One Rocky Mountain auto dealers reacted with initial surprise Wednesday upon learning that the Ford Motor Company was discontinuing its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup.
But others said they saw the writing on the wall because of the pickups' limited range and power in a market where consumers often live in rural areas and wide-open spaces like Wyoming.
Ford announced Monday it is discontinuing the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup after just three-and-a-half years in production, taking a $19.5 billion write-down as part of a major strategic pivot away from large battery-electric vehicles.
Production of the 2025 model year Lightning ended this month at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, according to the company's Dec. 15 announcement.
Despite being America's best-selling electric pickup — outselling the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian and Chevrolet Silverado EV — the Lightning couldn't overcome financial losses that plagued Ford's electric vehicle division.
The F-150 has been America's best-selling vehicle for more than four decades. In Wyoming, research shows the F-150 and Dodge Ram 1500 typically run neck-and-neck for the title of most popular truck in the state. But the electric version of Ford's flagship never gained that kind of traction.
"Bizarre And Weird"
Patrick Lawson, who owns Wild West EV — an electric vehicle dealership and charging station company based in Riverton — called the announcement at first glance "bizarre."
"It's the best-selling electric pickup and they cancel it, which is weird," Lawson said. “So it's kind of a shock."
But Lawson explained the bigger picture, as the Lightning name is not going away and Ford plans to release a new full-electric pickup in 2028.
"I guess the main takeaway is they're not actually canceling it," he said. "They're changing it to a plug-in hybrid. They're adding a version with a gas range extender so that it can go beyond the battery only and go up to 700 miles."
Ford stated the next-generation F-150 Lightning will use Extended Range Electric Vehicle technology, combining electric motors with a gas-powered generator for an estimated range of more than 700 miles.
"I imagine the battery will be a little bit smaller so that they can get the price down, because that was the other thing — they were losing money on every one sold," Lawson said.
Price Problem
When Ford unveiled the Lightning in May 2021, the company promised a starting price of $39,974. Over 200,000 reservations poured in — a projected three-year backlog, according to company statements at the time.
But those reservations didn’t fully translate into sales. Price tags today for a 2025 Lightning range from around $50,000 for a base model and over $80,000 for Ford’s tricked out Platinum edition.
"They're a legacy automaker. They're set up to do things a certain way," he said. "It wasn't built from the ground up as an EV."
Adam Levin, new car manager at Loveland Ford Lincoln in northern Colorado, said his dealership sold 30 to 40 Lightnings per year — but mostly thanks to incentives.
"When federal money was around to help offset the initial cost, that drove a lot more people to them,” he said.
The $7,500 federal EV tax credit expired Sept. 30. November EV sales fell 40% nationally, and Lightning sales dropped 72%, according to industry reports cited by Electrek.
Levin said he wasn't surprised by Monday's announcement.
"I kind of personally foresaw this coming," he said. "So we've greatly scaled back our ordering of the Lightning."
Not Interested
At Laramie Range Ford in Laramie, sales manager Anthony Romero said his dealership sold only a handful of Lightnings.
"Our specific location is pretty dominated by Super Duties from the surrounding ranching community," Romero said, referring to Ford's heavy-duty pickup line.
When it comes to what his customers need, Romero was direct: "Pulling fast and pulling your 20,000-pound trailer. You want to be able to use it, be able to move it."
While the Lightning could tow up to 10,000 pounds on paper, real-world range suffered significantly when towing. Consumer Reports testing confirmed EV trucks get "less than half" their rated range when towing heavy loads.
"The towing on the Lightnings is amazing," Lawson said. "The problem is the distance. So you put your range in by at least a third, depending — if you max it out at 10,000 pounds and not aerodynamic, you're looking at half the range."
Hybrid Alternative
While Ford walks away from the all-electric Lightning, Levin has been driving the company's hybrid F-150 since 2021 — and just bought another one last week.
"You have all the benefits of the 3.5 EcoBoost motor, all the power and reliability that that has, coupled with the battery as a traditional hybrid," Levin said. "So you have electric at low speeds, cruising speeds when it so calls for it. Generally good, better gas mileage out of it versus just a traditional gas-powered motor."
His personal experience: about 650 miles per tank.
The hybrid F-150 PowerBoost gets an EPA-estimated 704 miles of range — more than double the Lightning's maximum 320-mile rating, according to GreenCars.
"Our next-generation F-150 Lightning EREV will be every bit as revolutionary," Doug Field, Ford's chief EV, digital and design officer, said in the company's announcement. "It delivers everything Lightning customers love — near instantaneous torque and pure electric driving. But with a high-power generator enabling an estimated range of 700-plus miles, it tows like a locomotive."
But Lawson is watching something else from Ford — a smaller, cheaper electric truck the company has been developing separately.
"They had a skunkworks division working on a new EV from the ground up and an unboxed assembly method," Lawson said. "It's their Model T moment. And that's coming out for 2028, and it's going to be a $30,000 truck."
