It was nearly too good while it lasted. The original base price assigned to the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro was eye-popping for its size, or lack thereof: Here was an all-electric full-size pickup truck listed at just over $41,000(!). To help keep that price so low, Ford used a ton of carryover parts from the regular, gas-fed F-150—and also charged a lot more for bigger batteries and higher trim levels, ensuring those pricey models helped its bottom line. Now, it seems like the entry-level F-150 Lightning's ride as a standout value is over, as following a price increase in August, Ford is charging up the price of its least-expensive F-150 Lightning Pro model yet again.

The Pro is the only model affected by the new pricing, which lofts the truck's price from its initial—and staggering—price of just $41,769, later upped to $48,769, to $53,769. Doing the math for you, that's a $12,000 increase over the original Pro's price, and a $5,000 increase over the adjusted price announced in August; nor does it include the $500 Mobile Power Cord, if you wanted that as an option. Of course, any AC EV charger with a J1772 connector will work with the Lighting Pro to charge it on AC power, so even though Ford's online build-your-own configurator seems to automatically include the Power Cord it's not strictly necessary. Lightning XLTs continue to run $61,269 in standard range form and $82,769 in extended range guise; Lariats are $76,269-$87,769 depending on battery size, and the Platinum (extended range-only) is a heart-stopping $98,669.

Ford's price moves with the Pro move it out of the jaw-dropping value category and merely into "lower-priced" territory. Consider the only other electric truck available when the Lightning debuted: The Rivian R1T, which at the Lightning's launch started at $68,575 for a dual-motor example. At that time, nearly $30,000 separated it from that cheapest Ford.

The Chevrolet Silverado EV and Tesla Cybertruck have yet to go on sale. Even so, the Silverado WT is the only truck that promises to match the Lightning Pro's price, which Chevy claiming the also-entry-level Silverado EV will start at just $41,595—$74 less than the Ford's original ask. Provided the Silverado EV WT's price holds, it'll now be $12,174 cheaper than the Lightning Pro when it goes on sale next year.

Why the price increase? The Blue Oval is citing both supply chain issues as well as "rising material costs" to Automotive News (subscription required). We contacted Ford for a little more info, and received this: "Ford is adjusting the MSRP on the 2023 F-150 Lightning Pro due to ongoing supply chain constraints, rising material costs and other market factors. We will continue to monitor pricing across the model year. Current retail order holders awaiting delivery are unaffected by this adjustment. Current commercial and government customers with a scheduled order are also unaffected by this adjustment."

So, yes, the good news is if you ordered your F-150 Lighting Pro before this price increase took effect, your order will be fulfilled at the price in play when you ordered it. We can't speak for any dealership shenanigans that might inflate said price at the point of sale, though if you happen to encounter egregious markups we recommend reaching out to Ford's corporate offices; the automaker is keen to tamp down on such "market adjustments." When could the supply situation improve? Ford is exploring using lithium iron phosphate (LFP or LiFePo4) batteries for the Lightning and the Mach-E at some point in the future, and we asked if some of the materials costs and issues are causing Ford to up that timescale. Ford didn't give us an additional response to that question.

Where does this leave the entry-level Lightning? Well, Ford isn't the only one making pricing moves. Rivian recently dropped its cheapest R1T Explore model, leaving only the R1T Adventure trim, which starts at $74,075; therefore, at $53,769 price tag, the F-150 Lighting Pro is still massively cheaper. The only other EV truck on the market right now is the GMC Hummer EV, which in its most affordable form  is $32,876 pricier ($86,645 for the Hummer EV2). But just because the Ford's price may not have shifted much relative to others doesn't mean we're not a little bit disappointed that the Lightning is five figures pricier than it was earlier this year. We understand there are market forces at work, Ford seems to be rapidly squandering the goodwill it initially garnered from that low-low Pro price.