The fact that the Cybertruck looked like something out of a science fiction movie we already knew. But that it would end up being a target for military tests by the United States Army… none of us saw that coming, probably not Musk either! Well yes, Tesla’s most futuristic model (the one Elon Musk sold as “apocalypse-proof”) will now have to be tested receiving real missiles and bombs in a military training field in New Mexico. It seems like we are making it up, but we promise you we are not.
The Cybertruck enters the Pentagon’s blacklist
The Air Force has included the Cybertruck in its list of vehicles to destroy. It is in the group of 33 models they are going to test as targets, but Tesla’s appears several times in the documents. In other words, they want to see it blown up thoroughly.
Why so much obsession with it? Basically, because it has a very special structure. Its angular shape, that unpainted stainless steel exoskeleton, the 48-volt electrical system… all of that makes it a machine that could show up in real conflicts, especially if it ends up in the hands of some country with plenty of money to import it, so better to be ahead, as always.
A vehicle made to survive (or so Musk said)
From minute one, Elon Musk sold it as a futuristic tank on wheels. Armored windows, bulletproof panels, spaceship looks and promises that it would withstand the end of the world. That was marketing, yes, but now the story takes a turn: the army wants to check it for real, with explosives and all, so Musk, we hope it is not just marketing, otherwise we will see heads roll in your company!
But why destroy it?
Think about it, right now it is only sold in the United States, now imagine it begins to be exported worldwide (you know it is still banned in Europe, for example). And (God forbid) there is war. If some enemy decides to use it in the future, our troops must know how to blow this machine up, because it could be indestructible!
Neither perfect nor conventional
Although the Cybertruck has been a magnet for the press and Tesla fans, the truth is that it has not been free of controversies: mediocre finishes, slow technical service, not performing as promised… Even so, it has something that keeps it at the center of everything: it does not look like anything else on the road and that is why it is where it is, and other companies… are where they are.
Tesla aims at the Middle East
Meanwhile, Tesla is moving to sell the Cybertruck outside the United States. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar… countries where neither money nor taste for the eccentric are lacking. Today it cannot be bought outside North America, but that expansion is on the way. And it is not unreasonable to think that some will end up circulating in areas with so many geopolitical tensions in the Arabian Gulf. And clearly that is why the Army wanted to get ahead.
Worthy of a movie
Imagine it, several poor Cybertrucks seeing their final destiny, hundreds of military maneuvers on them. It was born as a whim but could die for the homeland, don’t you think it is poetic, Musk?
Even if Tesla keeps promoting it as indestructible, in White Sands they are about to put it to the test… with live fire. We will see if it is as tough as Musk promised. Because this time, it is not a presentation show, nor will there be tests in Austin, it will go straight to the battlefield to prove what it is capable of! If it really is indestructible we could be talking about a new national symbol, change the dollar bills!