Ford to construct 150,000 F-150 Lightning electrical vehicles a 12 months

Regardless of having to cease manufacturing of its F-150 Lightning in mid-February after one of many electrical vehicles caught fireplace exterior the manufacturing facility on account of a battery concern, Ford is assured the problem can be resolved and introduced on Friday it plans to considerably ramp up manufacturing.

The automaker mentioned manufacturing of the F-150 Lightning is scheduled to renew on March 13, after which the annual run fee can be ramped as much as 150,000 models by the tip of 2023, or triple the present run fee.

The automaker solely bought 15,617 of the vehicles in 2022, but it surely had 200,000 reservations on the finish of 2021 when it stopped taking new reservations. Nonetheless, Ford has hiked the Lightning’s value 3 times for the reason that preliminary launch, and lots of of these reservations had been made earlier than the worth hikes. The bottom Lightning is now $57,869, or 38.9% dearer than when it went on sale.

That is the second time Ford has determined to extend manufacturing of the F-150 Lightning, with the automaker initially predicting demand to be about 40,000 models a 12 months when the truck was first proven in Could 2021. Ford then doubled its prediction to 80,000 models a 12 months when pre-production bought underway the next September.

2023 Ford F-150 Lightning

Rising manufacturing within the auto trade is especially difficult at the moment on account of shortages of key parts and different transportation bottlenecks. Ford mentioned it’s working to extend capability of parts with suppliers, particularly SK On, the corporate that provides the Lightning’s batteries.

Manufacturing of the F-150 Lightning is dealt with at Ford’s Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan, which has been churning out Ford pickups since 1948.

The Lightning is not the one Ford EV whose manufacturing is being elevated. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E has additionally confirmed successful with the market. The automaker mentioned on Friday that it has began ramping up manufacturing of the crossover at its plant in Cuautitlán, Mexico, and is focusing on an annual run fee of 210,000 models by the tip of 2023.

Ford additionally mentioned on Friday that it’ll add extra workers in April at its plant in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, to assist elevated manufacturing of the Transit and E-Transit vans. The automaker is focusing on a rise within the mixed annual run fee for each vans of 38,000 models by the tip of 2023.