Ford F-150 Lightning EV May Be Cheapest Full-Size Truck To Buy

Federal and state governments are offering enough EV incentives to bring the Lightning's already low starting price way down.

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Rear View

John Neff

By: John Neff

May 19, 2021 at 9:30pm ET

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The most shocking (pardon the pun) thing about the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck's debut isn't the vehicle's range, charging speed, or the size of its massive frunk – it's the starting price. Our collective jaws dropped when Ford announced the F-150 Lightning would start at $39,974 before federal and state incentives are factored in.

Not only will that make the F-150 Lightning one of the lowest cost electric pickups to go on sale in the near future, it'll be one of the cheapest electric vehicles of any kind and the most affordable full-size pickup you can buy (gas or electric) with incentives factored in.

We went ahead and did the research to find out where in the country has the best electric vehicles incentives and how much the F-150 Lightning will cost once they're factored in. The results we found were incredible.

Consider that a base F-150 powered by a gas engine starts at $28,940. Factoring in federal and state incentives, we found four states where a base electric F-150 could cost less than a gas one and one state where it even undercuts the Nissan Frontier!

We found four states where a base electric F-150 could cost less than a gas one.

No matter where you live in the country, you could be eligible for the federal government's $7,500 tax credit when purchasing an electric vehicle. While automakers only have a certain amount of EVs they can sell that qualify for the federal credit, Ford still has plenty. To date, only Tesla and GM have run out of theirs. Also note this is a tax credit, not an instant rebate, so you won't see that money in your hands until your taxes are filed for the year in which you bought the EV.

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With the federal tax credit applied, the F-150 Lightning's effective starting price falls to $32,474. There's a lot farther to fall, though, as many individual states offer incentives to buy EVs, as well. Most offer rebates around $1,000 to $2,500, but the ones we listed below offer much more.

The only caveat is that the base F-150 Lightning is essentially a commercial truck. We don't know what all features it will come standard with, but the XLT model, which is the next trim level up from base and comes more comfortably equipped, starts much higher at $52,974 before incentives are factored in.

DISCLAIMER: We found incentives current as of 2021. They could change for 2022, but here's what we're working with as of today.

Maine

The state of Maine offers a $2,000 rebate for any individual, business, organization buying an EV, but it offers a much larger $5,500 rebate for qualified low-income customers. Those include anyone who qualified in the last year for the Maine Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. With this rebate factored in, the starting price of the F-150 Lightning falls below the Nissan Frontier's starting price of $27,190.

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Starting Price $39,974 Federal Tax Credit -$7,500 Maximum State Rebate -$5,500 Effective Starting Price In Maine $26,974

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Oregon

The state of Oregon offers electric vehicle shoppers two rebates. The first is the standard rebate that's worth $2,500 for the purchase or lease of any plug-in hybrid (PHEV) or electric vehicle with a battery capacity of 10 kWh or more, and the second is called the Charge Ahead rebate that's also worth $2,500 and applies to the purchase of any PHEV or EV. Oregon allows you to combine the rebates for a grand total of $5,000.

That's $500 less than Maine's incentive total, but there's no sales tax in Oregon and no low-income requirement. That means you'll more easily qualify for every rebate and the total amount saved with taxes included will be larger in Oregon.

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Starting Price $39,974 Federal Tax Credit -$7,500 Maximum State Rebate -$5,000 Effective Starting Price In Oregon $27,474 (no sales tax)

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Vermont

The state of Vermont relaunched its electric vehicle incentive program in late 2020 after the original program ran out of funding last October. This time around, EV buyers are eligible for up to $4,000 off the price of a pure electric vehicle, but only if their adjust gross income is less than $50,000. For those making more than that, the incentive drops to $2,500.

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Starting Price $39,974 Federal Tax Credit -$7,500 Maximum State Rebate -$4,000 Effective Starting Price In Vermont $28,474

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Colorado

The state of Colorado offers a tax credit like the federal government does, not a rebate. Still, if you're able to purchase an F-150 Lightning by the end of 2022, the credit can be worth up to $3,500. That is, we assume so. The amount of the credit for a light duty electric truck with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) greater than 8,500 pounds but less than 10,000 is $3,500. That's where we guess the F-150 Lightning will land. If by chance it's more stout than expected with a GVWR above 10,000 then the credit rises to $5,000. And if its GVWR is less than 8,500 pounds, the credit will be just $2,500.

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Starting Price $39,974 Federal Tax Credit -$7,500 Maximum State Rebate -$3,500 (GVWR between 8,500 and 10,000 pounds) Effective Starting Price In Colorado $28,974

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