On August 7, according to the automotive website Electrek, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s wish is coming true: the Cybertruck is about to be used by the U.S. military. However, the use is not as he expected. Musk has claimed that the Cybertruck is bulletproof and capable of "surviving the apocalypse." He has also said that this electric pickup truck is suitable for military use, and has even directly promoted this model to the U.S. military.
Cybertruck has a new purpose
Given that Cybertruck has proven to be a commercial failure and is still facing slow sales even if production is reduced, if it obtains an order from the US military at this time, it will undoubtedly be a timely help for Tesla.
Now, the order is coming. According to new documents first obtained by the US media "The War Zone", the US Air Force Flight Test Center (AFTC) plans to purchase 33 target vehicles, including 2 Tesla Cybertrucks, and transport them to the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico.
US military worries about enemy use of Cybertruck
The AFTC purchase list includes a variety of vehicles, including cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and light trucks. However, except for the Cybertruck, AFTC has not put forward specific brand requirements for other models.
They plan to use these vehicles as targets for precision-guided weapons. So why did they specifically use Cybertruck? The AFTC explained in the document that potential enemies may begin to use the Tesla Cybertruck because the Cybertruck will not suffer the level of damage of ordinary vehicles when it suffers a major impact, so they hope to pass tests to ensure that their weapons can hit and destroy this model in actual combat.
In any case, this may be good news for Tesla, because the current annual sales volume of Cybertruck is only about 20,000 vehicles, and Musk’s original goal was 500,000 vehicles per year. The gap is huge, and it is only one more vehicle that can be sold.