A Debate Unfolds About the Cybertruck Explosion

Why didn't the Tesla Cybertruck explosion cause more damage? It's one of the questions investigators in Las Vegas are trying to answer given that the man blamed was a highly skilled special ops soldier. The debate unfolding has split into two camps: Either Green Beret Matthew Livelsberger chose to keep the damage limited with his homemade bomb, or the Cybertruck itself foiled him. Coverage:

• Musk boasts: Elon Musk has been quick to credit his steel-coated truck. "The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack," he tweeted. "Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards." He noted that the nearby hotel owned by Donald Trump was not damaged.
• Tesla fans: This narrative is being pushed by Musk supporters, reports the Wall Street Journal, which singles out this tweet: "Imagine trying to intimidate Trump and @elonmusk with a carbomb but you end up just killing yourself and running a @cybertruck ad campaign," wrote conservative activist Chloe Cole. Musk himself replied, "I'm pretty sure we could get it running again too."

• Low-grade bomb: Livelsberger used what the Washington Post calls "low-grade explosives" of fireworks and fuel. "You didn't really have an explosion as much as you had a bonfire," says Karl Brauer of ISeeCars.com. "I'm not at all convinced that the Cybertruck being so strong is the reason it blew upward." Another expert, Richard Meier of Meier Fire Investigations, tells the Post he doesn't think the explosion would have been much different in another kind of vehicle.
• Perplexing: The New York Times reports that hundreds of Green Berets were discussing the issue in private chat groups Thursday, and the gist is clear: Livelsberger had the skills and expertise to cause catastrophic damage had he chosen to do so. He didn't, for example, pack the bomb with shrapnel or use a powerful C-4 explosive. "Everyone I've spoken to is wondering whether he even intended to cause damage," says one unidentified Green Beret who deployed to Afghanistan with Livelsberger.
• Motive: It remains unclear. Green Berets in the Times story wonder if he was struggling with mental illness, not uncommon in their community. And he may not have wanted to damage the nearby Trump hotel: An uncle tells the Independent that Livelsberger was a "Rambo type" who supported the president-elect, and the Daily Beast also reports he was a Trump supporter. The New York Post, meanwhile, reports that Livelsberger's wife dumped him days before the attack, despite the recent birth of a baby girl. Investigators say Livelsberger fatally shot himself in the vehicle just before it ignited.

(More Tesla Vegas explosion stories.)