It’s Game On As Ford Fathom Steals Thunder From Tesla Cybercab Launch

September 3, 20263 minutes Tina Casey 0 Comments

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The forthcoming Ford Fathom electric pickup truck is aimed squarely at stealing market share from industry leader Tesla one way or another, and the gloves are off. This week, fresh news broke around the Fathom right in the middle of the leadup to a major new promotional event for the Tesla Cybercab robotaxi in Texas. Of course, pickup trucks and robotaxis are two different things, but Ford has spotted a fresh opportunity 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 promoting the new all-electric pickup truck since last year, despite the headlong downward plunge in EV sales following the election of US President Donald Trump to a second term in office. The Ford Fathom will be the first vehicle to roll off Ford’s new purpose-built “Universal” EV platform, based around a cost-cutting, labor-saving, tree-like manufacturing process rather than the traditional gasmobile assembly line model.

The Fathom will also be available at the relatively affordable price point of under $30,000. Though prototypes have been hidden behind an elaborately plastered camouflage, an enterprising dealer in Palestine, Texas has been displaying a Fathom-adjacent pickup truck on its website since mid-August (pictured above).

In the latest news, at 7:00 pm on September 2 the Wall Street Journal scooped word — from an anonymous source — that Ford is aiming to sell 100,000 Fathoms in its first year of production, which is just around the corner.

“If it meets Ford’s targets, Fathom would instantly become one of the top-selling EVs in the U.S. in the first year of its production,” enthused WSJ reporter Ryan Felton.

In the meantime, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made sure that the automotive press is primed and ready for today’s Cybercab event in Austin, Texas. The teasing revved up in earnest on August 17, when the news organization The Information 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, though, the specifics of the event have not been forthcoming, and evidently the launched was pushed into September.

“Tesla offered riders of its current robotaxi fleet based on its Model Y a chance to join a ‘Cybercab Launch Event,’ but it has given no details about what kind of launch is planned,” Reuters reported on September 2.

“Tesla has been marketing the event as ‘Exclusive Access: Cybercab’ in posts on X and has sent out invites to select guests, according to some user posts,” Reuters reporter Abhirup Roy continued, adding that Tesla did not announce a time for the event as of yesterday.

Ford For The Win (For Now)

If Ford’s PR team really intended to stomp all over the Cybercab event, they did a pretty good job. They even staged a Las Vegas photoshoot and posted photos of a camouflaged Fathom on Elon Musk’s own social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), on September 1.

In addition to a lavish write-up in the Wall Street Journal, the Ford Fathom also earned a fresh round of attention in the Detroit Free Press on the eve of the Cybercab event, whatever that may be.

“Ford Motor Co. plans to officially reveal its new all-electric midsize pickup Fathom by year-end, but until then, CEO Jim Farley is teasing car buyers with peeks at it,” reported Jamie L. LaReau for the Free Press, referring to the photos posted on X.

“Farley, who has a background in marketing and was previously Ford’s head of marketing before becoming CEO in Oct. 2020, shared the photos to keep the buzz buzzing on this very important vehicle for the Dearborn-based automaker,” LaReau noted.

Just What Texas Needs: A Golden Cybercab

To be clear, the Ford Fathom and the Tesla Cybercab are aimed at two entirely different vehicle use cases. If Ford is to achieve maximum satisfaction from the Fathom, that would not involve outselling the Cybercab. It would probably mean eclipsing sales of the woebegone Telsa Cybertruck by a wide margin.

Still, the contrast between the two PR teams is eyebrow-raising. As Trump’s war in Iran drags on, affordability has become a key issue in the upcoming midterm elections, making fertile ground for an automaker to pitch a practical, everyday EV at a relatively reasonable starting price of just under $30,000 (the Free Press cites $29,945 to start, including the $1,595 delivery fee), suitable for both fleets and individual buyers.

The Cybercab also clocks in at around $30,000, but it’s difficult to see any use case materializing beyond fleets, with the further limitation that Musk is showcasing the car as a sort of golden chariot for the well-heeled. That may go over well in some places, but the affordability crisis has hit Texas households over the head with a Texas-sized fist, particularly in the area of housing.

Wither Robotaxis?

The gold-toned antics of the super-rich have not been doing so well right now, with President Trump himself slapping his Midas touch on every surface within reach. With that in mind, Musk’s decision to showcase exclusivity is tone-deaf, to put it kindly.

Be that as it may, the leadup to the Cybercab event is just the beginning salvo of a PR throwdown as Ford zeroes in on Tesla. As noted by the Free Press, the Ford Fathom is the first of five new EVs to be manufactured on the new Universal platform, with deliveries of the Fathom beginning next year.

Ford is also among the automakers hedging their EV bets with an EREV (Extended Range EV) option, an idea first pioneered by General Motors in the short-lived Chevy Volt back in the early 2000’s. Now everyone is doing it, with some notable exceptions including Rivian, the Jeff Bezos venture Slate Auto, and, of course, Tesla.

For its entry into the EREV pool, Ford is reviving the much-hyped Ford Lightning F-150 electric pickup truck with an onboard gas engine as a range extender, enabling travel of more than 700 miles. As with other EREVs, the vehicle runs on electricity all the time, with the engine and a generator kicking in to provide an additional kick when needed. Ford anticipates the pickup will appeal to EV fans who have long-distance towing on their agenda.

Ford initially pitched the original Lightning as a mobile power source in the event of grid outages and other emergencies, before halting production in December of 2025. Exportable electricity is likewise on the menu for the forthcoming EREV version, so keep an eye out for that angle as Ford ramps up its marketing machine.

Photo: Ford has been carefully camouflaging prototypes of its forthcoming Ford Fathom electric pickup truck, but a Ford dealer in Texas has already begun teasing the look of a mid-sized pickup (cropped, courtesy of All Star Ford, Palestine, Texas).

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