Musk Talks Cybertruck Acceleration and Weight as Joe Rogan Tests Exterior With Arrow [Watch]

November 1, 2023

By Kevin Armstrong

Joe Rogan shoots an arrow at the Cybertruck

Not a Tesla App

Elon Musk drove his Cybertruck to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast studio, not expecting that it would be tested yet again. The Tesla stainless steel beast demonstrated its "near-invulnerability" in the most unconventional ways to date.

The Cybertruck's Mighty Exoskeleton

Cybertruck has already survived a Tommy Gun test "Al Capone style," Musk proved that the futuristic pickup's exterior is arrow-proof. Musk's claims were put to the ultimate test when Rogan, known for his archery skills, unleashed an arrow from his 80lb compound bow directly at the Cybertruck's panel. The aftermath? A shattered arrow, a flattened broadhead, and Musk's smirk. In the words of a stunned Rogan, there was "barely a scratch." There actually appeared to be a small dent on the Cybertruck where the arrow struck the truck, but it didn't pierce the Cybertruck's exterior.

Unveiling the Beast: The Cybertruck's Details

While Musk was keen on keeping some details reserved for the official delivery event (scheduled for November 30), he couldn't help but give up a few details. Here are some highlights:

Weight: Depending on the configuration, meaning dual or triple motor, the Cybertruck's weight is estimated between 6,000 to 7,000 pounds, or a similar weight to a Ford F-250.

Acceleration: Tesla's ambition for the Cybertruck goes beyond just a rugged exterior. Musk revealed the existence of a 'beast mode' aiming for a 0-to-60 mph time of less than 3 seconds. If this holds, the Cybertruck might just outrun some of the industry's most coveted sports cars.

Production: Musk gave a production figure estimate of 200,000 Cybertrucks per year. While this is a slight dip from previous goals, it underscores Tesla's commitment.

However, Musk repeatedly, in his own words, “sounds like a broken record,” talking about the manufacturing process. He wants a movie to be made so people understand just how hard it is to produce vehicles. This sentiment echoes his statements during the third quarter earnings call when Musk stated, "We dug our grave for Cybertruck.”

Interestingly, other people inside Tesla knew this would happen when Musk ordered the Cybertruck to be the company’s pickup truck. That’s why a rogue group of engineers started building a second Tesla pickup. Odds are that truck would be on the road already, but it certainly wouldn’t have the fanfare and attention the Cybertruck has created.

Where Legends Meet

This wasn't Musk's first rodeo on the JRE podcast. Previous episodes have often been a blend of unexpected revelations, candid moments, and sometimes controversies. Whether it's Musk's infamous joint-smoking moment or revelations about the Cybertruck's design adjustments, the combination of Musk and Rogan never fails to capture the audience's imagination.

Musk discussed the influence of what he termed a "mind virus," which is reminiscent of the "woke" philosophy. He linked this mindset to a decline in civilization and asserted that the old management at Twitter suppressed moderate and right-leaning viewpoints, functioning like a "state publication."

Musk also called out Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The two CEOs were once slated to have an MMA match, "Zuck pulled out. He used the pull-out method. I’ll fight him any place, anywhere, under any rules,” said Musk.

Shooting for the trifecta, Musk also had much to say about billionaire philanthropist George Soros, the primary sponsor of the Democratic Party in the US. Musk went as far as to say that Soros ‘hates humanity on a fundamental level.’

Watch Musk on the Joe Rogan Experience

You can watch the first two hours of the episode below, which deep dives into various aspects of other quintessential Musk insights.

Podcast with the great and powerful @elonmusk #ad Full episode is 2 hours and 41 minutes, first 2 hours is available here on https://t.co/AIkGSaxVMA pic.twitter.com/DQh0GGNyaO
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) October 31, 2023

NHTSA to Streamline Approvals for Control-Free Vehicles Like Tesla’s Cybercab

June 16, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

In a letter to industry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that it is overhauling its approvals process for vehicles designed without human controls.

The change addresses a regulatory bottleneck that has slowed down American companies like Tesla from deploying purpose-built Robotaxis, rather than relying on using traditional vehicles with steering wheels and pedals. The policy shift is outlined in a letter posted to the NHTSA’s website, which you can find here.

Reducing Approvals From Years to Months

Under the existing rules today, any vehicle that is built without a steering wheel or brake pedals must receive a special exemption from federal safety standards.

Obtaining exemptions for a particular vehicle was a time-consuming process for both the companies requesting exemptions and the NHTSA. The process was often a black box—nobody knew when an exemption might be granted, and approvals could take years.

The NHTSA, under the new administration’s guidelines for autonomous vehicle development, is now committed to streamlining this process. The agency will be implementing a new, faster approach immediately for receiving exemptions for autonomous vehicles without standard controls. The NHTSA expects decisions on exemption requests to be determined within months rather than years.

Accelerating the Cybercab

This change has massive implications for Tesla, which is banking on the production of the simplified and easy-to-maintain purpose-built Cybercab. The Cybercab is developed from the ground up as an autonomous Robotaxi and will be one of the key beneficiaries of this move by the NHTSA.

Knowing that a final design won't be caught in a multi-year regulatory limbo provides a level of certainty that has been missing. It allows Tesla to confidently plan the manufacturing, development, and deployment processes without worrying whether the project will get stuck in regulatory approvals.

According to the letter, the agency will publish its improved instructions for the streamlined process "shortly." With Tesla already having begun Cybercab pre-production and the goals for its deployment as soon as late 2026, there’s still a lot to be done to make autonomy a part of Tesla’s new sustainable abundance mission statement.

You Can Now Track Tesla’s Robotaxi Deployment

June 15, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Thanks to Tesla Yoda on X, we have found out that Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet is registered on the Texas Department of Transportation’s public-facing Automated Vehicle Deployment website. This makes the fleet’s movements publicly viewable and trackable, and marks a first for Tesla.

This isn’t just any old FSD test - this is the first officially acknowledged, government-tracked, and sanctioned deployment of a Tesla Model Y operating as a ride-share vehicle. But that’s not all - Texas DOT’s tracker notes that the Tesla does not have a safety driver.

View on the Map

Visitors to the Texas DOT website can filter for “Tesla”, and see, currently, a single active vehicle operating in the Austin Metro area. According to the state’s official data, here’s what we know:

Company: Tesla

Description: Ride-share service

Status in Texas: Testing

Safety Driver: No

The final point is definitely the most interesting here. While Tesla has been testing FSD with safety drivers for some time in Austin and LA for employee-only testing, this is the first time that a vehicle has been officially registered and deployed on public roads without a human behind the wheel for safety.

The fact that there is no safety driver officially shifts the liability from the occupant of the driver’s seat to Tesla, for the first time in a public setting. That’s already pretty significant - we previously dove into how Tesla plans to insure its own vehicles, and potentially owner vehicles in the Robotaxi fleets.

The status currently lists Tesla as “Testing,” confirming that the service isn’t available to the public, but this is expected to change in the coming weeks.

This testing phase is likely part of a short but crucial period that lets Tesla capture data on the safety levels of its current iteration of Unsupervised FSD without a driver supervising. Tesla already stated that they’d be avoiding difficult areas, so this testing can also expose additional areas Tesla may want to avoid, such as school zones or blind driveways.

Tesla will need to prove, both internally and externally, that FSD Unsupervised has the necessary performance to safely navigate the streets without any incidents.

Regulatory Milestone

For years, the concept of a Tesla Robotaxi has been a future promise. Now, it's a present-day reality, albeit in a testing capacity.

Having an official government body list a Tesla as an active, driverless vehicle shows that they’ve been able to clear regulatory hurdles, which Tesla has often pointed to as the issue. It demonstrates a level of confidence from both Tesla and Texas regulators in the system's capabilities.

While it's just a single vehicle for today, we’ll likely see this list slowly expand over time. Alongside being able to track Robotaxi incidents at the City of Austin’s website, we’ll be able to closely watch Tesla’s progress with its first Robotaxi deployments.