The 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning is getting a discount.
That’s especially noteworthy as up until now, the cost of the popular Ford electric truck has been climbing at a very steep rate.
According to partner site CarsDirect, citing a dealer bulletin, Ford is offering up to $1,500 in purchase incentives on the F-150 Lightning, as well as low-APR finance rates for loans up to 60 months. CarsDirect notes that the two offers can be stacked—however the deal is region-dependent. While Phoenix is an example of where $1,500 applies, the offer is $1,000 in California.
Further, CarsDirect also points to an order bonus of $2,500 in several regions, most of which, like Kansas City, are not typically seen as strong EV markets.
The F-150 Lightning arrived in May 2022 at a starting price of $41,669. Markups started with a $7,000 price hike (or up to $7,500 in certain configurations) in August 2022, then a markup of thousands more in October and December ultimately bringing the Lightning near $58,000 by the end of last year. It didn’t stop there; with another March price hike the base 2023 F-150 Lightning Pro currently starts at $61,869, including destination—altogether costing nearly 50% more than the 2022 F-150 Lightning Pro originally cost, and with no significant added features.
Ford F-150 Lightning at Electrify America
For comparison, a 2023 Ford F-150 XL SuperCab with four-wheel drive—a comparable V-6 gasoline version—costs $44,140. As such, the electric version no longer undercuts the gasoline version and won’t pay off on running costs in the first few years, even though a longer road of overall ownership costs will still prove out the benefits of electric.
As CarsDirect points out, the F-150 Lightning remains a bad lease deal, because while Ford Credit is able to claim the $7,500 tax credit on leases, it’s not yet passing that along to the consumer.
At least the days of Lightning price hikes appear to be over. The same cannot be said of the smaller Ford Maverick hybrid pickup, which recently got a significant price hike for 2024.
