Ford Just Dropped A Bombshell On Tesla
Source: Medium, Technality
Photo: Caleb White on Unsplash
Tesla is No Longer Alone in Any Market
On May 19, Ford pulled back the curtain on the electrified version of their most iconic truck, the F-150. Appropriately named the F-150 Lightning, this truck boasts a range figure of up to 300 miles, 0–60 in less than 4.5 seconds, up to 10,000 lbs of payload capacity, and a starting price of just a hair under $40,000.
And perhaps the worst statistic for Tesla? It’s set to get into consumers’ hands for the 2022 model year.
What Makes This Truck a Problem for Tesla?
Tesla Now Has a Deadline
Up until this point, the only real competition Tesla was set to have in this market were from fellow startup companies that were starting from scratch. Now, unfortunately, Tesla has a deadline. And that deadline is potentially less than a year away.
As to be probably be expected by this point, Tesla seems to be running behind schedule with the development of their Cybertruck. Outlets such as Electrek.co assume that Tesla’s truck won’t start being delivered to the thousands of people who preordered it until the first months of 2022.
What’s worse, is that Tesla still might have a problem with ramping up production in a timely fashion, and there’s no guaranteeing what the build quality might look like. On the other hand, Ford is one of the oldest auto manufacturers in the world, and likely won’t suffer from these problems as badly.
Ford Has Been Building Trucks for Decades
Although Tesla’s truck seems more impressive on paper, offering more range and better performance in higher-end models, it pretty much goes without saying that Ford knows how to make a competitive truck. An electric one? Well, that’ll remain a mystery until the trucks leave the factory floor and get into the hands of the consumers.
But going based on the fact that they know how to make a rugged body, a sophisticated AWD system, and a vehicle that satisfies everything a truck-buyer could ever want, I can’t help but think Ford has the edge here.
This is all without mentioning that the F-150 Lightning is a much more traditional-looking vehicle. While there are definitely people who prefer the stand-out styling of the Cybertruck, the more restrained styling of the F-150 is probably less likely to scare any potential buyers away.
Price, Price, Price
Although Tesla, too, has positioned their truck under the $40,000 mark, Ford still has one crucial advantage. Their $7500 tax credit. There are rumors about Tesla (and GM) being eligible for a new $7000 rebate, which’s good for another 400,000 vehicles.
The only two problems are that number one, Ford will probably get that second rebate too, at some point, and number two, Ford will be selling these at dealerships. Going into a dealership presents you with the opportunity to negotiate the price, rather than going onto Tesla’s website and being told exactly how much you’re going to pay for that car.
This will likely help you get into a brand-new F-150 thousands of dollars cheaper than a similar Cybertruck, assuming that the Cybertruck actually costs $40,000, and there aren’t any insane dealer markups.
So Does Tesla Still Stand a Chance?
As you could probably assume, yes, Tesla still offers plenty of advantages. Tesla still offers ludicrous performance, distinctly designed cars, a premium badge, and the best charging network of any other electric car to date.
On top of this, Tesla still is the king of making electric powertrains with impressive specs for the price. While they still may be experiencing growing pains, and they have competition in pretty much every single category now, they’re still managing to hold their own in a quickly-flooding market.
https://medium.com/tech-topics/ford-just-dropped-a-bombshell-on-tesla