As Mr Musk unveiled the Cybertruck, the company’s first armoured vehicle, at an event in Los Angeles, the team decided to show off its bulletproof windows. To demonstrate the strength of the windows, Tesla’s design chief Franz von Holzhausen threw a brick at one of them. However, the glass cracked when the brick hit it in an embarrassing turn of events.
Mr Musk, who also runs SpaceX, attempted to make light of the situation on stage and said: “Well, maybe that was a little too hard. It didn’t go through, so that’s a plus.”
But the South African-born billionaire was evidently humbled by the accident, taking to Twitter after the event to state that Tesla has some work to do.
Mr Musk uploaded a video to his social media account showing Mr von Holzhausen rehearsing the throw, this time not smashing the window.
Accompanying the video, Mr Musk wrote: “Franz throws steel ball at Cybertruck window right before launch. Guess we have some improvements to make before production haha.”
Earlier he had claimed the vehicle is “literally bulletproof to a 9mm handgun”.
Shares in companies owned by Mr Musk suffered a significant fall following the embarrassing incident.
The basic Cybertruck will be available for purchase for $39,000 (£30,000) with a top range model costing $69,900 (£54,460).
For an additional $7,000 (£5,453) customers will be able to purchase a “self-driving” option that will be able to drive itself once the software is completed.
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The most expensive Cybertruck model will be able to carry 3,500 pounds of material or tow a maximum of 14,000 pounds.
Fully charged it will have a range of 500 miles, though the most basic version will run out of power after 250 miles.
The futuristic vehicle’s design was “influenced” by James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me, according to Musk.
The angular vehicle will be the first all-electric pick-up in a US market dominated by Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler.
Musk told the launch in Los Angeles: “We need sustainable energy now. If we don’t have a pickup truck, we can’t solve it.”