Article: How Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Once in Hot Demand, Lost Its Luster

[Jim Lewis]

That's the thing about economics. Circumstances and human group behavior don't always take society in a direction it wants to go. When I think of economic trends, I always think of everyone rushing over to the same side of the boat. I didn't like 10% annual inflation either before our current economic hurt.

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[FrunkMonk-e]

I think this was a simple case of economics. At Ford’s initial offering there was a lot of demand. Then Ford raised the price.

NY TImes Business Section Article: How Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Once in Hot Demand, Lost Its Luster - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

It's behind a paywall (maybe you get a free article?). But here are some "fair use" quotes.



The guy loved the Lightning and said he'd like to buy one again someday when the range and the charging station situation are improved.

Was there any discussion of Ford’s price increases? This certainly lowered demand. I cancelled my preorder after all of the increases. I then reordered last July when prices dropped. And when Ford, took until January of this year to ship (causing me to miss the Q4 $7500 incentive), I decided not to take delivery. Then Ford gave me the customer cash and I took delivery after all.

I was pretty much done with Ford before they relented. I was looking forward towards GM’s and Stellantis’ offerings.

 

[Jim Lewis]

I was pretty much done with Ford before they relented.

I could never qualify for the tax rebate because of my wife's income as an M.D. What bugged me most was the price increase with Ford simultaneously removing features because of the chip shortage. At my age (78 now), I figured it was a losing proposition to wait for something better that might still be ~as expensive and then have fewer years left to enjoy it. At the time I placed my order, demand seemed high, and I was told I'd lose my place in line if I hesitated.

In the only reference to pricing, the NY Times article mentions that even after several price cuts, electric vehicles still tend to be more expensive than ICE or hybrid vehicles, even with the tax rebates thrown in, which help but don't always bridge the gap. The article did point out that in California, Oregon, and Washington, states where electric vehicle ownership is high, the Lightning accounts for about 30 percent of F-series truck sales.

 

[RedLightning86]

I love my Lightning... but if I had to drive far each day and tow, absolutely not. It would be terrible for doing that, and all the talk about MPGe etc is trying to put glitter on a pig. For a full-size F150, 250-270 miles of freeway range, or 300 miles of highway range, neither of those towing, stinks. My prior F150 got 500 miles per tank, of country/ highway driving, and still over 400 on the freeway driving the speed limit. And getting half that while towing is a lot better than only 100-125 miles with the Lightning. I'm buying a new smaller trailer to camp in to raise that range.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that more people don't buy these. Most people can't schedule their time like I can. And for the price of these, it has to deliver what people need. Or get something else. And for Ford, Ram, and Chevy, they have to meet the demands for range and and charging, to sell trucks, the same way Tesla had to build the supercharger network before they could expect to sell a million cars a year.

The thing is, Teslas don't really meet all the wants Americans have. Ford, Chevy, and Ram, will build in more of what Americans want: Apple Music, Android Car, and more buttons and boxes and doodads. And Chevy and Ram are building in more range. I expect Ford will, too. And then they will sell a lot more electric trucks.

 

[brewski]

I'm a bit behind and didn't read all the comments (and only part of the article), so maybe someone already said this, but...
While there are plenty of practical reasons people have for not going full EV, I think 2 things played together to kill demand:
1) the tax incentive changed drastically
2) interest rates increased...drastically

Sure one can argue that someone spending >$70,000 on a vehicle doesn't *need* a tax credit, I would also say those people may be the very people supporting said vehicle (see Tesla).
I lost my entire tax credit by 29 days. The original delivery date was Dec 29, then it moved into Jan 2023. I was on the edge of walking away, and was waiting for the dealer to test me...just a little. Yet, here I am, a happy owner.

A few months back a dealer owner friend mentioned how he was just at a dealer convention and the general feeling was: with interest rates where they were/are, they were having trouble moving anything over $50,000.

Take these two elements, add a little range paranoia plus a few other extraneous items, and why in the world would you buy an EV?

Side note: I just rented a BMW I3 for a week. It was a tiny joy to drive (in Europe). It charged on the mobile charger over night no problem and lasted a few days (pure local driving)
We even crammed 6 adults in it a few times.

 

[Newton]

I think the journalists are just lazy or are deliberately not providing context. My local dealer has 13 F-150 ICE trucks and 5 Lightnings on the lot, all at discounts. There are 110, not a typo, one-hundred-and-10 Ram 1500s for sale at the Ram dealer in Bellingham, none of them electric and all at huge discounts.

Journalists also seem to ignore the reasons why Lightnings were scarce last year -- to write such an article while ignoring the various production shut downs due to supply chain issues and recalls is journalistic malpractice. Many people were trying to profit from an artificially scarce resource (plus getting a sweet $7500 tax credit) and buying trucks to flip. Now that the resource is no longer scarce, the market isn't as crazy and dealerships have to be salesmen again.

I am beginning to think, however, that there could be something much bigger going on economically and it is just easier to write articles about "the shine is off of the EV market" than really explore it.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I am beginning to think, however, that there could be something much bigger going on economically and it is just easier to write articles about "the shine is off of the EV market" than really explore it.

Definitely more going on in the economy than some are willing to talk about.

 

[TaxmanHog]

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