Ford Motor Co. is considering scrapping the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck in a move that could raise questions about the future of big EV trucks, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal, citing anonymous sources, reported executives haven't finalized a decision, but are considering canceling the money-losing truck, whose production was stopped last month because of a supply shortage of aluminum. Previously likened by executives to the Model T for how revolutionary the truck was expected to be, the Lightning has missed sales expectations as American buyers remain reluctant to make the switch to the all-electric version of the best-selling pickup.

Jim Farley, CEO of the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker, on Thursday referred to a company statement saying it's working on getting the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center running again, but said he couldn't comment beyond that.

Cutting the Lightning would be the latest setback for EV trucks. Ram parent Stellantis NV earlier this year said it was canceling plans to launch an all-electric version of its full-size truck, though it's moving forward with a extended-range EV that includes a gas-powered engine onboard to recharge the battery. The Journal also cited sources saying General Motors Co. executives have discussed discontinuing some electric trucks. Sales of Tesla Inc.'s stainless steel Cybertruck pickup also has plummeted, and EV startup Rivian Automotive Inc. has cut jobs this year.

In September, there was a fire at Novelis Inc.'s aluminum plant in Oswego, New York, which analysts have said accounts for a significant portion of U.S. automotive aluminum sheet production. The F-150's body for a decade has been made from aluminum. To prioritize the gas-powered model, Ford has idled the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center and will add a shift next year at Dearborn Truck Plant to make up for lost volumes from the blaze's disruption. Novelis expects production of its hot mill to restart in December.

"F-150 Lightning is the best-selling electric pickup truck in the U.S. — despite new competition from CyberTruck, Chevy, GMC, Hummer and Rivian — and delivered record sales in Q3," Ford spokesperson Ian Thibodeau said in a statement. "Right now, we’re focused on producing F-150 ICE and Hybrid as we recover from the fire at Novelis. We have good inventories of the F-150 Lightning and will bring Rouge Electric Vehicle Center (REVC) back up at the right time, but don’t have an exact date at this time."

Ford's Model e EV division has lost $3.6 billion this year and a total of $13 billion since 2023. The federal plug-in vehicle tax credit expired at the end of September. After that in October, Ford's U.S. EV sales declined almost 25%, including a 17% decrease in Lightning sales to roughly 1,500 vehicles. The vehicle starts at $54,780, according to Ford's website, but many models sell for upwards of $80,000.

The value of expensive EVs with high-cost, large batteries needed to address range anxiety — and the charging network to support them — just isn't there in the eyes of many U.S. consumers.

"Given weak EV demand, the Lightning long in the tooth, the need for more ICE F-150 capacity to make up for the Novelis fire, and a new generation EV truck in the works, it’s not shocking to see the rumor." David Whiston, an analyst at investment firm Morningstar Inc., said in an email.

Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at auto communications firm Telemetry Group, said Ford could either invest to improve the truck and bring its manufacturing costs down, or give up on it. He won't be surprised if the automaker chooses the latter. Prices for the pickup have remained too high to appeal to a wider audience, including for businesses looking for electric trucks to bolster their fleets, he said.

The Lightning was "a good first effort," Abuelsamid said, but "they didn't really do anything of note with it to improve upon what they originally launched."

Ford has made tough EV cuts before. It has reduce planned EV battery production capacity by 35% and last year said it was writing off as much as $1.9 billion to cancel an electric three-row SUV program. Ford cited demand challenges and the need for better, less-expensive battery technology that offers longer ranges. It instead will expand Super Duty production to its Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario.

Electric trucks were touted as Detroit's response to Tesla's inroads into the market. They had enthusiasts behind the nameplates and the trucks would carry higher price tags than small crossovers or sedans. The Lightning, originally promoted as priced below $40,000, captured a plethora of initial interest. In a test drive in 2021, President Joe Biden in remarked, "This sucker’s quick." But core truck buyers weren't sold.

In 2027, Ford plans to launch its Universal EV Platform. The first product will be a midsize truck assembled at the Louisville Assembly Plant expected to start at $30,000. A full-size truck and commercial van have been delayed, but are expected to follow in 2028.

The full-size truck is slated for the new BlueOval City assembly plant in Stanton, Tennessee, outside Memphis. Pickup prototype production was set to begin in 2027. Farley however, has said because of bumpy EV adoption, EV assembly plants likely will need to support buildings with other powertrains too. Ford has said it's also working on extended-range EVs like the one Ram will launch.

The Ford's next-generation full-size truck program was known internally as "Project T3" for "trust the truck," a rallying cry for the development team. Farley said it would "revolutionize America's truck" to be simplified and more cost efficient. BlueOval City was expected to have capacity for 500,000 pickups annually.

The Lightning launched at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in 2022. Soon after, Ford tripled capacity at the plant for an annual run rate of 150,000 trucks. But as pandemic-induced microchip shortages, stimulus checks and lockdown savings came to an end, the reality of EV demand and insufficiencies of the U.S. charging network came clearer into picture.

In the second quarter of 2024, the average number of days it took for dealers to sell Lightnings peaked at 143, according to auto information website Edmunds.com Inc. In the third quarter of 2025, that had decreased to 66 days.

"You can see the wild ride Lightning has been on," Ivan Drury, Edmunds' director of insights, said in an email, "with lot times having hit over 100 days for multiple quarters to then dialing back down due to production stoppages and now sort of at the industry overall level."

Stellantis in September scrapped development of its all-electric Ram 1500 pickup, pointing to slowing demand for its competitors' trucks in the same category. The outright cancellation came after the brand delayed the truck a few times; it was originally supposed to come out in late 2024.

Ram is instead pouring resources back into its gas-powered truck lineup as it recently brought back a V-8 engine in the 1500 and also is developing a midsize model. It still plans to release the range-extended electric truck. Stellantis executives believe that vehicle can attract more widespread interest than a purely electric pickup.

GM last month killed the Canada-produced Chevrolet BrightDrop electric commercial vans from its lineup. Last week, it also laid off more than 3,400 workers who build electric vehicles and batteries, including 1,200 at the Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Complex where it builds its electric pickups and GMC Hummer SUV. The Detroit automaker in the third quarter took a charge of $1.6 billion to account for losses and said more will come in the future.

GM CEO Mary Barra told investors last month that the company's retail product portfolio is "unchanged."

"We will continue to build award-winning products like the Chevrolet Equinox EV and the Cadillac Escalade IQ, which have been very successful with customers," she said. "We’re proud of them, and we believe their performance will improve, even in a smaller market.”

In recent financial disclosures, GM wrote: "Our strategic realignment of EV capacity does not impact today’s retail portfolio of Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac EVs currently in production, and we expect these models to remain available to consumers.”

GM's electric pickups are not among its top sellers. So far this year, the company sold about 9,400 Chevrolet Silverado EVs and 6,100 GMC Sierra EVs. GM does not routinely provide numbers for its Hummer EV pickup sales.

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