There may be multiple car companies making electric vehicles , but Tesla is the biggest name in the EV space.
One of the contenders to Tesla’s throne is Ford, which has developed an electric battery variant of one of its best-sellers: the F-150 Lightning.
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Ford has responded to some light trolling by Tesla — in which a video of Tesla’s Cybertruck pulling an F-150 went viral — with some world-class trolling of its own.
Do you remember this? Ford sure does.
This 2019 video shows Tesla’s Cybertruck, a futuristic electric truck that hasn’t been released yet, towing a Ford F-150. The inference here was that Tesla’s new electric trucks are going to be able to do anything that a gas-guzzling truck could do.
There’s a new electric truck in town.
While Tesla twiddles its thumbs with the release of its Cybertruck, Ford has rolled out an electric truck of its own. The F-150 Lightning, unveiled in May of 2021, might look like a typical F-150, but it’s electric. It went into production in April of 2022.
A word about charging…
Most electric vehicles have a charging connector, known as a J1772, for boosting other electric vehicles. But Tesla, much like Apple, has opted for a proprietary connecter that only works within the Tesla ecosystem and doesn’t play nice with other vehicles.
Ford has a little surprise for F-150 Lightning owners.
The F-150 Lightning offers a number of accessories that come standard with the vehicle. Not listed was any kind of J1772 adaptor, but a user on a forum dedicated to F-150 Lightning shared a surprising accessory that came with their new truck.
Behold: a surprise accessory.
User PipeFitter52 shared this image of a J1772 adaptor for Tesla vehicles. This makes it possible to charge a Tesla vehicle, even with its proprietary connection, using a Ford truck. Since the accessory hasn’t been announced by Ford, it came as a complete surprise.
F-150 Lightning owners had a lot of fun with the surprise accessory.
It should be noted that, as a forum dedicated to Ford owners, it’s likely to be full of Ford fanboys. Still, it’s kind of fun to see their reaction.
“Here you go! Lightning to the rescue. We can help all those poor dead Teslas,” wrote one user.
It might be a low-key example of viral marketing.
Ford has pushed the F-150 Lightning’s capability as a power station, boasting that the truck’s Pro Power Onboard feature can pump out 2.4 kilowatts of electricity. Perhaps this unannounced release is a subtle way for the company to show how confident it is in its onboard generator.
Ford isn’t tipping its hand.
In an email to The Verge , a Ford spokesperson said the adaptors “can lend a hand if needed,” but didn’t name-drop Tesla at all. The rest of the email mostly contained marketing hype for the F-150 Lightning’s charging capabilities.
This might get spicy.
Ordinarily, when we see companies develop little rivalries, things play out in a predictable fashion. But consider the fact that Ford has fired a shot across Tesla’s bow, and Tesla is owned by Elon Musk — a man who can’t seem to stop himself from causing drama everywhere he goes.
We’ll update you on any further developments on this story.
