Ford ramps up the production of the Lightning F-150 electric pickup vehicle in order to satisfy demand.
(Reuters) – DEARBORN, Mich. Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) began regular production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck on Tuesday, more than doubling the projected yearly output of the vehicle that has come to embody the 118-year-old company’s effort to retool for the new century.
Ford will commemorate Lightning’s “Job One” with a webcast scheduled for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT). This shows how quickly the Lightning’s assembly system is moving at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan.
Ford intends to make 150,000 Lightning trucks each year in the new portion of its old Rouge manufacturing facility in Tennessee, while also constructing a far bigger electric car manufacturing center in the state.
Ford originally intended to make just 40,000 Lightning per year, but rising demand for electric cars has pushed Ford to expand planned production twice since August of the Lightning, a highly modified version of the company’s best-selling F-150 pickup truck.
Before Ford stopped collecting early orders for the Lightning in December, around 200,000 consumers had reservations.
The Lightning will arrive in dealerships after Rivian’s electric R1T pickup, but before General Motors Co (NYSE: GMelectric )’s Silverado, Stellantis NV’s planned electric Ram truck, and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Inc’s Cybertruck, which has been postponed until at least next year.
Rivals GM and Ford are taking distinct approaches to the electric pickup truck market. Ford redesigned the modern F-150 pickup truck to include batteries, a cargo-carrying front trunk, and enough electrical outlets to power a house or construction site. Construction of an assembly line next to the Rouge F-series facility took 19 months.
From the ground up, GM spent more time building an electric Silverado, gutting a Detroit factory to make it and several other electric cars, and establishing new facilities to supply those vehicles with GM-designed batteries. The Silverado is scheduled to arrive in dealerships in the autumn of 2023.
Ford’s goal of beginning regular manufacturing of the F-150 Lightning this spring was important. The company has had problems with late and poorly timed launches in the past, most recently with the launch of a new Explorer sport utility vehicle in 2019.
