By BEN SHIMKUS, US CONSUMER REPORTER
Ford is scrapping the all-electric version of America's favorite car.
The F-150 Lightning will stop rolling out of the automaker's Dearborn, Michigan, factory — marking a major retreat from Ford's most ambitious EV bet.
The decision comes as Ford disclosed a staggering $19.5billion loss in its consumer EV business, including $8.5billion tied to canceled future models and another $6billion from a scrapped deal with a battery supplier.
Still, Ford insists it isn't abandoning mass-market electric vehicles altogether.
In August, the company pledged to launch a smaller electric pickup with a starting price around $30,000 — a clear signal that affordability, not size, is now the priority.
'Instead of plowing billions into the future knowing these large EVs will never make money, we are pivoting,' Jim Farley told the Wall Street Journal.
Ford had previously said the truck — which remains America's best-selling electric pickup, with about 25,000 Lightnings sold this year — would help the Detroit automaker pierce Tesla's dominance in EV sales.
When Ford unveiled the battery-powered Lightning in 2021, it was swamped with reservations.
Ford is discontinuing the F-150 Lightning, the electric version of the carmaker's most popular vehicle
At first, the company predicted it would sell 40,000 Lightnings each year. Weeks later, it boosted that prediction to 80,000. As reservations kept coming in, they bumped up the estimate again to 150,000.
But it never reached that peak. Instead, Ford is now rethinking how it will electrify its best-selling pickup.
'We now know enough about the US market where we have a lot more certainty in this second inning,' Farley added.
Going forward, the full-size F-150 will be offered with three options under the hood: a gas-only engine, a mild hybrid, and an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) that runs on electricity but uses an onboard gas generator on long trips.
Ford said the new version should retain the Lightning's neck-snapping acceleration and deliver more than 700 miles of total range.
'The F-150 Lightning is a groundbreaking product that demonstrated an electric pickup can still be a great F-Series,' Doug Field, the company's chief EV design officer, said.
'Our next-generation Lightning EREV is every bit as revolutionary.'
Field also added that the truck will be able to tow 'like a locomotive.'
Jim Farley, Ford's CEO, said the company is entering a 'second inning' of its EV plans after the F-150 Lightning failed to meet once-lofty expectations
In 2021, the Detroit automaker unveiled the F-150 Lightning, a nearly identical version of the best-selling gas truck, and received a ton of initial interest. That didn't translate into massive sales
The EREV platform is a new frontier for the American truck industry — and Ford will face heavy competition in this space.
Fellow Detroit Big Three truckmaker Ram will launch its EREV pickup in the first half of 2025.
And Volkswagen, the world's second-largest automaker, said it is relaunching the Scout Motors brand with two updated EREV models.
Chinese automakers are already selling EREVs at a massive scale, European sales are climbing, and US buyers have cooled on pure EVs since losing access to the $7,500 federal tax credit.
Still, Ford's pivot away from fully-electric pickups has been months in the making — and a move that analysts have predicted in conversations with the Daily Mail.
Industry insiders said EV trucks don't work for American consumers.
Families often use pickups to tow, an operation that kills EV range. Construction workers and contractors drive their trucks on soft dirt, where heavy EV batteries can leave behind large divots. And owners in the North love their all-weather use, but cold temperatures sap the battery's juice.
Instead, as car companies regroup their fully-electric efforts, many are pivoting to smaller, lower-priced cars, like Ford's upcoming $30,000 pickup.
Nissan has rebooted the Leaf as a small SUV for $30,000; Toyota is building a similar $35,000 competitor; Rivian's entry-level R2 will cost $45,000; and Slate will produce a $25,000 pickup.