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Just last week, everything seemed so jovial.
Ford Motor F, -0.39% unveiled its Mustang Mach-E, the company’s first battery-powered SUV, and Tesla’s TSLA, -1.22% Elon Musk, who potentially has the most to lose in an increasingly crowded electric-car market, tweeted out a “Congratulations!”
He was “excited to see this announcement.”
Ford responded cordially, “Thanks, Elon. We couldn’t agree more. See you at the charging station!” Happy times in the cutthroat car industry.
But then this happened:
That’s a clip, which has now been viewed almost 13 million times, of Tesla’s futuristic Cybertruck easily dragging a Ford F-150 uphill.
The demonstration raised plenty of eyebrows, with car fans pointing out Tesla advantages such as the lower-spec F-150 being in rear-wheel drive. They also noted that it appears as if Tesla was given a head start in the tug of war.
Even Neil deGrasse Tyson chimed in:
So Sundeep Madra, vice president at Ford X fired off this tweet-challenge to Musk on Monday as the clip continued to draw eyeballs:
Musk’s response: “Bring it on.”
Who knows if it will happen. Neither car maker immediately responded to MarketWatch requests for comment. But both Tesla and the Ford F-150 have some seriously loyal followers, so there’s definitely a market for such a spectacle.
