VIDEO: Is the Tesla Cybertruck tough enough to conquer Africa?

Ever since a failed demonstration of the toughness of the armoured glass of the Tesla Cybertruck, the very futuristic vehicle has entrenched itself in the motoring world.

The strange concoction between a moon rover, a bakkie and an SUV has come a long day since that fateful day. Just this week it was reported that more than 11 000 Cybertrucks have been sold in the United States in 2024.

On Wednesday Tesla took its product offensive s step further by posting a video of the Cybertruck captioned “Off-Road Mode”. It conquers a series of obstacles in the video and shows off the high-tech off-road systems and levels of autonomous driving. One of the obstacles was the infamous Hell’s Gate in California’s Death Valley Park.

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Watch Tesla Cybertruck in action

Off-Road Mode pic.twitter.com/39Dh5dX8CO

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— Cybertruck (@cybertruck) July 17, 2024

While the video shows the Tesla Cybertruck overcoming the obstacles with the greatest of ease, it would be interesting to see how it performs in Africa, a continent the American carmaker has not entered yet. Surviving epic treks through Africa is traditionally regarded as a “must-have” on every all-terrain vehicle with ambition’s CV. And ambitious Tesla CEO Elon Musk must surely be chomping at the bit for the Cybertruck to eventually take on the “Master of Africa”, the Toyota Land Cruiser.

Musk first talked about his idea for a “supertruck” as early as 2012, the Cybertruck made its debut in concept form in 2019. During an on-stage demonstration, Musk himself called upon Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen to throw a metal ball at the car to show how “virtually unbreakable” the armoured glass is. But much to his disappointment, both windows Von Holtzhausen threw the ball at shattered.

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Last year, the Cybertruck’s armoured glass withstood the impact of a baseball throw by Von Holzhausen during a demonstration on the first production units.

Three models on offer

Delayed production saw the first Tesla Cybertrucks only roll off the assembly line in 2023, with the first costumers only taking delivery later last year.

The Cybertruck comes in a choice of three models; a single-motor rear-wheel drive (RWD) derivative, a twin-motor all-wheel drive (AWD) derivative and a tri-motor all-wheel drive model called the Cyberbeast.

The flagship model costs $99 990 (R1.83 million) and the AWD $79 990 (R1.48m). The RWD model will be available next year at a price of $60 990 (R1.11m).