Ford Fathom Steals PR Thunder From Tesla Cybercab Launch

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The forthcoming Ford Fathom electrical pickup truck is aimed squarely at stealing market share from trade chief Tesla a technique or one other, and the gloves are off. This week, recent information broke across the Fathom proper in the midst of the leadup to a serious new promotional occasion for the Tesla Cybercab robotaxi in Texas. After all, pickup vans and robotaxis are two various things, however Ford has noticed a recent alternative to battle for the hearts and minds of the EV-buying public

The PR Wars Are On: Ford Fathom Vs. Tesla Cybercab

Ford has been diligently selling the brand new all-electric pickup truck since final 12 months, regardless of the headlong downward plunge in EV gross sales following the election of US President Donald Trump to a second time period in workplace. The Ford Fathom would be the first car to roll off Ford’s new purpose-built “Common” EV platform, based mostly round a cost-cutting, labor-saving, tree-like manufacturing course of somewhat than the normal gasmobile meeting line mannequin.

The Fathom may even be accessible on the comparatively reasonably priced value level of underneath $30,000. Although prototypes have been hidden behind an elaborately plastered camouflage, an enterprising vendor in Palestine, Texas has been displaying a Fathom-adjacent pickup truck on its web site since mid-August (pictured above).

Within the newest information, at 7:00 pm on September 2 the Wall Road Journal scooped phrase — from an nameless supply — that Ford is aiming to promote 100,000 Fathoms in its first 12 months of manufacturing, which is simply across the nook.

“If it meets Ford’s targets, Fathom would immediately change into one of many top-selling EVs within the U.S. within the first 12 months of its manufacturing,” enthused WSJ reporter Ryan Felton.

Within the meantime, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made positive that the automotive press is primed and prepared for at this time’s Cybercab occasion in Austin, Texas. The teasing revved up in earnest on August 17, when the information group The Data reported that Tesla was prepping to launch the autonomous, car-without-a-steering-wheel Cybercab into its Robotaxi fleet in Austin.

As is typical of Musk and Tesla, although, the specifics of the occasion haven’t been forthcoming, and evidently the launched was pushed into September.

“Tesla provided riders of its ​present robotaxi fleet based mostly on its Mannequin Y an opportunity to hitch a ‘Cybercab Launch Occasion,’ but it surely has given no particulars about what sort of launch is deliberate,” Reuters reported on September 2.

“Tesla has been advertising and marketing ​the occasion as ‘Unique Entry: Cybercab’ in posts on X and has despatched out ​invitations to pick company, based on some person posts,” Reuters reporter Abhirup Roy continued, including that Tesla didn’t announce a time for the occasion as of yesterday.

Ford For The Win (For Now)

If Ford’s PR group actually meant to stomp all around the Cybercab occasion, they did a fairly good job. They even staged a Las Vegas photoshoot and posted pictures of a camouflaged Fathom on Elon Musk’s personal social media platform, X (previously Twitter), on September 1.

Along with a lavish write-up within the Wall Road Journal, the Ford Fathom additionally earned a recent spherical of consideration within the Detroit Free Press on the eve of the Cybercab occasion, no matter which may be.

“Ford Motor Co. plans to formally reveal its new all-electric midsize pickup Fathom by year-end, however till then, CEO Jim Farley is teasing automotive patrons with peeks at it,” reported Jamie L. LaReau for the Free Press, referring to the pictures posted on X.

“Farley, who has a background in advertising and marketing and was beforehand Ford’s head of selling earlier than changing into CEO in Oct. 2020, shared the pictures to maintain the excitement buzzing on this crucial car for the Dearborn-based automaker,” LaReau famous.

Simply What Texas Wants: A Golden Cybercab

To be clear, the Ford Fathom and the Tesla Cybercab are aimed toward two solely completely different car use instances. If Ford is to attain most satisfaction from the Fathom, that may not contain outselling the Cybercab. It might most likely imply eclipsing gross sales of the woebegone Telsa Cybertruck by a large margin.

Nonetheless, the distinction between the 2 PR groups is eyebrow-raising. As Trump’s conflict in Iran drags on, affordability has change into a key difficulty within the upcoming midterm elections, making fertile floor for an automaker to pitch a sensible, on a regular basis EV at a comparatively cheap beginning value of just below $30,000 (the Free Press cites $29,945 to start out, together with the $1,595 supply charge), appropriate for each fleets and particular person patrons.

The Cybercab additionally clocks in at round $30,000, but it surely’s troublesome to see any use case materializing past fleets, with the additional limitation that Musk is showcasing the automotive as a kind of golden chariot for the well-heeled. Which will go over nicely in some locations, however the affordability disaster has hit Texas households over the top with a Texas-sized fist, notably within the space of housing.

Wither Robotaxis?

The gold-toned antics of the super-rich haven’t been doing so nicely proper now, with President Trump himself slapping his Midas contact on each floor inside attain. With that in thoughts, Musk’s determination to showcase exclusivity is tone-deaf, to place it kindly.

Be that as it might, the leadup to the Cybercab occasion is just the start salvo of a PR throwdown as Ford zeroes in on Tesla. As famous by the Free Press, the Ford Fathom is the primary of 5 new EVs to be manufactured on the brand new Common platform, with deliveries of the Fathom starting subsequent 12 months.

Ford can be among the many automakers hedging their EV bets with an EREV (Prolonged Vary EV) possibility, an thought first pioneered by Common Motors within the short-lived Chevy Volt again within the early 2000’s. Now everyone seems to be doing it, with some notable exceptions together with Rivian, the Jeff Bezos enterprise Slate Auto, and, in fact, Tesla.

For its entry into the EREV pool, Ford is reviving the much-hyped Ford Lightning F-150 electrical pickup truck with an onboard fuel engine as a spread extender, enabling journey of greater than 700 miles. As with different EREVs, the car runs on electrical energy on a regular basis, with the engine and a generator kicking in to supply an extra kick when wanted. Ford anticipates the pickup will enchantment to EV followers who’ve long-distance towing on their agenda.

Ford initially pitched the unique Lightning as a cellular energy supply within the occasion of grid outages and different emergencies, earlier than halting manufacturing in December of 2025. Exportable electrical energy is likewise on the menu for the forthcoming  EREV model, so maintain an eye fixed out for that angle as Ford ramps up its advertising and marketing machine.

Photograph: Ford has been rigorously camouflaging prototypes of its forthcoming Ford Fathom electrical pickup truck, however a Ford vendor in Texas has already begun teasing the look of a mid-sized pickup (cropped, courtesy of All Star Ford, Palestine, Texas).