Renault aims savage dig and 'embarrasses' Elon Musk's Tesla for poor battery range and high prices

The Renault Scenic E-Tech is the brand's leading electric model and has a starting price of £37,495, as well as a range of up to 379 miles on a single charge.

In comparison, the popular Tesla Model Y has a starting price of £44,990 alongside a 283-mile range for the Rear-Wheel Drive edition.

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In a blow to Tesla owners, the new advertising campaign sees the digital billboard display a series of bespoke messages to Tesla drivers.

Renault's message to electric vehicle owners stems from an article entitled: "New Renault Scenic embarrasses Tesla Model Y on price and range".

Other messages to Tesla owners include "This is awkward", "Elon-ger" and "You're probably good at other things".

Renault's Long Range version of the Scenic E-Tech is still £5,000 cheaper than the entry-level Model Y and has a far superior range.

Tesla does sell a £52,990 Long Range Model Y, although this has a range of just 331 miles, in addition to the Performance model costing £59,990 with 319 miles of range and a 0-60mph of just 3.5 seconds.

Lawrence Hamilton, head of marketing communications, digital and CRM at Renault UK, said the Scenic was a "true game-changer" and has long been the "benchmark" in the sector.

He added: "This campaign is a great way to spread this message far and wide, being just as innovative and forward-thinking as the Scenic E-Tech 100 per cent electric.”

This comes as Tesla deals with further issues relating to another one of its models, the Cybertruck, which began fulfilling orders at the end of last year.

The Elon Musk-led brand has stopped taking orders of the cheapest Cybertruck model, which was priced at $61,000 or £47,804, while making more expensive models available for immediate purchase.

On the US website, Tesla is advertising the All-Wheel Drive model for $99,990 (£78,362), the Cyberbeast for $119,990 (£94,036) and an optional range extender which costs around $16,000 (£12,539).

Elon Musk has previously revealed grand plans to produce 200,000 of the steel-clad pick-up trucks every year, as he claimed more than one million reservations had been made.

However, Sam Abuelsamid, analyst at Guidehouse Insights, told Reuters, that "demand is a lot less than one million trucks", adding: "They're sitting on a lot of inventory of two-motor and three-motor trucks right now."

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While the cheapest 250-mile Cybertruck has been removed from the Tesla website, drivers in the United States are still able to get their hands on the AWD model with 318 miles of range and the 301-mile range Cyberbeast.

Production of the Cybertruck models seems to be normal, with the AWD model having an estimated delivery time of between August and September while deliveries of the Cyberbeast will begin in October.