All told, Ford has reportedly lost about $13 billion on EVs since 2023, which, even in the business world, is a lot of money. That’s partly because Ford made sure it had the capacity to build as many as 150,000 F-150 Lightnings per year, easily more than three times the actual demand. If Ford had been able to convert initial interest — it allegedly received more than 200,000 reservations for the Lightning — into higher sales, the massive investment in EVs may have been worth it, but that’s just not what happened.
As Ford admitted recently, the kinds of customers who are interested in EVs tend to be more interested in smaller, less expensive options. But while some of its competitors appear to be giving up on all things electric, even if Ford does kill off the F-150 Lightning, it’s still working on new EVs that people might actually want (and be able to afford) to buy. Back in August, the Michigan-based automaker revealed that it had developed both a new EV platform, as well as a new production system that would allow it to build several new EVs more cheaply and might even allow it to compete with the Chinese automakers currently threatening to eat Ford’s lunch.
While Ford says it plans to build several different EVs on its new platform, the first vehicle we’ll see is a new truck. Except, instead of being big enough that you might think crushing children was part of the official design brief, it will be smaller and, perhaps most importantly, cheaper. According to Ford, its upcoming smaller electric truck will start at about $30,000 without any tax credits and offer as much passenger room as a Toyota RAV4, while also being just as quick as a four-cylinder Mustang.
That truck, however, isn’t expected to go on sale until sometime in 2027, so if Ford did decide to kill off the F-150 Lightning, it would be a while before its new, smaller alternative hit dealer lots. Then again, if sales aren’t high enough to justify continuing to build the Lightning, then maybe it’s for the best, at least from Ford’s perspective.
