Ford to double production of all-electric F-150 Lightning pick-up
Ford has announced plans to nearly double production capacity of the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup to 150,000 vehicles per year.
The all-electric truck is being developed at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, and the increase in production comes as Ford looks to meet the demand seen for the F-150.
In addition to scaling Lightning production, Ford recently announced the tripling of production for the Mustang Mach-E and expects to reach 200,000-plus units per year by 2023.
Ford is building the largest, most advanced, most efficient auto production facility in its 118-year history in Tennessee, where it will assemble next-generation F-Series electric pickups. Together with SK Innovation, Ford is also building three new BlueOval SK battery plants – one in Tennessee and two in Kentucky – to produce advanced lithium-ion batteries to power next-generation Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
This $11.4 billion investment will create nearly 11,000 new jobs at BlueOval City and BlueOvalSK Battery Park in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Kumar Galhotra, president of the Americas & International Markets Group of Ford Motor Company, said: “With nearly 200,000 reservations, our teams are working hard and creatively to break production constraints to get more F-150 Lightning trucks into the hands of our customers.
“The reality is clear: People are ready for an all-electric F-150 and Ford is pulling out all the stops to scale our operations and increase production capacity.”
Following the announcement, Ford’s market value topped $100 billion on Wall Street for the first time. The manufacturers share price jumped 2.2% with optimism surrounding Ford’s electrification strategy.
The announcement was bad news for Ford’s rivals, namely Rivian and General Motors, which saw their share price plummet.
Ford and Rivian had previously committed to co-developing an electric vehicle following a $500 million investment, but plans were scrapped in November last year.
The manufacturer said in a statement: “We respect Rivian and have had extensive exploratory discussions with them, however, both sides have agreed not to pursue any kind of joint vehicle development or platform sharing.”
