Elon Musk spotted driving Tesla Cybertruck around California

Tesla founder Elon Musk has been filmed fleeing the scene after recklessly knocking over a sign in his company’s weird new Cybertruck.

Tesla founder Elon Musk has been spotted driving around California in the company’s recently announced Cybertruck.

Fresh off the back of a courtroom win that let Mr Musk avoid compensating a hero rescuer who helped get 12 young soccer players and their coach out of a Thai cave last year that Mr Musk branded a “pedo guy” on Twitter, the multi-billionaire took his new toy out to celebrity haunt Nobu.

He was spotted leaving the famous Japanese-Peruvian fusion restaurant’s Malibu location in the Cybertruck after a dinner with actor Edward Norton on Saturday night (California time). His musician girlfriend Grimes and a number of other women joined Mr Musk as he drove off with two Tesla sedans in front and behind his baffling vehicle.

Elon Musk gives the public a taste of his new Tesla Cybertruck after enjoying dinner at Nobu in Malbu.

Mr Musk evidently deemed it a perfect time to test the truck’s off-road abilities, running over a traffic bollard that appeared to direct drivers to go right as he made a left turn on his way out of the car park.

Given the size of the Cybertruck and its seeming purpose of insulating its tech-punk maverick drivers from the dangers of the dystopic future it looks designed to inhabit, it’s likely Mr Musk didn't notice or care about that, and he showed no signs of stopping to right the sign.

It’s the first time we’ve caught a glimpse of the Cybertruck being driven on public roads.

Video taken outside the restaurant also shows the truck was fitted with a California number plate, so police could track Mr Musk down for the apparent direction violation if they really wanted to.

This sign appears to be directing drivers to head right when leaving the car park, but the unconventional Cybertruck is not really about following the rules.

In the past, Mr Musk wouldn’t have needed one as new vehicles had six months before they needed to display a licence plate.

That law was changed at the start of this year, closing a loophole the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was rumoured to regularly exploit by cycling through leased vehicles every few months to avoid having plates on his car.

The Cybertruck was only revealed to the world a few weeks ago, and is not expected to go into production for around two years.

The sharply angled ute has been the subject of much discussion since being officially unveiled last month, mostly negative.

Critics have been quick to point out the truck could be highly dangerous to both occupants and others due to a lack of crumple zones.

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program’s chief executive James Goodwin told news.com.au last month ANCAP had a number of concerns about the Cybertruck.

“We would expect that a vehicle should be able to absorb some (crash) energy because if it doesn’t absorb some energy … it will be the people inside the vehicle who bear the brunt,” Mr Goodwin said.

He also highlighted concerns that Tesla appears to be more concerned about the occupants of its vehicles than anyone else, which it reportedly has a history of doing.

“ANCAP’s protocols are well known and what we would expect is that a vehicle should be able to protect the occupants of the vehicle as well as those other road users … including pedestrians and cyclists.”

The unconventional angular design of the Cybertruck has also drawn a number of unfavourable comparisons, and an unfortunate onstage test of the armoured glass windows failed to impress after not one but two of the “unbreakable” windows shattered on impact.

That didn't stop close to 200,000 people putting down a deposit for the Cybertruck within days of its unveiling, though that number gets a lot less impressive when you consider placing an order only costs $US100 ($A147).

It appears only Mr Musk is getting around town in a Cybertruck at this stage, and the one he’s driving is likely different to the Cybertruck that will arrive in the showroom, assuming it ever does.

Now that you’ve seen small signs are no match for the Cybertruck will you be putting down a deposit? Let us know in the comments below.