Ok, so 80% of truck owners don’t tow. I’d bet that 80% also don’t care what it’s costs to fill. And 80% don’t want to spend 10-20k more for a truck that really can’t tow (the 20% that do tow probably want to go more than 200km hitched up) just to not have to buy gas. It’ll go 0-60 in 4 seconds and is quiet, do 80% of truck buyers value this?
This thing was so hellfire amazing they wouldn’t be putting big discounts on them. Remember less than a year ago when the hype was a level 10 they were selling well over invoice. The inventory for loaded F150 ICE models is still low, yet the EV twin is piling up in dealer lots. The platinum Lightning I got a ride in back in April is still at my local Ford dealer. Hard pill to swallow at over 100 grand.
Been a hard pill for Ford to swallow too, since they lose money (lots of it) on every EV sold.
That’s part of the process - you get the ICE people to pay for the EV transition and investments. It’s the same approach Tesla took, took them years before they reached profitability….
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And although currently profitable (with lots of help from govt) they still haven't made back what they lost...
There's also a massive difference: Tesla was developing brand new vehicles from the ground up. They didn't have an existing platform they could electrify. They didn't own any manufacturing facilities, or existing supplier relationships, etc. The amount of startup and on-going capital they required was massive.
On the other hand, Ford just took an existing platform, (F150) and electrified it. They're able to share the development costs of the F-150 Lightning amongst the rest of the gas-powered trucks, sales of which greatly outnumber the Lightning.
Even the Mach E just took a modified C2 platform from the Focus, Edge, etc, and modified it for electrification.
So for the Lightning to still not be making them any money, well, just goes to show it should be a lot more expensive than it actually is.