Electric Ford F-150 goes on sale in Australia – for $250,000

Tradies wanting to do their bit for the environment can now order Ford’s F-150 Lightning pick-up. But they’ll need to have extremely deep pockets.

The F150 Lightning has a huge storage area under the bonnet. Picture: Supplied.

Ford’s electric pick-up truck is now available to local buyers but there’s a catch: it will cost roughly $280,000 to park in the driveway.

The new Ford F-150 Lightning is not available through official dealerships.

Instead, the car will be sold through a third-party supplier AusEV, having been converted to right hand drive by Australian Manufacturing Queensland.

Customers can choose between a “standard range” model with about 400 kilometres of range for $224,990 plus on-road costs, or an “extended range” version for $254,990 plus on-roads.

Optional extras and on-road costs push the price close to $280,000 drive-away.

Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen with the F150 Lightning. Picture: Twitter/X.

Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen famously tweeted a picture of himself with the Lightning in the United States in 2022, taking a swipe at Coalition claims that there were no electric utes available.

At the time he said the F150 was “hugely popular” in America but “not currently available in Australia due to poor policies”.

Ford F150 Lightning first drive review

Ford took more than 200,000 orders for the Lightning in its first year of production, but they haven’t translated into sales. The company predicted it would produce 150,000 Lightnings a year, but last year sold just 24,165 out of more than 700,000 total F-150 sales. It has since cut production of the Lightning at its Michigan plant from 3200 a week to 1600 and redeployed staff to other parts of the business.

The company told investors earlier this year it had lost $US4.7 billion ($7.3 billion) on its electric vehicle business, despite the fact that the Lightning was the number one selling electric pick-up in the country.

The F150 is the number one selling electric ute in the US. Picture: Supplied.

And it seems the big pick-up’s prospects of success in Australia may be slim.

The eye-watering price drew disbelief from Reddit users in the CarsAustralia group, with some people describing the “Idiotic prices” as “ridiculous”, asking “who the f — is buying that?”

Others recognised the popularity of Ram’s $200,000-plus TRX ute, and the enormous sums spent on customised vehicles by Aussie off-road enthusiasts.

The local model costs a fair wedge more than the $US62,995-$US84,995 ($98,000-$132,000) American customers pay for the Lightning.

AusEV says customers should consider the electric ute’s comparatively low running costs before ruling it out.

By their maths, the Lightning costs $2 per 100 kilometres to run, significantly less than the $27 of petrol F-150 models.

Factoring in the Lightning’s five years of free servicing, AusEV estimates that it could save customers $32,500 in five years.

The Lightning can be used as a mobile electricity source for powering work tools. Picture: Supplied.

The Lightning was widely lauded when it was launched in the US in 2022, attracting long waiting lists with a strong list of standard features.

The 433kW/1050Nm car can reach 100km/h in about four seconds, can tow 4.5 tonnes and is capable of carrying one tonne in the tray.

A waterproof 400-litre cargo space under the front bonnet has more storage space than some passenger cars, and the 131kW battery can output a massive 9.6kW to power appliances and tools.

The Wall Street Journal said it was “an American manufacturing triumph”, while the Washington Post said it was “set to transform American car culture”.

The Lightning’s towing credentials have been questioned by experts. Picture: Supplied.

But the Lightning’s Achilles’ Heel is its towing range. A towing test by the respected Motor Trend website in the US found that it managed less than 150km towing a 3.2-tonne caravan. With a 1400kg caravan in tow, it travelled 185km. The extended-range battery takes roughly 40 minutes to charge from 15 per cent to 80 per cent.

Sales have also been dented by emerging rivals such as the Rivian R1T and Tesla Cybertruck.

Ford temporarily paused production of the Lightning earlier this year, before slashing prices by up to $US5500.