptied the entire drum magazine of a Tommy gun into the driver door Al Capone style. No bullets penetrated into the passenger compartment.
β Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2023
Cybertruck’s official launch 4 years and 9 days after the first presentation
Cybertrucks with the RC (release candidate) designation have been seen on the roads for several weeks now, Joe Tegtmeyer, who regularly flies around Giga Texas with his drones, reports more cast-offs and more pickups hidden under tarpaulins or directly visible on the parking slab (source). Although they are sometimes dusty, they have foiled seats, which makes their purpose clear:
Cybertruck should, in theory, be in the final stages of its preparatory work, meanwhile it was listed first as a justification for high spending in the last quarter. Next to it are AI and ‘other research projects’. The quarter’s summary shows that the use of the 800 V architecture brings “notable cost savings”, which is why it was used in Cybertruck.
Other highlights from the Q3 2023 quarterly report
Giga Texas currently has a capacity of more than 250,000 Tesla Model Ys and more than 125,000 electric pickups per year. We can easily calculate that the capacity of all Tesla factories is at least 2,350,000 vehicles per year (source, page 7). Interestingly, Giga Berlin has stopped at 375,000 units per year, about 31,300 Model Y units per month, further capacity increases are planned ‘gradually’.
From the same quarterly report, we learn that the manufacturer’s operating margin fell to 11 per cent (illustrated above), below companies in the S&P 500 but still above the auto market. This suggests that Tesla doesn’t have much room left to discount cars. Those expecting even cheaper Tesla Model 3/Y may be disappointed, although in the same report the company says it will continue to fight to lower prices.
To conclude, Tesla had 5,595 charging stations with 51,105 Superchargers (charging points) worldwide at the end of Q3 2023.
