Elon Musk tweets the Model S will be priced at $69,420, because he’s a child

Image Credits: Screenshot/Tesla

The Tesla Model S is about to get a bit less expensive.

Tesla CEO and resident meme maker Elon Musk just tweeted that the Model S sedan will soon be priced at $69,420. This pricing wasn’t done on a whim and a joint. The price cut is likely in response to Lucid undercutting Tesla on pricing a few hours ago.

As you can see in the tweet above, Elon Musk declares that, “The gauntlet has been thrown down.”

Earlier today, Lucid announced that its entry-level sedan will cost $77,400 minus a $7,500 U.S. tax credit. Because most buyers qualify for the credit, that brings the effective price down to $69,900. You see where this is headed, right?

With a new starting price of $69,420, this would be the second Model S price cut this week. Roadshow by CNET reported yesterday the automaker quietly cut $3,000 off the Model S earlier this week, potentially in a bid to outdo Lucid before its announcement today. Earlier this year, Tesla cut $2,000 off the starting price of the Model 3.

Musk also took to Twitter to announce some news regarding Tesla’s newest model: The Model Y. According to his tweet, the Model Y, a small, crossover, will soon be available in a seven passenger version. Musk did not detail the seating arrangement.

The Lucid Air is shaping up to be a serious contender to Tesla’s Model S. The Air has all of the range of the Model 3 — even the entry-level version priced today matches the Model S’s 400+ range. The Air is also lighter, faster and, frankly, newer. The Model S still has the same overall shape and feel since its 2012 introduction.

During a recent interview with TechCrunch, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson told editor Darrell Etherington that the Air would be available at a price “surprisingly lower than $80,000.” Though today’s pricing is hardly “surprising,” it puts the Lucid Air in the same price range as well-equipped mid-size European sports cars and, more importantly, the Tesla Model S.

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