BMW mocks Tesla Cybertruck with its own Bulletproof X5
It’s safe to say that the Tesla Cybertruck reveal didn’t go as planned. Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that Elon Musk’s little display backfired, when he attempted to show off the Cybertruck’s “Tesla Armor Glass” by having a metal ball thrown at the window. Despite being said to be bulletproof against 9mm gunfire, the metal ball broke the window after having been thrown by a normal-sized mad. Hardly bulletproof, then, is it? So poke some fun at Tesla, BMW tweeted a photo of its newly released bulletproof X5 VR6.
In the tweet, we get to see the bulletproof BMW X5 shot to hell by a variety of different caliber bullets, none of which went all the way through. The caption that goes along with it reads: “Comes with bulletproof windows and offers splinter protection in case it gets hit by a metal ball”.
Comes with bulletproof windows and offers splinter protection in case it gets hit by a metal ball: The new BMW X5 Protection VR6: https://t.co/XnMPixFvRx
[Combined fuel consumption and CO2 emission: 13.0 l/100 km; 298 g/km. Further information: https://t.co/3Hw3jgS6fo] pic.twitter.com/fn5uXAYawo
— BMW (@BMW) November 22, 2019
Shots fired. Pun intended.
The armored BMW X5 VR6 sports glass that literally has to withstand assault rifle fire without any glass particles entering the cabin. In fact, a testing film is added to the inside of the glass, which has the same durability as human skin. So if it’s damaged during the glass test, the glass fails. Which means even harsh indents will cause the glass to fail. By those standards, the Cybertruck would have failed from a metal ball.
Elon Musk claims that the glass was weakened by a sledge hammer hit to the door that occurred during a previous test. So if bullets hit the door and then the glass (as typically shooters don’t fire just once), the glass won’t still hold up? Also, there’s some curiosity surround the sort of hammer that was used, as it seemed to be a deadblow hammer, specifically designed not to damage metal. The one used in the video looks suspiciously like this one. Though, we won’t get into any theories about the veracity of Musk’s claims. Instead, let’s focus on the differences between the Cybertruck and the armored BMW X5 VR6.
What’s interesting is that Musk claims the rest of the Cybertruck is bulletproof because it uses the same aerospace-grade steel used by his SpaceX rocket-building team for the body. In fact, I think Musk must have said “Cold-rolled 30X steel” 500 times since the Cybertruck’s unveiling. He really, really likes cold-rolled 30X steel. However, BMW claims that it’s tried using aerospace-grade steel for armor and, well, it didn’t turn out very well.
“One supplier offered us a supposedly bulletproof space flight material. But during the ballistics test, the $20,000 plate shattered into a thousand pieces.” said Daniel Huber, engineer for BMW armored vehicles.
According to BMW, the X5 VR6 is capable of withstanding AK47 fire. That’s a bit more potent than 9mm. Obviously, the X5 VR6 is much more expensive and is only offered as a special order for specific customers. However, if you’re looking for something bulletproof, there’s no getting around the fact that something like the BMW X5 VR6 will better suit your needs than the Tesla Cybertruck.
[Source: BMW]
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