The sticker price on Ford's F-150 Lightning electric pickup is being lowered by thousands of dollars thanks to increased plant capacity, falling costs for battery raw materials, and perhaps some competition from Tesla. Ford Motor Co. said Monday that final upgrades at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan will lead to greater availability of a built-to-order truck as early as October at a manufacturer's suggested retail price closer to the initial Lightning pricing, per the AP. The updated MSRP for the Pro model, its lowest priced electric pickup, will be $49,995, down from $59,974. The Lariat 510A's MSRP will decline to $69,995 from $76,974.
The price cuts arrive two days after Tesla said its first production Cybertruck, an electric pickup, had rolled off the assembly line, though nearly two years behind the original schedule. The Tesla price is unclear. The company originally said it would make three versions of the truck, ranging from about $40,000 to $70,000. Later the company removed prices from the page where customers can decide whether to plunk down $100 and place an order.
All this comes after Ford CEO Jim Farley and Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in March that all of Ford's current and future electric vehicles will have access to about 12,000 Tesla Supercharger stations in the US and Canada starting next spring. Commercial customers can also access Ford Pro Charging solutions to keep their F-150 Lightning powered up whether charging at home or onsite at work. (More Ford Motor Co. stories.)