A beautiful Rapid Red Ford F-150 Lightning on a sunny day, somewhere in California… but wait a minute. Isn’t there a Tesla sign in the background?
The photo was recently shared by Mike Levine, Ford North America Product Communications director.
We guess that the shot at Tesla’s Headquarters at 3500 Deer Creek Road in Palo Alto, California is not accidental. It appears to be a humorous marketing attempt to underline that Ford has an all-electric pickup.
“Rapid Red F-150 Lightning looks great!”
The Ford F-150 Lightning is scheduled for market launch in Spring 2022 and is already in the final stage of preparation for series-production.
The Tesla Cybertruck, on the other hand, has been postponed to 2022 – more likely late 2022 than mid-2022, we guess. Considering Tesla’s “time” it’s not certain whether it will be launched in 2022, as we already know how many years passed since the unveiling of the Tesla Roadster and Tesla Semi. Elon Musk also explained that the company can’t produce additional EVs in volume due to two main constraints.
Ford also appears to be constrained on the production side and announced the plan to double its output, compared to previous projections.
Despite all the nice PR-stunts, including the general message that – we are the only carmakers who did not go bankrupt – Ford and Tesla are competitors. Today, more than ever before, as today Ford is serious in the EV segment.
Just recently we saw that Tesla’s representative was negative about Ford charging points at one of the dealerships.
Frenemies (a portmanteau of “friend” and “enemy”) is probably the best we can get as the rivalry heats up.
