It’s easy to market: The stainless steel body of the Tesla Cybertruck is more bulletproof than the competition. Tesla demonstrated this with a corresponding video last year. There the manufacturer itself tested what effects different calibers have on the stainless steel of the vehicles. Conclusion: The ammunition types “.45 ACP” from the mafia weapon Tommy Gun, 9 mm pistol cartridges and 00 Buckshot from the shotgun do not penetrate as long as a point that has already been hit does not become a target again. This means that the Cybertruck stainless steel is definitely more bulletproof than the sheet metal bodies of other manufacturers.
However, the truck should under no circumstances be said to have general resistance to fire. The many types of ammunition and effects are too different. Because bullets have several properties that matter. The size of the ammunition, i.e. the sheer mass of the cartridges, is just as important as their speed, the bullet energy and the nature, i.e. their hardness. For example, a full metal jacket bullet penetrates a vehicle much more easily than a soft deformation bullet, which deforms upon impact and is therefore less suitable for hard targets.
The well-known YouTuber “JerryRigEverything” has now made it his mission to put the manufacturer’s advertising promise to the test. He also uses different calibers for his fire test, starting with 9 mm handgun cartridges, which are used in police pistols, for example. After the fire, he can confirm: the truck actually holds up.
This is initially followed by small but faster ammunition. First, the shooter tries the small-caliber 22-caliber ammunition. He states that the bullet reaches a speed of 304 meters per second. For comparison: a 9 mm cartridge is only marginally lower with speeds of 270 m/s or more. Unsurprisingly, the Cybertruck cannot be shot through. This type of ammunition is mostly used for sport shooting or small game hunting.
This is followed by firing with the small caliber cartridge .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (.17 HMR), which at 777 meters per second is more than twice as fast as the other types of ammunition. Many hunting rifles use this caliber. The result: The cartridge penetrates the stainless steel with ease – and the Cybertruck has reached its limits.
This is followed by one of the most common and popular calibers in the USA: the center cartridge .223 REM, a high-velocity bullet with speeds of up to 1200 meters per second. This ammunition is used, for example, in the AR-15 assault rifle, which is one of the most popular weapons in the USA and has been used in countless shootings.
Unsurprisingly, the Cybertruck with its 1.8 mm thick stainless steel has no chance of stopping the bullet here either. After firing with the AR-15, the interior panel also has a larger hole and the shot goes through smoothly and unstoppably.
The last test is actually just for personal enjoyment. Because in the finale the fire follows with a 12.7 × 99 mm NATO cartridge (also called .50 BMG), which is used in heavy machine guns and large sniper rifles, the anti-materiel rifles.
Although the cartridge itself is not the fastest – it reaches a maximum speed of around 920 m/s – the bullet is a heavy cartridge that releases enormous bullet energy. For comparison: a 9 mm cartridge has around 350 to 750 joules. For the 12.7 × 99 mm NATO cartridge it is between 15,500 and 20,000 joules. The destructive power is sufficient to penetrate armored vehicles.
So it happened as it had to happen: after being shot at with the sniper rifle, there was a huge hole in the Cybertruck door, and the paneling in the interior was torn up around the impact. But: Much to the surprise of “JerryRigEverything”, the glass of the door is still intact and can be raised and lowered without any problems.
