Tesla has unveiled its first electric pickup truck called CyberTruck.

The futuristic-looking vehicle will hit the market in late 2021 and will have a range of up to 500 miles.

Tesla says the vehicle is “more useful than a truck and more powerful than a sports car,” while company boss Elon Musk tried to demonstrate its robustness in a live demonstration at the product launch event in Los Angeles.

In a bizarre series of demonstrations, Mr Musk first had Tesla design chief Franz von Holzhausen repeatedly hit the truck’s door with a sledgehammer before claiming it was nearly bulletproof.

When Mr. von Holzhausen tried to demonstrate the CyberTruck’s supposedly shatterproof armored glass by throwing a metal ball at it, the glass shattered.

This prompted a visibly embarrassed Mr Musk to comment: “At least it didn’t go through” and there was “room for improvement”.

Tesla also said the top-of-the-line CyberTruck model, with a triple electric motor, will be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds – comparable to many sports cars.

The truck will be available from $39,900 (£31,000) for the single-engine version and can be pre-ordered now, Musk said.

He had been toying with the idea of ​​building a truck for some time, first tweeting about wanting to build a truck in 2012 before incorporating the idea into his so-called “master plan” for the company, which was released in 2016.

Mr Musk also referenced the CyberTruck’s unusual design last year, saying in an interview with Recode that the vehicle had adopted a “futuristic-looking cyberpunk design in the style of ‘Blade Runner'”.

As part of the announcement, Mr Musk also unveiled a company-built quad bike that fits in the bed of the CyberTruck and can also be charged there.