Skip to main content

The day Elon Musk introduced his Tesla Cybertruck prototype to the world went infamously sideways. He staged a demonstration of its “armored” glass that included throwing a heavy metal ball at the windows. And the windows cracked.

Later, Tesla said the windows had been left a touch open and weren’t nearly as strong when unsupported. Perhaps, the automaker also refined its window design in the past five years. Thieves have found the first production Cybertrucks much harder to break in to than that viral demonstration video would suggest.

An Oakland-based musician named Dartform not only bought one of the first Cybertrucks, but he parked it on the street. When someone tried to break into it, his friend Arash Malek posted the truck’s sentry camera footage to Twitter alongside pictures of the damage.

The Tesla Cybertruck with the hood and doors open
Tesla Cybertruck | Allison Barfield, MotorBiscuit

The would-be thief pulled up in a white Infiniti G37. He hopped out with his hood up, but his face uncovered. Then he got out a spark plug and tried to use its pointy end to shatter the glass. He probably expected it to give way and shatter immediately. But he had no such luck.

The thief actually got back into his car to find his iPhone. Then he returned to the Cybertruck with his flashlight activated so he could see what he was doing. And his eyes confirmed that the glass cracked but would not shatter. No matter how hard he hit it.

This thief wasn’t going to give up easily. He climbed on top of the Cybertruck and tried to break the sunroof. The sunroof, which Tesla claims will withstand class 4 hail, also cracked but did not shatter.

After enough attempts the thief actually gave up and drove away. Cybertruck: 1. Larceny: 0.

But there is a downside to all of this. Dartform now has a Cybertruck with at least one cracked window and a cracked sunroof. Replacement side glass pieces will cost $225 to $260 each. The windshield is $1,900. The sunroof–without any self-driving sensors–likely costs less than a windshield. But probably more than a door window. Let’s hope insurance will cover the damage. It sucks that the thief was willing to break all that glass for any valuable Dartform happened to leave inside.

Next, find out why Tesla is telling Cybertruck owners to wipe bird poop off immediately, or watch the entire break-in attempt video in the Twitter post below: