The federal EV tax credit may be gone, but automakers are broadly dropping prices to offset the loss.
It seems most automakers face the same calculus for electric cars and trucks they continue to crank out even as the $7,500 US tax credit disappears. To keep sales from grinding to a complete halt, we’re seeing prices drop to try and entice customers despite the government incentive no longer being available. In the case of the 2026 Ford F-150 Lightning, the Blue Oval is dropping the MSRP on certain models by as much as $4,000 from the truck’s 2025 pricing structure.
In the previous three months (July – September), F-150 Lightning sales picked up nearly 40% to 10,005 units, offsetting slowdowns earlier in the year for a net 1% gain in volume over the first nine months of 2025. Of course, much of that momentum came from the looming end of federal tax incentives, so automakers are now adapting to a drop-off in demand through the rest of 2025 and beyond.
Through a CarsDirect report, we have some more information on exactly how that’s going to happen, with the base STX — a new-to-Lightning trim replacing the XLT Ford announced last month — starts at $63,345. Now, that price is technically the same as it was for 2025, though you get more off-road-focused gear on top of what the old XLT offered for a similar outlay. The STX also gets a 123-kWh extended range battery, pushing its driving range out to 290 miles, instead of the XLT’s 240 miles with a smaller 98-kWh unit.
The F-150 Lightning Flash, on the other hand, gets a straight-up $4,000 discount from last year’s pricing. It now starts at $65,995. The Lariat, for its part, sees $2,000 shaved off its MSRP for an asking price of $74,995. At the top of the heap, the $84,995 Platinum remains the same.
Is Ford extending the EV tax credit? No…but you can still get some deals
In the midst of buyers losing the $7,500 federal EV credit from October 1 onward, some automakers like Ford were considering extending the program on their own, at least in the short-term. After a little more than a week, the Blue Oval ultimately decided not to move forward with that plan, though it is still putting cash on the hood to entice some folks to leave internal combustion behind.
For example, Ford is offering up a $9,000 lease cash bonus and an additional $2,000 Ford Power Promise cash bonus to prospective F-150 Lightning lessees. The latter is available as a rebate if someone chooses not to take up Ford’s program to have a home charger installed.
Ford is further offering 0% financing to purchasers over 72 months, as are most EV makers to try and woo buyers to pull the trigger without the tax credit. It’s worth keeping in mind that some states still offer their own EV incentives irrespective of the federal government’s move. However, if you do decide to go through Ford Credit for that sweet no-interest financing, you might want to take depreciation into account on your brand-new Lightning before signing on the dotted line. With these recent price cuts, at least that equation gets a little bit more appealing for new buyers.
