Many electric vehicle fans hoped the Ford F-150 Lightning would take the US by storm — at least, as much as it could with the production capacity Ford targets. And the electric truck has done quite okay. However, it could do better, and it should now — because Ford is dropping the MSRP of the electric truck.
Ford is attributing the cost drop to scaling up of production, battery material cost drops, and increased factory capacity. The company is tripling production capacity for the Lightning at the moment to match supply with expected demand. “The Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan is temporarily closed to complete final plant upgrades to triple the plant’s annual run rate to a targeted 150,000 F-150 Lightning trucks beginning this fall,” Ford wrote in an email to CleanTechnica and other media outlets.
“The upgrades at the plant, combined with improving battery raw material costs and continued work on scaling production and cost, help make it possible to lower pricing across the F-150 Lightning line. Customers will now have greater availability of their built-to-order truck as early as October at an MSRP closer to initial Lightning pricing.”
As you can see at the end there, it is also now going to be quicker to get an F-150 Lightning you custom order.
As many CleanTechnica readers are well aware, there were sometimes extreme markups on the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Ford F-150 Lightning last year — as there were on various popular EVs and even non-EVs. It was an unfortunate macro situation for Ford to walk into as it was entering the EV revolution market more seriously. However, the macro factors are improving, as is Ford’s internal commitment to ramping up production. “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 following is updated Ford F-150 Lightning pricing (MSRP) as well as the previous pricing and the difference between the two:
Plus, most F-150 Lightning options are eligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs and Ford is offering a discount/bonus for a summer sale this month. “With ordering now open for all customers, Ford is offering a $1,000 bonus for retail customers who build their own XLT, Lariat or Platinum truck through their dealer or via ford.com from July 6 to July 31 as part of the national summer sales event. In addition, Ford Credit is offering eligible buyers interest rates as low as 1.9 percent APR for 36-months.”
With the price cuts and Ford EV drivers getting access to the Tesla Supercharger network starting next year, how many of these electric trucks will consumers demand per year? The new production capacity of 150,000, or more or less? I dare say that consumers will want far more than 150,000 a year and Ford will need to triple production capacity again in the next few years. But we’ll see.
Recall that the F-150 Lightning was CleanTechnica‘s 2022 Car of the Year. We expect a lot from this EV. It’s great to see production capacity increasing and the price dropping. Let’s hope we get more such news in a year or two.
Side note: Does this put pricing pressure on the Tesla Cybertruck? Or was Tesla going to be in this pricing range anyway? Or are these products appealing to very different buyers and it doesn’t even matter?
Related story: Ford Could Sell 500,000 EVs Per Year In USA With Tesla Supercharging Access
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