Why a bulletproof Tesla Cybertruck would be an own-goal for the electric car brand

The tumultuous tale of the Tesla Cybertruck seems to have taken another turn, with the divisive electric car potentially facing another hurdle before it’s even started production properly.

Despite apparently being okay with relatively relaxed design laws for new cars in the US, claims that the electric Tesla Cybertruck could be bullet resistant might make it a hard sell in Australia and other jurisdictions like the European Union.

In late October, a video of a Cybertruck riddled with bullet dents driving down a highway circulated on X, formerly Twitter, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed had been through at least some form of firearm resistance testing.

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“We emptied the entire drum magazine of a Tommy gun into the driver door Al Capone style. No bullets penetrated into the passenger compartment,” Musk wrote as a reply to the original post from the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley account.

While, on the surface, a bullet-resistant electric ‘truck’ seems like a no-brainer positive, places like Australia have restrictions around the ownership of bulletproof and armoured cars.

If it turns out that the Cybertruck is actually bullet-resistant, which is something that would need to be more closely assessed by third-party experts rather than a Tesla employee with a “Tommy gun”, it could spell bad news for Australians hoping to get their hands on one.

Claims that the electric Tesla Cybertruck could be bullet resistant might make it a hard sell in Australia.

The sale of armoured cars, much like protective vests or guns themselves, isn’t designed to be ‘easy’ in Australia and could mean we don’t see the angular model land here.

It’s not the first time concerns have been raised regarding the Cybertruck’s design and its congruence with laws here in Australia.

Early in the Cybertruck’s story, as far back as 2019, safety experts both here and in Europe commented on the electric vehicle’s distinctive angular design, saying it would likely need significant alterations before it would meet design standards.

It seems unlikely Australians will see many Cybertrucks on the road in the future.

At the time, homologation expert Stefan Teller told German outlet AutomobilWoche that it would require "major modifications to the basic structure" before going on sale in the EU, adding “the basic concept of Tesla contradicts the common European security philosophy”.

Similarly, then Chief Executive of Australia’s new car safety authority ANCAP James Goodwin said just by the look of the Tesla that he couldn’t see it performing very well in pedestrian injury minimisation testing.

Given how angular the apparent production version still looks, it seems unlikely Australians will see many Cybertrucks on the road in the future.