A Ford executive has challenged Tesla CEO Elon Musk to a rematch in their tug-of-war between a Ford F-150 and the new Tesla Cybertruck electric pickup.
Last week, Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck, a wedge-shaped electric pickup that was supposed to have glass that could stop a bullet but couldn’t quite stop a steel ball. That little mishap didn’t stop people from buying the thing in droves, as Musk later tweeted that he’d already sold 200,000 of the things.
Helping to make his case, Musk tweeted out a video last weekend of the Cybertruck pulling a Ford F-150 in a tug-of-war contest. This was meant to showcase the Cybertruck’s awesome power and towing capacity, but critics have cried foul ever since the video’s release.
At issue is the fact that the F-150 appears to be a middle-of-the-road model. At the time, we suspected it was an F-150 Lariat model with RWD and a 2.7-L EcoBoost V6. That would put a 325-hp pickup against an 800-hp electric monster, which isn’t exactly fair. Especially when you consider the Cybertruck is both larger and heavier than the F-150.
Naturally, the Cybertruck demolished the smaller gas-sipping pickup truck. Now, a Ford executive is demanding a rematch.
In a tweet issued on Monday, Ford X Vice President Sunny Madra challenged Elon Musk and his Cybertruck to a rematch. He asked that Tesla send him a Cybertruck so they could perform an “apples to apples” test against the best Ford has to offer.
Madra didn’t say what they’d pit the Cybertruck against, but we’ve seen in previous videos that Ford has an electric pickup lying around and that it can tow over 1 million pounds. That seems like it might put up a fight against the Cybertruck.
Unfortunately, it might not even happen. Although Musk accepted the challenge in a tweeted response, InsideEVs is reporting that Ford executives haven’t signed off on the rematch and that Sunny’s tweet was meant to be “tongue-in-cheek.”
Is Ford being a little gun-shy? It’s hard to say. We’ll have to wait and see how the rivalry between these two companies plays out.
(Source: Twitter, InsideEVs)