Ford has announced that it plans to resume the production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck on March 13th, a few weeks after it halted production due to a battery issue that caused one of the vehicles to catch fire. The automaker suspended production and issued a stop-shipment order to dealers after the incident, which occurred on February 4th. The exact cause of the fire is still unknown, although the company has stated that a charging fault is not to blame. Ford has not revealed how it has resolved the problem, but it says it is working closely with supplier SK On to ensure high-quality battery packs.
Ford’s decision to set a restart date gives SK On more time to increase battery production at its Georgia factory and deliver the batteries to the F-150 Lightning plant in Michigan. Ford has stated that it will continue to hold already-produced vehicles while it works on engineering and parts updates.
The F-150 Lightning is in high demand, despite the low sales figures of fewer than 20,000 EVs sold since production began in April 2021. In 2021, Ford initially capped reservations for the EV at 200,000 before reopening them last August. The F-Series, of which the F-150 Lightning is a part, has been America’s best-selling vehicle for 41 years.
Ford had hoped to increase F-150 Lightning production to 150,000 trucks per year in 2022, with the goal of producing 600,000 EVs globally by the end of 2023. However, it remains to be seen how the downtime due to the battery issue has affected these plans.
