Ford’s F-150 Lightning, once America’s most popular electric pickup truck, is finding a second life on the used market.
Ford F-150 Lightning finds buyers on the used market
It’s hard to pass up the F-150 Lightning at 50% to 60% off the sticker price, even used. With the new models no longer available, Ford’s electric pickup truck is suddenly selling like hotcakes on the second-hand market.
After the last model rolled off the assembly line last December, CEO Jim Farley said the decision to end production came when “the very high-end electric vehicles, the $50,000, $70,000 and $80,000 vehicles, just weren’t selling.”
With a 50% to 60% discount, it now looks like a bargain on the second-hand market. “When Ford was selling it new, the math was complicated,” said Jimmy Douglas, CEO of Plug, a wholesale distributor of electric vehicles. Bloomberg.
However, on the secondhand market, “the Lightning costs 50% to 60% of the sticker price and that’s really a sweet spot,” he added.
Used Ford F-150 Lightnings sell in about 20 days, less than half the 44-day average for used vehicles in the United States. According Edmunds.comPrices have now risen 4% to about $50,000 since the beginning of the year.
Douglass said about a third of used models are sold by rival dealers who would normally return them to Ford. However, many choose to sell them directly due to demand.
Chase Norris of Colorado called the electric truck a bargain. He bought a used Lightning for about $40,000 and considers it a major upgrade over his previous gas-powered F-150.
EV Group CEO and co-founder Alex Lawrence, which sells used electric vehicles, said he currently can’t get any used F-150 Lightnings at a reasonable price.
He said many Lightning buyers use it as a second truck to save money during their weekly commute.
It looks essentially the same as the gas-powered F-150, offers instant torque and produces zero tailpipe emissions, but the electric truck fell short of Ford’s expectations due to its higher price.
The base F-150 Lightning Pro debuted in 2021 with a starting MSRP of $39,974, but quickly rose to around $60,000 about a year later.
According Edmunds.comThe average transaction price of the F-150 Lightning in its first year of sales was $79,000 because Ford focused on higher-priced versions. The ATP gasoline version cost about $19,000 less.
Even with the higher sticker price, Ford was losing a considerable amount on each Lightning it produced. In the first quarter of 2024, Ford lost more than $100,000 for every electric vehicle it built.
Next year, Ford will take another crack at the electric truck market with the Fathom, the first vehicle based on its “innovative” new Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform.
Ford said the Fathom will start at $28,350 for the standard range version. Even with the $1,595 delivery fee included, the electric pickup truck will start at less than $30,000.
As the first vehicle built on its UEV platform, Ford promises that the Fathom will be a radical departure from its first-generation electric vehicles in terms of efficiency and, therefore, profitability.
According to Ford, the electric truck will offer more interior space than a Toyota RAV4 and will be the first vehicle with Apple Maps directly integrated into the navigation system.
We also know the electric van will have a NACS port after some prototypes were spotted charging at a Tesla Supercharger this summer.
Ford reportedly aims to sell around 100,000 Fathoms in its first year. CEO Jim Farley admitted in the Automotive News Congress 2026 that “it’s going to be a huge effort to launch this at scale, at cost and on time.”
Meanwhile, a company spokesperson confirmed with electrek that “We have previously said, ‘Fathom will be released in 2027,’ and there is no change to that.
Electrek’s opinion
Rising sales of the F-150 Lightning on the used market demonstrate that buyers are looking for electric trucks at the right price.
At $60,000 to $70,000, the Lightning wasn’t that attractive, but used for $40,000, it suddenly is. Maybe Ford is onto something with its next-generation EV pickup truck, the Fathom, which will go on sale starting at under $30,000.
Will he keep his promise? Ford has yet to reveal battery specifications, towing capacity, range or any other specifications. We should learn more soon.
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