Elon Musk has made headlines this week when he unveiled his latest project, the Cybertruck. This electric vehicle is made of the same steel that SpaceX uses to make their spacecraft. It is also bulletproof. The concept, a cross between a monster truck and a Harrier jump jet, is meant to have the same acceleration as a sports car with the off-road capabilities of a jeep.
Now using the same steel used in a spacecraft is a bold statement. With virgin galactic facing fierce criticism after one of its test ships detonated and killed a man (I bet Richard Branson required some pretty solid legal help there) we are surprised to see Elon using aspects from his space program on the new Cybertruck, but this is a man known for being unpredictable.
While on stage with the vehicle at the unveiling in Los Angeles, Elon demonstrated the durability of the car by smashing one of the doors with a sledgehammer, and to be fair to the Cybertruck, not a single mark was left on the door.
The bulletproof windows are made of something called Tesla Armour Glass, which is meant to stop a 9mm round.
It doesn’t stop there either, the Cybertruck can go from 0-60 in a staggering 2.6 seconds and can tow nearly 7000kg of weight, and has a battery that should last you 500 miles on one charge,
On top of this, you can charge for free at any of Tesla’s free destination charging points. Production is meant to start in 2022, with costs starting from a low of $39,000.
Who is Elon Musk?
If you haven’t heard at least something about the eccentric billionaire that is Elon Musk, I am very surprised.
But for those of you with no knowledge, Elon Musk is the South-African businessman who founded PayPal. He became a millionaire in his late 20s when he sold zip2, his start-up company, to Compaq Computers.
In more recent years, he made headlines in 2012 when he launched a rocket to send a commercial vehicle to the ISS in space. After that, he purchased SolarCity in 2016 and grew his wealth exponentially.
He is also the CEO of Tesla Motors, the company aiming to provide electric cars to the masses, as well as mass-producing electric car batteries and solar panels.
In his earlier years, he attended Stanford University, with the goal of pursuing a Ph.D. in physics. At the time, the internet boom was just kicking off, and he dropped out of college after a couple of days. A few days later, he created his first company, the one that would make him a millionaire, Zip2 Corporation.
Seven years later, he became a U.S. citizen in 2002. The billionaire is known for making outlandish statements and even appeared in a video interview while smoking a large joint of marijuana.
Loved and hated by many, he is not your typical billionaire. Personally, we love him, and we cannot wait to see what he does next.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.