The Ford F-150 Lightning has earned the SpaceX seal of approval earlier than the Tesla Cybertruck, and it has been photographed bearing the livery of Elon Musk’s industrial spaceflight firm. It appears even SpaceX would relatively depend on Ford’s EV pickup than the Cybertruck on the subject of the intense enterprise of launching rockets and folks into house — not less than for now, whereas Tesla is ironing out the kinks within the Cybertruck’s shiny and ill-conceived design.
The Cybertruck has run into a couple of issues as manufacturing of the EV struggles on. It’s been suffering from construct high quality points that run the gamut from the specter of rust (or “surface contaminants”) to being immobilized by “critical steering issues.” Point is, the Cybertruck is hardly the EV of alternative for a company when a working car is mission-critical. And that’s why SpaceX “has Ford F-150 Lightnings” working round as work vehicles, as NASA first responder Matt Haskell shared on Twitter (or X, for those who desire):
Of course, SpaceX has a fleet of non-Tesla autos at its amenities all through the United States. Twitter customers responding to the submit noticed that SpaceX commonly makes use of Chevy vehicles in its operations. And a cursory look at pictures of Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, reveal that Ford and Chevy pickups are often rumbling across the work web site.
It is sensible why SpaceX amenities can be no strangers to vehicles from rival U.S. automakers, particularly since there are contractors always on-site. And a fleet of Ford F-150 Lightning fashions additionally is sensible given the EVs vehicles will now work with Tesla superchargers, which Elon Musk can provide to SpaceX.
But the SpaceX F-150 Lightning made me cackle as a result of Elon Musk likes to make a present of his EVs shuttling rocket crews round at launches and different high-profile occasions. It can’t be very lengthy till Musk plasters a Cybertruck with SpaceX stickers and makes use of it to shuttle astronauts to the launch pad.
![SpaceX Dragon Crew-6 Commander Stephen Bowen boards a Tesla transport vehicle.](https://i0.wp.com/i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/dc4ac48637e3c0d343f96196d575a631.jpg?w=788&ssl=1)
But the F-150 Lightning spied in the photo appears to only be going about its SpaceX enterprise on the freeway, and that makes it all of the extra satisfying.
It’s a great analogy for the 2 EV pickup vehicles: one is all present, whereas the opposite is all go. That is, the F-150 Lightning is pleased working within the background, the operative phrase right here being working. And it appears to be like like SpaceX is completely pleased to maintain work buzzing alongside by counting on an EV truck primarily based on a tried and true platform, relatively than an “apocalypse-proof” truck made for the web. Hey, it’s the “cyber-” truck, in spite of everything.
![A Chevy Silverado stands guard at the Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas.](https://i0.wp.com/i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/f8f0801f68a2f61c839c3a3fd7dca8e4.jpg?w=788&ssl=1)
Source: jalopnik.com