Rubberneckers in Calgary may soon get a glimpse of Elon Musk’s long awaited — and much hyped — redneck ride.That’s because the local dealership has confirmed that at least one of the stainless steel behemoths is on order for an undisclosed Cowtown buyer where it is presently awaiting delivery from Vancouver.However, the unnamed service tech said he didn’t know if the buyer would be taking delivery in Calgary or heading to the West Coast to put it through its paces there and drive it across the mountains. The Western Standard has made a reservation for a test drive if and when a demo shows up on this side of the Eastern Slopes..“If Al Capone showed up with a Tommy gun and emptied the entire magazine in the car door, you would survive,”Elon Musk.At an official unveiling in Austin, TX on Thursday, Tesla’s mercurial founder was on hand in a black leather motorcycle jacket to tout the stealth-bomberesque EV as “the finest in apocalypse technology.”In a 30-minute presentation live-streamed on Twitter (“X”) Elon Musk touted its bulletproof stainless steel frame that is reportedly able to withstand a blast from a Colt 45 or 9mm Glock. “If Al Capone showed up with a Tommy gun and emptied the entire magazine in the car door, you would survive,” he quipped.As part of the presentation, the company unveiled a video of the high end model, dubbed the ‘Cyberbeast’ beating a Porsche 911 in a drag race — while towing a Porsche 911. It can reportedly accelerate from zero to 100 km/r in less than 2.6 seconds and complete the quarter mile in 11..Musk has previously said the design was inspired by 007’s Lotus Esprit in the Spy Who Loved Me and has claimed it can drive short distances underwater.“Now the future finally looks like the future,” Musk said.Despite its supposedly bulletproof performance specs, initial reaction was overwhelmingly negative with critics citing its ‘abusive’ price tag and disappointing range — about 500 klicks on a full charge. And that’s for the high-end Cyberbeast that starts at an MSRP of USD$99,999.When it was introduced in 2019, Musk promised the high-end version would come in under $77,000 and have a range of 500 miles or about 800 kilometres.Instead the entry-level rear wheel drive version comes in at $60,990 — and won’t be available until 2025 — while the mid-tier all-wheel drive version has an initial sticker of $79,990 before optional accessories such as autopilot or a dedicated camping kit..Despite receiving more than a million pre-orders, Musk said production of the vehicle will be “insanely difficult” owing to the fact the truck’s stainless steel body panels can’t be stamped. The company is hoping to eventually ramp up to 250,000 units by 2025.“It’s basically an incredibly useful truck,” Musk said at the presentation. “It’s not just some grandstanding showpiece, like me.”Industry analysts called it “underwhelming” and investors promptly sent Tesla’s shares down more than 2% on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, although they had recovered somewhat by Friday to $239.70.“It’s a lot more expensive than I thought,” Gene Munster, a managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management told Bloomberg. “They need to get production up to get the price down and they know they can’t produce a lot of them next year. The reality is that the Cybertruck isn’t really out yet.”
