Things did not go as planned at Tesla's big reveal of their Cybertruck model. Late Thursday, Elon Musk unveiled the vehicle for the first time at an event in suburban Los Angeles. While some may have been excited to see how the electric car manufacturer would innovate the pickup truck, Tesla may have missed the mark on this one. An excessively austere-looking tank was rolled onto the stage - a design that people are concerned is too avant-garde to replace the U.S.'s most popular vehicle model. “It doesn’t look like anything else,” Musk said, intending this remark as a flex, yet instead highlighting a potential flaw.
At the debut, Musk raved about the durability of the Cybertruck. “We were able to make the skin out of ultra-hard stainless steel. Really hard... You want a truck that’s really tough, not fake tough. You want a truck you can take a sledgehammer to, a truck that won’t scratch, doesn’t dent.” Musk did not merely state this metaphorically, but brought out a sledgehammer to demonstrate how Tesla's latest invention meets our supposed desires. One of the designers swung at the Cybertruck’s door, which left no damage. However, when they tried to further impress audience members by throwing a metal ball at the truck's “armor-glass” windows, they weren't as cooperative. The window shattered and Musk exclaimed “Oh my f***ing God."
While Musk managed to shrug off this mishap by remarking, “We’ll fix it in post,” investors' faith in Tesla was ultimately shaken. According to Forbes, the company’s share price dropped by 6% after market close on Thursday, pushing Musk’s net worth down by $768 million in a single day, to $23.6 billion. The 48-year-old founder is the 41st-richest person in the world. Forbes also reported that 16 out of 35 Wall Street analysts advised for the stock to be sold after this disappointing step.