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Ford cuts F-150 Lightning prices by nearly $10,000

(Credit: Ford)

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Ford has cut F-150 Lightning prices by nearly $10,000 on some configurations of the all-electric pickup, while other variants are seeing price cuts by at least $6,000.

Citing increased plant capacity, production scaling, cost reductions, and improving raw battery material costs, Ford said it was able to reduce the price of the F-150 Lightning to make it more affordable to customers.

While the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, is being upgraded to help triple the production rate of the all-electric pickup to 150,000 annually this fall, Ford is aiming to reduce costs to compete with the various EV trucks that are on and are coming to the market.

Ford F-150 Lightning sales up over 100% in Q2 2023 vs 2022

REVC is currently closed due to the upgrades as they are nearing completion. However, the upgrades are already taking effect on the price of the vehicles.

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Ford’s cuts have brought the Pro configuration, which is the most affordable, to below $50,000 as its price was adjusted by $9,979. The XLT 311A was also cut by this amount and now starts t $54,995. Other models were brought down by $8,479, $8,879, $6,979, and $6,079.

  • Pro – $49,995 – down $9,979
  • XLT 311A – $54,995 – down $9,479
  • XLT 312A – $59,995 – down $8,479
  • XLT 312A Extended Range – $69,995 – down $8,879
  • Lariat 510A – $69,996 – down $6,979
  • Lariat Extended Range – $77,495 – down $8,479
  • Platinum Extended Range – $91,995 – down $6,079

The launch of the F-150 Lightning was at perhaps the worst possible time for Ford, as rising materials costs and supply constraints had hiked the cost of the truck from its initially projected prices. At one point, Ford expected the Pro to be just below $40,000.

Chief Customer Officer for Ford, Marin Gjaja, commented on this:

“Shortly after launching the F-150 Lightning, rapidly rising material costs, supply constraints, and other factors drove up the cost of the EV truck for Ford and our customers. We’ve continued to work in the background to improve accessibility and affordability to help to lower prices for our customers and shorten the wait times for their new F-150 Lightning.”

Ford is also offering a bonus $1,000 off for retail customers who build an XLT, Lariat, or Platinum F-150 Lightning through their dealer or Ford.com. This offer is valid from July 6 to July 31.

Ford EV drivers will also have access to 12,000 Tesla Superchargers next year due to a deal between the two companies that was reached earlier this Summer.

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I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

Energy

Tesla launches first Virtual Power Plant in UK – get paid to use solar

Tesla has launched its first-ever Virtual Power Plant program in the United Kingdom.

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Credit: Tesla Energy | X

Tesla has launched its first-ever Virtual Power Plant program in the United Kingdom. This feature enables users of solar panels and energy storage systems to sell their excess energy back to the grid.

Tesla is utilizing Octopus Energy, a British renewable energy company that operates in multiple markets, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, as the provider for the VPP launch in the region.

The company states that those who enroll in the program can earn up to £300 per month.

Tesla has operated several VPP programs worldwide, most notably in California, Texas, Connecticut, and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. This is not the first time Tesla has operated a VPP outside the United States, as there are programs in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.

This is its first in the UK:

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Tesla is not the only company that is working with Octopus Energy in the UK for the VPP, as it joins SolarEdge, GivEnergy, and Enphase as other companies that utilize the Octopus platform for their project operations.

It has been six years since Tesla launched its first VPP, as it started its first in Australia back in 2019. In 2024, Tesla paid out over $10 million to those participating in the program.

Tesla VPP program in California hits new capacity milestone

Participating in the VPP program that Tesla offers not only provides enrolled individuals with the opportunity to earn money, but it also contributes to grid stabilization by supporting local energy grids.

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Waymo responds to Tesla’s Robotaxi expansion in Austin with bold statement

Waymo and Tesla are surely in a battle of “mine’s bigger” right now.

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Credit: Waymo

Waymo has responded to Tesla’s Robotaxi expansion in Austin with a bold statement by extending its own geofence by a considerable margin.

Earlier this week, Tesla chose to expand its geofence for its driverless Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, substantially. The geofence more than doubled, bringing Tesla’s total serviceable area within Austin to approximately 42 square miles.

Tesla’s Robotaxi geofence in Austin grows, and its shape is hard to ignore

This put Tesla ahead of Waymo in terms of its service area in Austin, as the company’s geofence was just 37 square miles.

We reported on how significant this statement was for Tesla, as it has only been operating its driverless Robotaxi platform in Austin for less than a month, compared to Waymo, which has been there since March.

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Tesla Robotaxi has already surpassed Waymo in this key metric

Waymo took it as a challenge, it seems, and expanded its geofence, and it did it impressively and massively. Now, Waymo’s geofence spans 90 square miles within Austin, including new neighborhoods such as Crestview, Windsor Park, Sunset Valley, Franklin Park, as well as popular tourist destinations like The Domain and McKinney Falls State Park.

The move “unlocks another key milestone in Austin as our operating territory with Waymo expands from 37 to 90 square miles, which means that even more riders can experience Waymo’s fully autonomous vehicles through the Uber app,” Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility & Delivery at Uber, said.

Additionally, Shweta Shrivastava, Senior Director of Product Management at Waymo, said:

“Just months after serving our first Austin riders with Uber, we’re excited to offer our 24/7 service to more of the city. The service with our partners at Uber is healthy, and we are ready for more Austinites to experience the magic of fully autonomous driving. Austin remains one of the fastest growing cities in the country, and we are doing our part to grow with it.”

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Across the U.S., this expansion brings Waymo’s service area to more than 700 square miles, as it also operates in California and Arizona.

Here’s what the two geofenced regions look like:

The competition between Waymo and Tesla only benefits consumers, as the two companies are evidently sparring for a larger service area in Austin. Tesla launched its interestingly-shaped geofence expansion on Monday, and it seemed that the shape was more of a joke that could also be construed as a warning to competitors.

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Tesla could more than likely have pushed its geofence to a larger size, but it purposely chose to do so in a comical fashion.

Now that Waymo has responded in this way, we’ll see if Tesla puts the jokes aside.

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News

Tesla exec hints at useful and potentially killer Model Y L feature

The Model Y L could become the company’s vehicle that offers the best balance between utility and comfort.

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Credit: Tesla China

A Tesla executive from China has hinted at what could very well be a killer feature for the upcoming Model Y L. If speculations prove accurate, the Model Y L could become the company’s vehicle that offers the best balance between utility and comfort, possibly even exceeding what is offered by Tesla’s flagship vehicles.

Model Y L teaser

The Tesla Model Y L is expected to be a six-seat version of the best-selling all-electric crossover. With its six seats, the new Model Y L would be able to provide ample leg room to third-row passengers—something that the seven-seat Model Ys produced in the United States were unable to do.

With six seats, the Model Y L would be closer in size and more similar to the larger and much more expensive Model X, which remains Tesla’s de facto family hauler. The six-seat Model X, however, has one flaw that makes it a bit less useful than its seven-seat variant–its second row seats don’t fold fully flat.

Second row magic

In a post on Weibo, Tesla Vice President for China Grace Tao described the upcoming Model Y L as a “full-scene 6-seat luxury SUV.” This description, particularly the executive’s “full-scene” description, is notable, with Tesla China watchers such as @zhongwen2005 stating that “full-scene” typically means that all seats can be folded flat.

If Tesla is able to design the Model Y L’s second row seats to fold flat, it would provide the extended wheelbase vehicle with a lot more utility than typical six-seaters, including the six-seat Model X. And considering that the Model Y L will likely be priced just above the standard Model Y, its price would likely be extremely competitive, even in challenging markets such as China. 

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