Ford CEO Jim Farley burns Tesla during electric F-150 Lightning launch event
F-150 Lightning can charge other electric vehicles
Ford flooded with orders as electric F-150 launches
Fox Business' Grady Trimble talks to Ford CEO Jim Farley on 'The Claman Countdown.'
When you have the stage, you may as well use it.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said you can charge a Tesla with the F-150 Lightning. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Ford CEO Jim Farley hosted the official start of production for the electric F-150 Lightning pickup Tuesday and used the opportunity to take a poke at rival Tesla.
While talking about the F-150 Lightning's bidirectional power capability, which allows it to be used as a power source for other electrical equipment, Farley mentioned one capability in particular.
The F-150 Lightning is built at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Mich. (Ford)
"You can even charge other EVs for your friends that own Teslas," he said. After some laughter from the audience, he added, "That wasn't fair, was it? But so what?"
Farley went on to praise other features, including the truck's sub-$40,000 starting price, quick acceleration, hands-free highway driving system and 10,000-pound towing capacity and referenced Tesla's upcoming Cybertruck, which won't go on sale until at least a year later than originally promised.
The F-150 Lightning is available in models with a range of 320 miles per charge. (Ford)
"You, our customers, are going to get capabilities no other EV truck can ever offer, but for thousands of dollars less than our competitor's trucks. Whenever they actually go on sale," he said.
General Motors is also scheduled to begin selling a high-volume electric version of the Silverado pickup in 2023 but currently offers the luxury GMC Hummer EV pickup.
"Our truck is here today, because we rolled up our sleeves," Farley added. "We rediscovered our roots around innovation. We worked together, and now we're busting our butts to make more of these."
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Ford expanded the size of its Lightning factory from its original plans due to stronger than expected demand. It has over 200,000 reservations for the F-150 Lightning and expects to be building them at a rate of 150,000 trucks annually sometime in 2023.