Once billed as the modern Model T, the electric version of the Ford F-150 pickup truck, called the Lightning, is on the road to getting scrapped. The Wall Street Journal reports that Ford, which lost $13 billion in EV operations in 2023, is now considering no longer making the electric version of its top-selling vehicle due to lack of customer interest.
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Ford’s EV sales declined 24% in October compared to a year earlier, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
“The demand is just not there,” Adam Kraushaar, owner of Lester Glenn Auto Group in New Jersey, told the Journal. He added, “We don’t order a lot of them because we don’t sell them.”
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The numbers on the F-150 Lightning
Ford has not made a final decision on the Lightning’s future, the Journal said.
However, the company sold just 1,500 of the vehicles in October. By comparison, Ford sold 66,000 gas-powered F-series pickups in October.
Ford’s overall EV sales in October dropped by 24% from a year earlier. A $7,500 federal tax credit for new electric vehicles expired on Sept. 30.
Big expectations when launched
When Ford launched the F-150 Lighting five years ago, chief executive Jim Farley touted a pickup truck that drove as fast as a sports car, was as affordable as a gas-powered truck and could drive hundreds of miles on a single charge.
Ford increased production capacity to manufacture as many as 150,000 Lightnings a year.
However, the Journal reports that potential buyers were turned off by the $50,000 to $90,000 price tag, depending on model. In addition, truck enthusiasts were worried the EV truck would run out of battery power in the middle of a job or a long trip, especially when towing large loads.
Farley now reportedly believes that EV drivers want smaller, more affordable cars that are good for commuting and local driving, while truck drivers are seeking all-gas engines or hybrids.
GM struggles
Ford is not alone in its EV struggles.
Rival General Motors recently announced $1.6 billion in losses from its EV business. GM makes an electric version of the Silverado and a couple of other electric pickups.
The company sold fewer than 2,000 of the trucks in October, according to Motor Intelligence, and a factory in Detroit that manufactures them is sitting idle until late November.
Analysts say EV sales can only be profitable if large volumes are moved because the cost of building them is extremely expensive.
