Ford cuts prices on F-150 electric pickup by thousands

(NewsNation) — Ford is lowering the price of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup by thousands of dollars due to increased plant capacity and falling costs for battery raw materials, the Detroit automaker announced Monday.

The updated MSRP for the pro model, the company’s lowest-priced electric pickup, will be $49,995 — down from $59,974.

“Shortly after launching the F-150 Lightning, rapidly rising material costs, supply constraints and other factors drove up the cost of the EV truck for Ford and our customers,” said Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer, Ford Model e. “We’ve continued to work in the background to improve accessibility and affordability to help to lower prices for our customers and shorten the wait times for their new F-150 Lightning.”

The price cuts range from about $6,000 to nearly $10,000 across all F-150 Lightning models.

Ford’s announcement comes just two days after Tesla’s first Cybertruck pickup rolled off the assembly line, although it’s still unclear how much that will cost. Tesla originally said it would make three versions of the truck, ranging from about $40,000 to $70,000.

Sales of new electric vehicles reached nearly 300,000 last quarter, according to Cox Automotive. That’s a record for any quarter and up nearly 50% from the same period in 2022.

At the same time, EV inventories are swelling — a sign that sales aren’t keeping up with increased production. It remains to be seen whether demand will change as prices fall and the charging infrastructure continues to expand.

Ford said Monday that final upgrades at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan will lead to greater availability of a built-to-order truck as early as October at an MSRP closer to initial Lightning pricing.

The starting price for a gas-powered 2023 F-150 is $33,695, per the automaker’s website.