Elon Musk has never shied away from a good 69 joke, 420 joke or otherwise sex- or weed-adjacent joke (or bad joke, depending on your sense of humor).
The Tesla CEO previously followed only 69 accounts on Twitter. When Tesla shares rose to $420 last December, Musk tweeted “the stock is so high lol.” In July, Tesla sold red satin shorts for $69.420 to make fun of short sellers who bet against their stock. Tesla’s electric vehicle lineup includes the Model S, 3, X and Y — or S3XY. His birthday is even 69 days after 4/20 (seriously, look it up).
Now, Musk is taking it to another level by cutting the starting price of the high-performance Tesla Model S sedan to $69,420. On Wednesday night he tweeted, “The gauntlet has been thrown down! The prophecy will be fulfilled. Model S price changes to $69,420 tonight!” And right now, Tesla’s website reflects that change.
“The gauntlet” Musk is talking about is a reference to the Lucid Air, a Model S competitor from the former chief engineer of the Model S. Lucid Motors recently revealed the starting price of their electric sedan would be $69,900 (after the federal EV tax credit), so Musk is deliberately undercutting them.
But don’t be fooled by Musk’s one-man PR machinations. While it may seem he has the upper hand here, Tesla is actually hiding price cuts behind a joke. After all, this is the second time this week Tesla has cut the price of the Model S in an effort to stay competitive in a growing EV market, something the automaker has been reluctant to do in the past.
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