Ford Hikes F-150 Lightning Starting Price, 40% Since Launch

Ford Motor Company has again increased the starting price for its electric-powered truck, the F-150 Lightning Pro. The company has cited an increase in raw materials prices as the reason for the new cost.

The F-150 Lightning Pro launched in 2022 and featured advanced towing and hauling technology, onboard scales for trunk storage, and can go 320 miles on a full charge. The 2023 model is priced to start at $55,947, a 40% increase from the 2022 version of $39,974.

An emailed statement from a Ford spokesperson on Friday obtained by CNBC said the company has increased prices "as a normal course of business due to rising material costs, market factors, and ongoing supply chain constraints."

Ford was the first automaker to make an affordable electric car. When the F-150 Lighting hit the market earlier this year, the entry-level model was pitched as $40,000 and more affordable than most of the EVs on the market to date.

CNBC reports that the price of the vehicle has increased three times this year as the raw materials of cobalt, nickel, and lithium have risen due to high demand. Ford wants to expand production of the truck to 150,000 units by fall 2023. Ford announced in June it would be investing $2 billion in three Michigan assembly plants along with adding 2,000 new jobs to aid in production of the F-150 Lightning.

Early this month CNBC reported Ford was adding a third shift to its Dearborn manufacturing plant, adding 150 new jobs to increase F-150 Lightning production.

"Demand for this breakthrough vehicle is strong and continues to grow, we will continue to monitor pricing through the model year," the Ford spokeswoman said in the emailed statement to CNBC.

The company's November sales report said the F-150 Lighting was the most popular electric truck that month, selling 2,062 units and 13,258 trucks of the 15,000 produced in 2022.

J.P. Morgan released a November report detailing the contributing factors to the record high in new car prices. The research found new car prices are at an all-time high and will continue to be there due to a global chip shortage and high raw material costs. The report estimated that new car prices will ultimately decline in 2023 between 2.5% and 5%.

MotorTrend named the Ford F-150 Lighting as its 2023 Truck Of The Year on Tuesday. The F-150 Lightning is the the second EV to win the prestigious award unanimously in the publication's End Of The Year awards the IBTimes reports, and the first electric truck.

"Some vehicles change the automotive world by being radically different inside and out. Others change it by being different where it counts and familiar where it helps," MotorTrend wrote in its announcement.