News

Friction Between Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Elon Musk?

You could say there is a little “friction” between the two.

Linzy Garcia

Published

November 30, 2019

Image from Elon Musk via Twitter

Even after receiving 200,000 orders for the newly unveiling Cybertruck, Elon Musk had an awkward week.

Tesla’s Cybertruck unveiling didn’t go as planned, to say the least. When demonstrating the truck’s armoured windows, they shattered, much to the CEO’s surprise. Consequentially, Elon Musk lost $768 billion of his net worth. Musk then took to Twitter, sharing this video to illustrate the Cybertruck’s power.

Cybertruck pulls F-150 uphill pic.twitter.com/OfaqUkrDI3
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2019

Neil deGrasse Tyson was not impressed.

Electric vehicles are famously heavy – over both axles. It’s all about the weight borne by spinning tires. That’s the source of traction, not the engine power.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 25, 2019

Basically, Neil deGrasse Tyson says it comes down to friction. Dropping knowledge he explains in order to actually demonstrate torque, both vehicles need to be loaded at full weight capacity.

We all love Torque. But high Torque just spins a tire in place if there’s not enough weight to provide traction. Fully load the F150, giving highest traction to its rear wheels, then try to drag that up the hill. I otherwise agree: Load both to the max and the highest torque wins
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 26, 2019

We won’t really know the Cybertruck’s power until both trucks are loaded Neil deGrasse Tyson concludes, and Musk agrees, “This will be exciting to see!” the inventor tweets back.

Apparently Musk’s ego isn’t as indestructible as the Cybertuck’s armored glass, even after being questioned by the famed astrophysicist.

In this article:News

Written ByLinzy Garcia

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