The headline might read like a rumor, but it probably isn’t. According to The Wall Street Journal’s Sharon Terlep, Ford executives are seriously debating whether to cancel the electric version of their flagship pickup, the F-150 Lightning, after a disappointing year of slow sales and steep losses.
It’s a dramatic turn for what was once billed as the “modern Model T.” When the Lightning debuted, it was hailed as the future of Ford — a tough truck with silent power, instant torque, and even the ability to power your home. CEO Jim Farley called it the dawn of a new era for American work trucks. But people who work out of their trucks and make their living with it, don’t want to be sitting at a charger, losing money. They also don’t want their range cut in half just because they need to tow 5,000 pounds. However, people who drove them as cars raved about them.
A year and a half ago, I published an open letter to Ford CEO Jim Farley. If you missed it, you can read it here:
An Open Letter to Ford CEO Jim Farley →
In part, I said in the letter:
With all due respect, you cannot force a market that is not there. It’s been tried many times, and most recently on your watch. Reports from the first quarter of 2024, that seemed to be backed up by financial disclosures, say that Ford lost in excess of $100,000 for every electric vehicle manufactured. I’m not as smart as you are, but it seems to me, building fewer-not more of them, is a better business decision.
I wish he had listened. In October, U.S. dealers sold roughly 1,500 Lightnings, compared with about 66,000 gas-powered F-Series trucks. Ford has reportedly lost about $13 billion on its EV program since 2023 that they’ll admit to, and even generous tax credits haven’t closed the gap.
The sticker price hasn’t helped either. Ford first promised a $40,000 starting price, but the cheapest Lightning now hovers around $50,000, and high-end trims approach $90,000. Add in real-world range losses — especially when towing or driving in cold weather — and many traditional truck buyers simply walked away.
Production issues haven’t helped. As we told you here, Ford’s Dearborn Rouge Electric Vehicle Center paused Lightning assembly after a supplier fire and a backup in unsold inventory. Meanwhile, the company boosted shifts on gas and hybrid F-150s, a sign of where the real demand still lies.
The company hasn’t made a final decision, but the conversation inside Ford is active. If the plug gets pulled, the Lightning would become the first major casualty in Detroit’s EV-truck experiment. For a company that sells more pickups than anyone in America, it would be a sobering retreat, but I predict there will be many EV casualties as automakers grapple with profitability in this age of tariffs and rising costs.
The Lightning’s purpose was clear: take the nation’s bestselling truck, electrify it, and sell the dream of zero-emission muscle. But the numbers never worked. Battery costs remain stubbornly high, margins are thin, and the market for full-size EV trucks has proved far smaller than early forecasts suggested.
There’s also global pressure. Chinese automakers are flooding markets with cheaper EVs, while shifting U.S. policy incentives add uncertainty for every legacy manufacturer. It’s hard to justify billion-dollar losses when gas trucks remain profitable and hybrids are selling briskly.
From my standpoint, the lesson is simple: consumers haven’t rejected electric trucks — they’ve rejected the price, range, and compromises that come with them. The Lightning’s biggest challenge wasn’t engineering; it was audience alignment. The typical F-150 owner doesn’t want a learning curve, they want to haul, tow, and get home without worrying about where to plug in.
Ford appears to be pivoting toward a smaller, more affordable electric pickup — a $30,000 model rumored to ride on a “Universal EV Platform.” That’s an acknowledgment that electrification may need to start with value and practicality before it can climb back to luxury and capability.
For now, the Lightning’s future is uncertain. It may survive as a limited-production halo truck, or it may quietly fade into the history books alongside other bold but mistimed ideas. Either way, the message is clear: the path to an all-electric pickup isn’t as straight as Detroit hoped.
And for truck buyers who still measure life by payload, range, and the smell of gasoline, Ford’s crossroads moment is worth watching. If this experiment ends here, the F-150 Lightning will stand as a symbol of ambition colliding with economics — a well-intentioned spark that just couldn’t keep the current flowing.