Ford Ends Pure EV F-150 Lightning

Happy Tuesday! It's December 16, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.

In this morning's edition, we're looking at Ford's cowardice on EVs, as well as Elon Musk's record-breaking net worth. We'll also look at how ever-climbing destination fees are covering automakers' tariff costs, and Nissan's plans to expand Nismo. 

The future of private vehicles is electric. Either that, or we all choke on smog and drown in rising oceans. Yet Ford, the best-selling pickup truck manufacturer in the U.S., says — it's killing off several planned EV models, plus its pure EV F-150 Lightning. Ford is replacing the all-electric truck with an extended range electric vehicle hybrid system — basically a truck that's mostly EV but with a small gas motor attached. Other planned electric vehicles, however, are heading for the dustbin. From Reuters:

Ford Motor said on Monday it will take a $19.5 billion writedown and is killing several electric-vehicle models, in the most dramatic example yet of the auto industry's retreat from battery-powered models in response to the Trump administration's policies and weakening EV demand.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based company said it will replace the fully electric F-150 Lightning with a new extended-range electric model that uses a gas-powered engine to recharge the battery. The company is also scrapping a next-generation electric truck, codenamed the T3, as well as planned electric commercial vans.

"When the market really changed over the last couple of months, that was really the impetus for us to make the call," Ford CEO Jim Farley told Reuters in an interview.

Ford said it will pivot hard into gas and hybrid models, and eventually hire thousands of workers, even though there will be some layoffs at a jointly owned Kentucky battery plant in the near term. The company expects its global mix of hybrids, extended-range EVs and pure EVs to reach 50% by 2030, from 17% today.

Notice how Farley said this change happened "over the last couple of months" rather than as part of some long-term strategy? Everyone's pivoting to the whims of the Trump administration right now, because following along is profitable and disobeying is treason. 

Elon Musk is not only the richest man alive right now, but the richest person in history. His net worth just crested $600 billion, greater than the GDP of all but the 26 wealthiest nations on Earth — he places below Israel but above Singapore. With SpaceX set to go public, he stands to jump up above the GDP of Sweden. From Reuters:

Elon Musk on Monday became the first person ever worth $600 billion, Forbes said, on the heels of reports that his SpaceX startup was likely to go public at a valuation of $800 billion.

Musk, who was the first to surpass $500 billion in net worth in October, owns an estimated 42% stake in SpaceX, which is preparing to go public next year, Reuters reported last week.

The SpaceX valuation would strengthen Musk's wealth by $168 billion to an estimated $677 billion as of 12 p.m. ET on Monday, according to Forbes.

Look, we can all agree this is batshit, right? No one deserves this kind of wealth, especially a man whose legacy is "electric cars that break" and "saying Herman Goring's ideas using video game words." 

Remember tariffs? They may not be the top of the TMS list any more, but they're still here. In fact, next time you buy a car, you'll certainly pay them — you just won't see it in the MSRP. Instead, you'll pay that tax as part of your destination charge. From the Detroit Free Press: 

Automakers are tacking on price hikes to new vehicles in a way that consumers are likely to not notice as much as they might if the companies raised the actual manufacturer's suggested retail price, more commonly called the sticker price.

The carmakers are boosting a mandatory fee listed on the window sticker: the destination and delivery charge.

The destination and delivery charge is a nonnegotiable fee set by the car company that is typically not mentioned in advertising. It covers the manufacturer's cost to transport the vehicle from the factory to the dealership, but make no mistake, even if you drive to the factory to get the car yourself, you'll still on the hook to pay that fee.

Are we tired of winning yet?

Nissan's new CEO is a car guy, and it seems that amidst all his cost-cutting he wants to remain true to those roots. Nismo, Nissan's performance wing, is poised to actually expand amidst the company's other cuts. From Automotive News:

Nissan Motor Co. plans to significantly grow its motorsport-inspired Nismo performance subbrand, aiming to double the global lineup from five models to 10.

The Japanese automaker revealed the strategy Dec. 15, without providing specifics on the upcoming models or confirming how many would be available in the U.S.

Nissan luxury division Infiniti could receive one of the new Nismos.

You'd think Infiniti would want its own performance branding, to keep the luxury brand separated from the brand that sells rebadged Mitsubishis, but I'm just a humble automotive journalist with a marketing degree. What do I know?

No matter how batshit Grimes is now, we must always remember: "Art Angels" is a masterpiece.