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.
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.
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 passing that along to the consumer.
