The dominant driving force behind Ford’s entry into the 1966 Le Mans race was the rivalry between its then-CEO, Henry Ford II, and Ferrari’s founder, Enzo Ferrari.
Now, half a century since, and Ford finds itself in the midst of another challenge—this time against Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors.
Since the widely-discussed launch of the angular ‘Cybertruck’, Tesla has enjoyed a spate of free PR, with Musk claiming that the company had received over 200,000 pre-orders for the electric pick-up truck, which would be released in late 2020.
As part of Tesla’s launch promotion—which Musk says involved "no advertising and no paid endorsement—a video was released showing a Cybertruck winning a tug-of-war with the popular Ford F-150 pickup, towing the latter uphill.
Following the Cybertruck’s release, Musk pinned a tweet calling his vehicle a “better truck than an F-150” and “Faster than a Porsche 911”.
Automotive news website Motor 1 challenged Tesla’s test, however, pointing out that the F-150 variant used was not an all-wheel one like the Cybertruck. In effect, this means that power was being transmitted to just two of the F-150’s wheels as against four on the Cybertruck.
A fair test, the article claims, would be to compare a 4WD F-150 against a 4WD Cybertruck. Otherwise, Tesla’s test was just comparing “apples to oranges”.
Ford’s Vice President, Sunny Madra, retweeted the video challenging Musk to an ‘Apples to Apples’ test. Musk replied saying, “Bring it on”.
The comparison, however, was challenged on other grounds. Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson weighed in, saying that the heavier weight around the axles of an electric motor gave the Tesla an advantage over a traditionally-powered vehicle. Musk replied to Tyson, sparking a brief discussion on physics and the most ideal test for the comparison, with both sides finally agreeing that the vehicle with the highest torque would win.
The F-150 is the dominant pickup truck in the US, ranking as the best-selling pickup truck in the country since 1977 as well as the best selling vehicle overall since 1986.
The Cybertruck comes in three variants—a single-motor rear-wheel drive, a dual-motor all-wheel drive and a tri-motor all-wheel drive. The RWD variant can do 0-100 kph in less than 6.5 seconds, while the dual-motor option can do it in under 4.5 seconds. The top of the line model, the Tri-Motor AWD, can do it in under 2.9 seconds.
The range for the three models is 250+ miles (400+ kilometres), 350+ miles (560+ kilometres) and 500+ miles (800+ kilometres) respectively.
Tesla says the vehicle is made from the same stainless steel alloy as that used in SpaceX's Starship rocket. At the launch, Musk said it was dent-resistant, scratch-resistant and even bulletproof; capable of resisting shots from a 9mm handgun.
Musk's Cybertruck launch, however, was marred by an embarrassing snag when he attempted to demonstrate the strength of the Cybertruck's glass by striking it with a pair of metal balls. This test led to one of the window's shattering; prompting Musk to exclaim "Oh my f... God"). Hoping to try another window, Musk's assistant ending up shattering that one as well.
Images of a sheepish Musk standing in front of the Cybertruck with two shattered windows soon went viral. Adding to the controversy was the Cybertruck's polarising design, with fears that it would not be marketable leading to Tesla's stock crashing by six per cent following the launch.
The price for Tesla’s Cybertruck start at $39,999 while that of the F-150 starts at $28,496.
Ford offers seven trim levels for the F-150, with engines ranging from a 3.3 litre V6 to a 5.0 litre V8 and a high-output 3.5 litre V6 'EcoBoost''.