Americans’ obsession with pickup trucks has made the Ford F-Series the most-purchased vehicle for more than 40 years straight. Pickups were the top three selling vehicles in 2020 and were the top new vehicles purchased in 40 out of 50 states according to Edmunds.

F-150 Lightning Pro Hit Dealerships in May 2022

Last year, Ford Motor Company announced it would begin selling the F-150 Lightning electric vehicle (EV) pickup truck in May 2022. The auto industry was surprised by Ford’s aggressively low price tag on the F-150 Lightning Pro, its stripped-down work truck model intended to appeal to professional fleet purchasers and value-conscious drivers. Starting under $40,000, not including the federal tax incentive of up to $7,500, the Lightning Pro has a targeted 426 horse power, a range of approximately 230 miles on a full charge and also some standard features that offer extra value that only EV technology can provide.

Ford’s announcement of the F-150 Lightning EV unveiled the first EV pickup truck from a major auto manufacturer. The Lightning is more of an incremental change to the existing F-150 architecture, instead of being designed from the ground up like Tesla’s space-age Cybertruck.

“This is a big deal considering the number of F-Series pickup trucks sold each year. It could really make a difference in EV adoption by consumers and commercial fleets,” CFC Vice President of Industry Research and Consulting Mark Schneider said. “We studied the cost of ownership of the F-150 Lightning EV Pro model and a similarly equipped F-150 pickup with an internal combustion engine (ICE) over a 10-year period. Over that period, we project the EV version could save $8,000 when compared with the ICE version. Lower-cost electricity versus higher-cost gasoline, maintenance costs and purchase price contributed to the lower overall cost of ownership of the EV version.”