Kind of interesting that Tesla’s calling this a truck, but it looks wicked cool, regardless.

And they seem to have a fair share to go around.

Cybertrucks Everywhere##Tesla #Elon Musk $Tesla##Cyber truck pic.twitter.com/OYh9X9dnfl

— Alice (@Alice_8193) July 13, 2023

I had a good time in the headlines this weekend with THIS tweet. This sensitive fellow “ostonox” moaning about Congress not banning the Tesla cybertruck never did realize that all he did was whet the appetite of every red-blooded American male who saw the picture. All I heard in the comments here and on Twitter was, “NOW I GOTTA HAVE ONE.” Hilarious.

congress had 4 years to make this thing illegal before it hit the streets and still failed us

no crumple zone steel body 3 ton truck with tesla's autopilot, the ultimate pedestrian disintegrator https://t.co/4z86vPPKDD pic.twitter.com/ISq6hjtm7b

— ostonox (@ostonox) July 15, 2023

The irony is his own Twitter feed, where he worries about Teslas being used to run people over but approvingly retweets Ron Perlman threatening someone’s life. Do Leftists ever hear themselves speak?

Tesla’s also introduced a semi which, fully loaded (and I’m not sure what that weight was), looked to be humming up some good sized hills with little difficulty.

The Tesla Semi pulling up hill is well above the rest. Coming from a city where one hill creates massive traffic everyday. This truck will be a game changer.
pic.twitter.com/S6nX1gVsOI

— Dirty Plays (@dirtyplays_pod) July 16, 2023

There’s still no hard and fast price point on Musk’s cybertruck yet, but an industry publication is thinking he may have dropped an Elon-style hint.

Elon Musk potentially dropped a subtle hint at Tesla Cybertruck pricing by stating that its most-likely competitor, the Ford F-150 Lightning, is “somewhat expensive,” just hours after the automaker dropped prices by as much as $10,000.

The Cybertruck’s first production unit rolled off lines at Gigafactory Texas last weekend, indicating the all-electric pickup, which was unveiled in late 2019, is nearing first deliveries to customers.

However, there are still so many details that remain unknown as of right now, especially configuration options and pricing.

When the Cybertruck was first unveiled and pre-orders were opened, Tesla had listed three configurations. Single, Dual, and Tri-Motor vehicles were offered at prices of $39,990, $49,990, and $69,990, respectively.

However, Tesla eventually removed these prices from the company’s website and indicated that a Quad-Motor Cybertruck would be the first unit produced at the Texas factory. This was never confirmed by the automaker, and as fluid as Tesla’s plans are for its vehicles, this has likely changed.

Ford in the meantime, is scrambling – they must read Elon’s tweets, too.

Ford Motor on Monday cut prices for its electric F-150 Lightning pickup, saying its efforts to boost production and lower costs for battery minerals have paid off.

Ford said prices for some of the least expensive versions of the Lighting would fall by nearly $10,000. Prices for all versions, including the top-line Platinum trim, will drop by at least $6,000 from levels set in March.

I mean, ten grand sounds like a lot, but they’re still not “affordable” in the average meaning of the word. “Entry level” is still $50K. GULP

…At the time of its 2021 debut, the lowest-priced version of the Lightning – the work-truck Pro trim – was about $40,000. That price was increased several times, hitting about $60,000 in March; Monday’s cuts reduce the entry-level truck’s sticker price to about $50,000.

The most expensive version of the Lightning, the extended-range Platinum trim, will now start at about $92,000, down from just over $98,000.

Not to mention Ford’s watching EVs stack up, so they know they have to start moving stock.

…Ford is said to be sitting on 86 days worth of F-150 Lightnings on top of 113 days worth of Mustang Mach-E inventory.

I’m no manufacturing/economics guru – I only play one here at HotAir – but it sure seems to me that increasing production when you’ve got bucketloads of product not moving is the opposite of what you should be doing. Particularly when you are facing increased resistance and skepticism from a buying public who is just not that into EVs while you are losing your asterisk producing the same (Ford projected EV line loss -$3B this year).

Nor are they buying the stated rationales for their mandated purchase – shoot. Let’s be honest here – the public’s not into mandates, period. The introduction to a recently released study from the Manhattan Institute lays out pretty well exactly how much Science™ jello the grounds such mandates and strictures are standing on.

…It is certainly true that EVs are practical and appealing for many drivers. Even without subsidies or mandates, millions more will be purchased by consumers, if mainly by wealthy ones. But the facts reveal a fatal flaw in the core motives for the prohibitions and mandates. As this report illustrates:

• No one knows how much, if at all, CO2 emissions will decline as EV use rises. Every claim for EVs reducing emissions is a rough estimate or an outright guess based on averages, approximations, or aspirations. The variables and uncertainties in emissions from energy-intensive mining and processing of minerals used to make EV batteries are a big wild card in the emissions calculus. Those emissions substantially offset reductions from avoiding gasoline and, as the demand for battery minerals explodes, the net reductions will shrink, may vanish, and could even lead to a net increase in emissions. Similar emissions uncertainties are associated with producing the power for EV charging stations.

• No one knows when or whether EVs will reach economic parity with the cars that most people drive. An EV’s higher price is dominated by the costs of the critical materials that are needed to build it and is thus dependent on guesses about the future of mining and minerals industries, which are mainly in foreign countries. The facts also show that, for the majority of drivers, there’s no visibility for when, if ever, EVs will reach parity in cost and fueling convenience, regardless of subsidies.

Ultimately, if implemented, bans on conventionally powered vehicles will lead to draconian impediments to affordable and convenient driving and a massive misallocation of capital in the world’s $4 trillion automotive industry.

The number of people who are not willing to give up their internal combustion engine nor their independence far outweigh the battery powered bunch, all hissy fits and dire warnings to the contrary aside.

There are also stronger, darker forces arrayed against the Lightning itself prevailing over Tesla’s cybertruck. Take this rousing endorsement for the Ford from Kiss of Death Cramer. He’s like a living voodoo doll.

Ford executives should be sprinting out to the Lightening line, shaking beads with chicken feathers and sprinkling pig’s blood to ward off the bad juju after that.

Cuz it’s coming.