--- title: "Tesla Cybertruck’s Armored Windows Break During On-Stage Strength Test" description: "Musk arranged an elaborate, slow-build demonstration of the \"ultra-strong glass and polymer-layered composite\" that culminated in the truck's designer accidentally breaking its driver side windows with a steel ball." date: "2019-11-22" modified: "2019-11-22" authors: - name: "Kyle Cheromcha" job_title: "Editor-in-Chief" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/31158/tesla-cybertrucks-armored-windows-break-during-on-stage-durability-test" categories: - "Car Tech" - "Electric Vehicles" - "News" - "News by Brand" - "Tesla News" - "Trucks" tags: - "Electric Vehicle" - "pickup" - "Tesla" --- # Tesla Cybertruck’s Armored Windows Break During On-Stage Strength Test ![]() *\www.thedrive.com\* In a segment that prizes toughness, Tesla wants everyone to know it's not messing around with its pickup truck. The [Tesla Cybertruck]() has a structural exoskeleton made of ultra-hard, cold-rolled stainless steel that CEO Elon Musk claims is bulletproof, plus armored glass said to withstand hard impacts. Key phrase: "said to." If you didn't watch the livestream of the reveal event, you might be wondering why many of the pictures from the event show the Cybertruck on stage with two smashed windows. Musk arranged an elaborate, slow-build demonstration of the "ultra-strong glass and polymer-layered composite" that culminated in the truck's designer accidentally breaking its driver side windows with a steel ball. The terrible beauty of live TV strikes again. (The relevant portion starts at 7:41 in the video below, in case it's not cued in properly.) https://youtube.com/embed/SwvDOdBHYBw The test started out innocuously enough, with a sample pane of glass sitting horizontally like a very expensive coffee table and the golf ball-sized steel sphere dropped from increasing heights. Then Musk took it a step further by having Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen hurl it overhand at the demo truck on the dais—and the CEO clearly couldn't hide his surprise when the driver's window shattered. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1197735866514280448 "Oh my f\*\*\*ing God," Musk blurted out. "Well, maybe that was a little too hard. It didn't go through, that's the plus side." At von Holzhausen's suggestion, they decided to try the rear window. Same result. Both men were clearly unsure how to proceed from there—von Holzhausen left the stage as Musk repeatedly turned around to look at the damage with a slightly incredulous gaze before eventually moving on with the presentation. "How about that. A little room for improvement," he said as a few nervous chuckles echoed around the room. "We threw everything, we threw wrenches, we even literally threw the kitchen sink at the glass and it didn't break. For some weird reason it broke now. We don't know why. We'll fix it in post. So." We too don't know why the armored glass broke, but one reason the sample glass *didn't* break is because it wasn't fastened down and was thus able to bend and deform when the ball landed on it. In any case, let's hope future public tests on the Tesla Cybertruck go as well as they apparently do in private. ## Author Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()