Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) futuristic cybertruck is going up against the Ford F-150 (NYSE: F) in a tug of war battle. During Tesla's Cybertruck promotion last week, CEO Elon Musk showed a clip of the cybertruck engaging in a tug of war against a Ford F-150 truck. The clip, which has over 12 million views, shows the Tesla vehicle easily yanking the F-150 uphill. A Ford executive challenged Tesla to a rematch over Twitter (NSYE: TWTR), suggesting the Ford vehicle used was a rear-wheel version, meaning that the video was not fairly showing the full towing complicity of a Ford F-150. Ford's spokeswoman then later backtracked the challenge stating it was a joke: "With America's best-selling truck for 42 years, we've always focused on serving our truck customers regardless of what others say or do. We look forward to our all-new F-150 hybrid coming next year and all-electric F-150 in a few years," she added.
Famed astrophysicist and Musk fan Neil deGrasse Tyson said the stunt would have been fair if both trucks were fully loaded to determine which one had more torque. Musk agreed and plans to move forward with a rematch next week. Ford is no longer interested and called the challenge absurd.
The rematch has gathered enough attention that gamblers are betting on the outcome. The bets online are siding with Ford to win in the anticipated rematch. A gambling website listed the F-150 as the favorite, at -120, as of Friday morning, while the Cybertruck was listed at +100. That means one would have to bet $120 to make $100 if the F-150 wins, while one would make $100 off a $100 bet if the Cybertruck wins. Bets will remain open until December 4, so the odds could change before then.
The Cybertruck listed specs--including towing capacity, maximum payload, and more exterior space--beat out the F-150. Musk claimed that this week that more than 250,000 orders have already been placed for the Cybertruck which is set to release at the end of 2021.