Ford has slashed the prices for its electric pickup, the F-150 Lightning, by a cool 17 percent in the United States. Reuters points out that it isn’t just another stage of the ongoing EV price war, but also the company’s attempt to counter declining sales.
In the second quarter of the year, the customers’ interest towards the all-electric pickup fell 2.8% even as the EV market as a whole kept growing. This forced the company to drop the base trim price from $60,000 to $50,000. The range-topping Platinum spec lost 6.2% and is now available starting from $92,000.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the manufacturer basically just brought back the older prices after multiple raises. When the Lightning just began shipping in April last year, it cost as low as $40,000 before options. By the autumn of 2022, the company had raised the price to above $50,000. This spring, the price crept up to $60,000.
Ford released an explanation saying that the current price drop should not be seen as yet another step in the ongoing EV price wars. Increasing the production volumes and cutting battery production costs in particular also contributed to this result: both cobalt and lithium used in EV power cells have been getting cheaper and cheaper lately.