Ford raises prices for the F-150 Lightning and resumes production

Ford Motor Company said it has resumed full production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck after a battery fire in February — and that it is raising prices again on the popular truck.

Ford said the standard-range Lightning Pro, a lower-cost version of the truck optimized for fleet use, will now start at less than $60,000, not including shipping. That’s nearly 50% higher than the original starting price for the Lightning Pro at launch last spring. Ford noted that the 2023 Lightning Pro has sold out to retail customers; The company said order banks for fleet customers will reopen in April.

Ford also raised the price of the mid-level Lariat with the standard range battery from about $74,500 to just under $76,000. The starting price for the Lightning in the higher-end Platinum tier has also increased, from around $96,900 to just over $98,000.

The news of the price hike and Lightning production resuming was first reported by Auto News.

Ford has raised the prices of the Lightning several times since it first announced pricing for the truck in 2021. The standard Pro version was originally set to start at just under $40,000, but costs are quickly rising for critical raw materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel— And unexpectedly high demand for the electric pickup – led Ford to increase prices several times in 2022.

Ford halted production and shipments of the Lightning in February after a just-built truck awaiting quality inspection caught fire on one of Ford’s vehicles. The company later identified a possible battery cell defect and recalled 18 Lightnings that may have had the same issue.

No other fires were reported, and Ford said at the time it was not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the defect.

A Ford spokesperson told CNBC that Lightning shipments will also resume this week.