Overview

• Franz von Holzhausen described the 2019 steel-ball demo mishap as a “great meme” and “great marketing moment” in a Tesla Club Austria interview.
• Elon Musk explained that a prior sledgehammer test had cracked the armor glass window base, causing the stage demo failure.
• Tesla leveraged the incident by selling a $45 commemorative T-shirt and posting slow-motion off-stage tests showing intact armor glass.
• Originally slated for late 2021 at $39,900, the Cybertruck launched in November 2023 at a starting price of $60,990 after repeated delays.
• Tesla recalled nearly all of the approximately 46,000 Cybertrucks delivered early this year due to a risk of exterior panels detaching.