Gamblers back Musk's Tesla as Cybertruck orders inch closer to 250,000

Orders for Tesla’s electric pickup Cybertruck are inching closer to the record set by the company’s Model 3 sedans in 2016, with company head Elon Musk signalling 250,000 customers have now lined up to buy the new vehicle less than a week after its launch.

The flood of reservations has been encouraged by Tesla's cut-price $100 deposit to place a booking and a steady drum beat of promotion from the Silicon Valley billionaire to his millions of social media followers. He tweeted “250k” on Tuesday night in an apparent reference to the number of orders. The company did not immediately confirm that figure on Wednesday.

Ford Motor executive Sunny Madra has also pitched in by challenging Musk via his Twitter account to an “apples to apples” tug of war between the Cybertruck and a comparable Ford F-150 pickup.

At the launch last week, Musk showed a video of the Tesla vehicle winning a tug of war and dragging a Ford truck uphill. He said he would happily hold another contest next week. One online bookmaker on Wednesday had the Tesla as favorite to win a contest at odds of 5 to 2 on. Tesla shares were up nearly 1 per cent in premarket trading on Wednesday.