
Tesla's new Cybertruck smashed during demo - thread_id
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50513294
======
TheAdamist
Automotive windows have been a solved problem and commodity for a while. I
don't really understand the point of this demonstration, except for two
possibilities:

1\. They're gaslighting the Tesla faithful with "super strong" windows that
are just normal. Or

2\. Demonstrating they are still wasting tons of r&d dollars on non-problems
and ought to bring in an adult who can design and manufacture commodity things
efficiently.

~~~
modernerd
3\. It's a PR stunt.

It invites people who don't care much for Tesla or the vehicle itself to share
the video, it softens the seriousness and tension of a launch, and it helps to
humanise the brand and the presenter.

~~~
TheGallopedHigh
Do you bleieve they are playing that type of self-deprecating meta?

~~~
mytailorisrich
I believe that they are PR and marketing experts. They've created a big buzz
that has everyone talking about this car.

"Armor glass" that completely shatters when you throw something at it by hand?
Come on...

Also, why would it need armor glass in the first place? They picked a gimmick
that is irrelevant to the product so that this "failure" does not hurt at all.

~~~
9nGQluzmnq3M
If you think Tesla's PR and marketing is done by experts, please explain
Musk's Thai cave rescue pedophile fiasco last year.

~~~
mytailorisrich
What has Tesla's PR team to do with Elon Musk's personal tweets? This is a
very poor argument...

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Ecco
Conspiracy theory: that incident was on purpose to generate massive PR.

Argument: seriously, how hard would it be to rehearse that thing so that it
does not happen live twice?

~~~
bob1029
I actually believe this is probably the case. Watching MKBHD's ride on YT
indicated they replaced the glass prior to riding the press around, so they
probably had this planned in advanced to some extent.

I don't think anyone should have realistic expectations of the outer layer of
glass not shattering. That is why there are multiple layers. If you threw a
big metal ball really hard at the president's limo, it would likely crack the
outer layer as well in similar ways. What fundamentally controls the strength
of armored glass is how many layers you have.

~~~
double0jimb0
Elon is a lot of things, but a good actor he is not. Watch the livestream for
a few mins before to a few minutes after the throw. He was noticeably thrown
off and flustered. The audience knew he was uncomfortable and cheered him for
support. The whole thing was cringe inducing.

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phkahler
The truck needs a better GPU so they can increase the polygon count.

~~~
de_watcher
Poly count is low so our roads won't lag.

~~~
Joe-Z-L
:0 So that’s how it can go to 60 so fast, damn

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kube-system
Pretty much all cars in the US are implementing laminated side glass to comply
with FMVSS 226 occupant ejection mitigation requirements.

They just figured out an interesting way to demonstrate a feature that nearly
every car sold in the US since 2017 already has.

~~~
rootusrootus
I haven't yet seen a car on the road with anything other than tempered side
glass.

~~~
kube-system
Here’s a list of a few:

[https://www.aaa.com/AAA/common/AAR/files/Laminated-Glass-
Veh...](https://www.aaa.com/AAA/common/AAR/files/Laminated-Glass-Vehicle-
List.pdf)

~~~
rootusrootus
Well that's a handy list of vehicles that won't be on my list when I'm
shopping for my next car.

~~~
kube-system
You sure? I'm glad I had laminated glass when some projectile hit my driver
side window on the highway last year.

There are a far greater number of realistic and common scenarios where a
windows pose a safety benefit by operating as a safety barrier than there are
scenarios where they pose a safety benefit by being easily penetrable.

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ToFab123
Reminds me of BillG presenting Windows 98 on live TV
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKy9fV_zX_o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKy9fV_zX_o)

------
brentonator
They also hit the door with a sledgehammer as hard as they could and didn't
dent it. The video for that is pretty amazing.

~~~
berberous
It looked to me like the guy was clearly not swinging his hardest.

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csomar
Imo, this is not the problem. The glass passed the test when it was not
fixated on the car. (assuming the glass used on the freefall test is the same
used in the car).

The freefall test height is pretty significant, so either: 1. They were not
using the same glass and lying on the freefall test or 2. They mistakenly put
another glass type on the demo car. Which is a really bad mistake for the guys
staging the demo.

I expect Tesla to give clarifications as well as put the tech specs for their
glass.

~~~
thysultan
Or the non-fixed glass was fixated on a flat surface that might have absorbed
much of the energy or the tester is the fastest baseball pitcher in history.

~~~
csomar
If you notice, on the second test, he was hitting much weaker and the glass
still shattered.

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NetBeck
I thought the way they handled a failed demo was cool. Most companies would
have rolled the product off stage or put something in front of it, but Elon
rolled with the punches and continued the presentation with two shattered
windows. It lowers the probability the truck was hardened or altered for a
better presentation.

~~~
Insanity
He did look a bit shaken up by it. As if he was less concentrated on the
presentation after the incident.

Apart from that, I do think he handled it quite well. Best to laugh it off and
not make a big deal.

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ianai
Title is a little dramatic. Saying they smashed the truck when the window
glass broke when it shouldn’t have but everything else was the same is
inaccurate.

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lazyjones
Perhaps they did it on purpose as a marketing gag.

~~~
Traster
It's honestly amazing how debased our society has become where even outright
fucks are excused as "Oh well maybe they're just so clever that their success
looks indistinguishable from a normal person failing"

~~~
drcongo
This should be the top comment on this thread. The entire presentation was a
shambles. Elon Musk mumbling while trying to read stats off the screen behind
him, attempting to answer hecklers and ending sentences that he'd forgotten to
start. Then some tediously long demos of a man dropping a ball down a tube
with amateur magician flourishes. That anyone could watch this and then
conclude that he's a genius who did it on purpose is truly mine boggling.

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tyingq
Guessing they tested before the live shot, which worked, but weakened the
glass. Though the back window gives too, so maybe not.

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xtracto
It happens, and it happens more than anyone would like to admit. Remembered me
about
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LfNQOOr9aR8](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LfNQOOr9aR8)

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exabrial
With a design like that they're going to completely miss their target
audience: the F150 buyers of America.

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new_realist
The whole reveal was such a shitshow that I doubt this was a PR stunt. It’s
just par for the course for Tesla.

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agumonkey
AFAIK Ford did a similar thing with hemp based plastic car body.

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abhiminator
This incident should be a good argument against making live product demos
(particularly those that test product 'ruggedness'), especially for a brand
new/untested class of product.

I'd rather let the broader 'tech reviewers' community test it out for
themselves once the product launches to public -- that'll certainly look more
authentic and less staged.

~~~
libertine
This is a minor detail in a full event.

The worst case scenario he made a fool out of himself on that moment, which is
something he is most definitely used to.

The best case scenario he will get a lot of PR, even haters will be talking
about the Cybertruck.

If there are products that deserve live product demos are these that break the
mold and leave people scratching their heads.

If you left it to tech reviewers they would probably bitch about the design.
When what happened was a truck with an odd design that at first leaves you
uncomfortable but by the end of the event you've grown to like it.

