Ford turns the F-150 Lightning into an instant classic

F-150 Lightning

There are varying definitions of classic when it comes to motor vehicles, and Ford may have turned the F-150 Lightning into one with a single announcement.

That announcement is of course, that the company will stop making them, forcing most writers to announce that Ford was “pulling the plug” on the electric pick-up truck.

But we think the the better headline revolves around the numbers. And, since one of the defining characteristics of a “classic” is scarcity, the fact that fewer than 100,000 of the vehicles have been sold likely places the Lightning squarely in the running.

If you own one, we’d advise keeping it.

When Ford first announced the truck, the company picked up nearly 70,000 deposits in just four days and ultimately exceeded 100,000.

However, only 73,292 F-150 Lightnings were delivered to customers from 2022 through 2024. And while sales grew 54% in 2023 and 39 in 2024, sales have declined as much as 70% with the loss of the $7,500 federal tax credit.

The company is not actually done with EVs, just the Lighting. It is changing strategies and moving to hybrids, extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) and lower cost and smaller EVs, that will be available in 2017.

The EREV is old concept made famous by General Motors with the Chevrolet Volt. It, and other EREVs, use a gasoline engine to recharge the battery in motion, driving the wheel with electricity only.

So, do you think the value of existing F-150 Lightning models rise? We think so, and we’ll keep an eye out…

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