EV Dream Dies: Ford Slams the Brakes

Ford just admitted it lost $13 billion on electric vehicles since 2023 — and killed its most famous electric truck to stop the bleeding.

Story Snapshot

Ford ended production of the F-150 Lightning after losing $13 billion on electric vehicles since 2023.
The company expects a $19.5 billion writedown, covering canceled models, a dissolved battery partnership, and program costs.
Ford cited “no path to profitability” for large electric vehicles as the reason for pulling the plug.
A next-generation electric F-150 is still planned, but it will use a different, extended-range design.

Ford Pulls the Plug on the F-150 Lightning

Ford has ended production of the F-150 Lightning, its all-electric pickup truck. The company confirmed it lost $13 billion on its electric vehicle business since 2023. Ford stated it sees “no path to profitability” for large electric vehicles and is writing down $19.5 billion in losses. Most of that charge hits in the fourth quarter of 2025, with the rest spread into 2026 and 2027.

The $19.5 billion writedown breaks down into three main buckets: roughly $8.5 billion for canceled electric vehicle models, $6 billion from ending a battery joint venture with South Korean company SK On, and $5 billion in program costs. Ford also scrapped plans for an electric van and the next planned Lightning model, known internally as the T3 truck. These were not small bets — they were Ford’s core electric vehicle strategy for the next decade.

A $40,000 Promise That Never Came True

When Ford first announced the Lightning in 2021, it promised a starting price around $40,000. That price never materialized. The truck never sold below $55,000, and the average transaction price reached about $74,558. Buyers who expected an affordable electric workhorse got a premium-priced vehicle instead. That gap between the promise and the price tag hurt sales from the start.

Ford sold about 33,500 Lightnings in 2024 — far fewer than the company had hoped. At one point, Ford had at least 100 days’ worth of unsold inventory sitting on dealer lots, when a healthy level is closer to 50 days. The truck also depreciated fast. After five years, the average Lightning loses about 56% of its value, leaving owners with a resale value around $33,044. That kind of drop makes it a tough sell for buyers thinking about long-term costs.

What Went Wrong — and What Comes Next

The Lightning’s problems were not just about demand. The truck faced four recalls from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including one for a battery defect that could cause an internal short circuit and another for a park module that could fail to hold the vehicle in place. Consumer Reports rated the 2024 model as less reliable than other trucks in its class. Reliability concerns on top of high prices and fast depreciation made it hard for the Lightning to build momentum.

Ford announced today that it sold 9,746 EVs in the U.S. in Q2 2026, -40.7% YoY.

Units sold:
• Mach-E: 7,032 (-31% YoY)
• F-150 Lightning: 2,421 (discontinued)
• E-Transit: 293 (-30% YoY) pic.twitter.com/g11LTXB4r5

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 2, 2026

Ford is not walking away from electric trucks entirely. The company says its next-generation F-150 will use an extended-range electric vehicle design — a setup that pairs a battery with a small gas engine to extend driving range. Ford also plans to shift workers from the Lightning plant to build more gas and hybrid F-150s, responding to stronger demand there. Ford’s own statement says it is targeting a return to electric vehicle profitability by 2029. Whether that timeline holds depends on whether Ford can get costs under control and rebuild buyer trust — two things that proved harder than anyone expected the first time around.