Ford slashes prices of electric pickup trucks in battle with Tesla

In a bid to challenge Tesla's dominance in the electric vehicle (EV) market, Ford Motor Co. has implemented significant price cuts on its line of EV pickup trucks.

CNBC reported on Monday that the Detroit-based automaker aims to boost production of these vehicles by reducing prices, citing improved cost efficiencies in battery materials.

The entry-level variant of the F-150 Lightning will now be available for $50,000, reflecting a $10,000 reduction in price. Ford has further announced that all versions of its F-150 truck series will see a minimum price drop of $6,000 from the levels set in March 2024, according to CNBC. As a result, the highest-priced version of the Lighting F-150 model will now start at $92,000, down from approximately $98,000.

Marin Gjaja, Ford's Model e-chief customer officer, acknowledged the challenges the company faced shortly after the launch of the F-150 Lightning. "Rapidly rising material costs, supply constraints, and other factors drove up the cost of the EV truck for Ford and our customers," Gjaja stated in a press release on Monday, as reported by Reuters. He added that Ford is committed to working diligently in the background to enhance accessibility and affordability.

Ford's strategic move comes amidst an ongoing price war with Tesla, the industry leader in EV sales. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, responded to Ford's latest initiative in a tweet saying, "the Ford Lightning is a good vehicle, just somewhat expensive, especially given the high interest rates these days for any kind of loan."

Increasing production of the Lightning and other Ford EVs has remained a top priority for CEO Jim Farley. However, the automaker encountered a setback in the second quarter of this year when production of the EV trucks had to be halted for five weeks due to a fire incident. CNBC reported that Ford sold fewer than 5,000 Lightning models during this period.