Tesla might make its numbers on the sale of its vehicles, but the automaker has a curious side gig: offering head-scratching products. Past offerings have included Tesla-branded bottle openers, tequila, and beer. Now you can add sledgehammers to the list.
The company has unveiled what it calls the CyberHammer, a unique marketing device that both harkens back to the unveiling of the company’s CyberTruck and doubles as a way to boost flagging sales.
Earned. Not given.
— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) March 21, 2024
CyberHammer now available as referral award 📐🔨 pic.twitter.com/uhyPJIYCTw
Tesla’s Cybertruck has a special history when it comes to sledgehammers. Five years ago, when Elon Musk was demonstrating the electronic pickup’s strength, he called up chief designer Franz von Holzhausen onto the stage to take a few whacks at it with a sledgehammer.
The first swing seemed to go great. It bounced off the truck with no dent. What Musk and von Holzhausen didn’t realize, though, was the impact had cracked the base of the window. So when von Holzhausen threw a metal ball at the windows as a continuation of the display, they cracked in a spider-web pattern.
To Tesla’s credit, the company is showing a sense of humor about all of that, etching the name “Franz” onto each of the CyberHammers.
Before Musk’s fan base rushes to buy the latest odd offering, be aware that the rules are a bit different this time.
To get one of the 800 CyberHammers, you’ll have to convince friends to buy a Tesla via the company’s referral program.
Tesla owners have a specific code that lets them earn rewards when someone buys a vehicle using that code. Typically, those rewards are Tesla merchandise or free Supercharging, but now the CyberHammer is in the mix.
Not surprisingly, the Cyberhammer has already become a hot item in the secondary market. Prices on Ebay currently range from $3,900 to $6,000.