Ford F-150 Lightning Premium Black EV Gets Flat-Black Look

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — If you like your big pickup extra-large, extra-powerful, flat black, and “sinister” — and many people do — you’ll love the upcoming, battery-powered, 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black, when it goes on sale in early 2024.

That is, if you can afford it, and if you can find one.

Ford Motor Co. plans to build a strictly limited run of just 2,000 copies of the 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black. To put that in context, Ford sold 68,536 F-Series pickups in the month of July alone.

The battery powered Ford F-150 Lightning launched in April 2022. The new version’s flat-black, all-black exterior gives it a “sinister” look, said Vince Mahe, chief engineer, F-150 Lightning.

Even the famous Ford Blue Oval badge is turned black, along with a couple of U.S.-flag badges.

Mahe said at a recent press introduction here that Ford became aware a lot of customers were having their F-150s reskinned with a similar flat-black look, using aftermarket sources.

“People were wrapping their own vehicles,” he said, in some cases without the level of quality and detail Ford could achieve in-house. Jennifer Brace, Ford’s Chief Futurist, said customization is a large and growing trend across many industries, not just automotive.

In addition, Ford may also have been missing out on a profit opportunity. The 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black is going to be pricey. If it’s popular enough, that could suggest Ford is on the right track, with limited-edition versions of the F-150 Lightning, and potentially other models.

Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for the 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black starts at $99,990, including $1,995 destination charge, said Marjace Miles, Ford F-150 Lightning brand manager.

That makes the 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black the most expensive version of what Ford considers the Ford F-150 Lightning “family” of models. It’s almost double the sticker price of the least-expensive 2023 model, the Ford F-150 Lightning Pro. It starts at $51,990, with destination charge.

Performance numbers for the 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black should be similar to the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum level of trim and equipment. That is, the standard-range F-150 Lightning Platinum gets 462 hp in standard range, and 580 hp in extended range.

Ford says the targeted, EPA-estimated range for the Platinum Black model is 300 miles.