Tesla 'Fanbois' Are Harassing Ford Mustang Mach-E Owners Online: Freep

Tesla Inc. TSLA "fanbois" are issuing death threats to owners of Ford Motor Company’s F Mustang Mach-E electric cars on social media, the Detroit Free Press reported.

What Happened: A new round of social media sparring among Ford owners and Tesla fans started on Saturday after Jace Craft-Miller, who received his Gray Mustang Mach-E First Edition in late March, tweeted that Tesla fanbois are reaching out to say how much they hate the Mach-E, as per the report.

 "All these Tesla fanbois reach out saying how much they hate the Mach-E ... blah blah," Craft-Miller said in one tweet.

Sergio Rodriguez, who already owns a 2020 Tesla Model X, replied that Tesla fans messaged him death threats after he posted videos of the cross-country drive in his new Mach-E. He reportedly took screenshots of the threats and reported the content to Facebook Inc. FB and Twitter Inc. TWTR.

Rodriguez said he was especially alarmed by comments on the “Tesla Owners Worldwide” Facebook page, which listed 87,500 members on Saturday, according to the report. A story by one member about his favorable Mach-E reviews unleashed a torrent of what were perceived by Rodriguez as "disturbing attacks."

Some Tesla fans have purportedly even suggested online that Ford must be paying regular people to post nice things about the Mach-E on social media.

See Also: Why Tesla's Q1 Deliveries Beat Isn't Enough To Impress Long-Term Bear Gordon Johnson

Why It Matters: The new electric vehicle from Ford is the most affordable all-wheel-drive, all-electric car and has comparable range to Tesla. The Ford Mustang Mach-E has several models and price points. The Mach-E Premium ER RWD is the first 300-mile range electric vehicle from a manufacturer other than Tesla.

New Ford CEO Jim Farley has put an emphasis on the company to grow through electric vehicles. The company has committed $11.5 billion through 2022 to investments in electric vehicles.

It was reported in March that market leader Tesla was losing market share to Mustang Mach-E in the U.S., according to Morgan Stanley. The global financial services firm said in its February auto sales report that Tesla’s share of the battery electric vehicle market fell to 69% compared with 81% in the same period a year earlier. The Ford Mustang Mach-E reportedly made up for nearly 100% of the market share loss.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 4.4% higher on Monday at $691.05, while Ford shares also closed about 4.4% higher at $12.70.

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