Last year, GMC unveiled the new Sierra CarbonPro Edition with a revolutionary lightweight carbon-fiber bed. Significantly, this is the first application of its kind in a pickup bed. Compared to a standard steel bed, the GMC Sierra 1500 CarbonPro bed is 25 percent lighter and features an additional cubic foot of cargo room and increased payload capacity. It can also take some serious punishment, as GMC claims it offers best-in-class dent, scratch and corrosion resistance.

To put this claim to the test, GMC revealed to us last year how engineers tested the material's strength by hitting it with a baseball bat, which caused the bat to bend. It also underwent extreme temperature and corrosion testing, and GMC even dropped cinder blocks, 1,800-lb loads of gravel and 450-lb water-filled steel drums onto the bed different heights.

But now GMC's CarbonPro bed has faced its toughest test yet: can it survive a category 1 hurricane? To find out, GMC conducted a unique test at a special test facility capable of simulating hurricane winds, using a cannon to fire hurricane-force projectiles at the bed.

A new commercial that aired during the NFL playoff games shows a competitor's truck bed without the carbon-fiber composite material being pelted with objects at hurricane speeds, causing copious amounts of dents, scratches, and holes.

GMC's CarbonPro bed, on the other hand, performs remarkably well after being pummelled by everyday objects at hurricane-speeds. Everything from bricks and garden gnomes to watermelons and even a sofa is hurled at the CarbonPro bed, which suffered no dents or structural damage.

This is achieved thanks to the CarbonPro's greater rebound efficiency compared to beds without carbon-fiber composite. Instead of absorbing the force of the hit and causing damage, the projectiles bounced right off. GMC's CarbonPro carbon-fiber bed is offered Sierra 1500 Denali and the Sierra 1500 AT4 models, which start at $61,905 and $71,450 respectively.