The 2026 Ford F-150 Lightning Is Up to $4,000 Cheaper. Is It Enough?

Automakers are scrambling to find ways to make every EV as cheap as possible now that the $7,500 federal tax credit is a thing of the past. Ford, which attempted to extend the credit for leases in a clever way, possibly caved to political pressure this week when it announced that it had scrapped those plans. Still, it’s got to make its products as attractive as possible, and one of the ways it’s doing that is by cutting up to $4,000 from certain F-150 Lightning trims.

Excluding the workman Pro model, the 2026 F-150 Lightning will start at $65,540, including a rather hefty $2,195 destination charge, for the STX trim. This is actually the same price as last year’s base XLT, except the name’s changed and some off-road equipment has been added. It’s when you move up to the mid-grade Flash trim that the price decreases by $4,000 compared to its 2025 counterpart, for a total of $68,190.

Moving up the range, the Lariat now starts at $77,190—a $2,000 decrease—while the Platinum remains at $87,190. Ford confirmed to CarsDirect that these reductions haven’t come at the expense of any standard equipment.

Unfortunately, while the cuts are appreciated, they still don’t really compare to what Ford’s doing on the lease side, as existing 2025 trucks can still be had with up to $11,500 in discounts, per CarsDirect. And the price of the Lightning really has moved around in recent years.

Ultimately, Ford is doing what it can to support the Lightning. Around this time last year, the automaker paused manufacturing for the vehicle due to low demand and the state of dealer stock. These days, it’s betting on a different electric pickup—one that it’s teasing as its modern “Model T moment”—to serve as its cheap EV for the masses.

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