In less than a week after its launch, orders for Tesla Inc’s new electric pickup Cybertruck have are close to breaking the record set by the Model 3 sedan in 2016. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO has signaled that 250,000 customers have lined up to buy the Cybertruck.

In an apparent reference to the number of orders, on Tuesday night Musk tweeted “250k”.

Tesla has yet to confirm the figure.

“Ford Motor Co 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”.

Last week at the Cybertruck’s launch, Musk had shown a video of the electric vehicle winning a tug of war and dragging a Ford truck uphill.

Musk has let it be known that he would be holding another such contest next week.

On Wednesday, an online bookmaker had Tesla as favorite to win a contest at odds of 5 to 2 on.

Since the launch of the Cybertruck, Tesla’s shares have shot up marginally.

“Sunny’s tweet was tongue in cheek … nothing more,” said a spokesman from Ford while adding, “With America’s best-selling truck for 42 years, we’ve always focused on serving our truck customers regardless of what others say or do. We look forward to our all-new F-150 hybrid coming next year and all-electric F-150 in a few years”.

Following the launch, Tesla had immediately opened the Cybertruck for bookings and allowed potential buyers the option to reserve three versions of the truck priced at $39,900, $49,900 and $69,900.

Manufacturing of the Cybertruck will commence in late-2021.

Incidentally, Musk’s tweets have hinted that Tesla will employ new techniques to build the Cybertruck, which is made of stainless steel used in rockets.