Well, that didn’t take long. What was once a killer price for a brand new F-150 Lightning Pro EV pickup at $39,974 MSRP in 2021, has now shot up to almost $59,500. That’s a price hike of over 35 percent. Sure, it is a bit of a stripper, being more for commercial buyers. But it was still a great value, priced just below a base F-150 crew cab. Now, it’s 20 grand more.

Didn’t Ford just increase Lightning prices?

This is the third time that Ford has increased the price of Lightning pickups. Yeah, the prices of everything have risen rather quickly, but not by this much. The first price jump was in August when it increased by $6,000. The second increase happened in October. 

And the Pro only comes with the standard battery with a 240-mile range. For the larger battery pack giving 320 miles of range, you must order the XLT. This will set you back over $83,000. That’s, yet, another hiccup should you purchase a Lightning. 

And should you decide to go gangbusters and order the top-of-the-line Lariat package, you’ll pay almost $100,000, according to Electrek. That’s inching up towards GMC Hummer territory with the Edition 1 price of $110,000. Is an electric pickup worth that much to you?

Does the new Lightning price reflect what buyers are paying?

Now, we remember that long ago chant of the EV makers that said electric cars would be cheaper than gas-powered vehicles because they are cheaper to make. Where did that go? Looking at Tesla’s price hikes as well as other manufacturers, they are all capitalizing on the unexpected demand for EVs. 

We suppose it looks at what buyers are willing to pay over MSRP, and figures raising the Lightning price is what they’re paying anyway. This way Ford get’s to pocket the extra dough rather than passing that difference to its dealers. We get it, but it doesn’t feel very good. 

As a reminder, the Lightning Pro starts at $59,474. Next is the Lariat, going from an MSRP of $67,474 to $74,474, the XLT increasing to $81,000, and the Platinum, up from $90,874 to $96,874. So far in 2022, Ford has sold 13,258 Lightning pickups. That’s not a huge number, which might explain why demand is still very high.

Ford just can’t make enough of them

Earlier this week Ford announced it was adding a third shift to the Lightning assembly plant in Detroit. And just based on how production needs to ramp up for a new model, Ford should see more production overall, even without the third shift. 

But the calls for increasing EV sales in America have seen a setback with this increase announced by Ford. Buyers have said they want affordable EVs, not $110,000 GMC Hummers. Or, $97,000 Ford Lightnings.