Ford Resumes Production Of F-150 Lightning After Battery Issue Caused Shutdown

Kevin Williams
by Kevin Williams

Production of the in-demand truck will start on March 13.

The Ford F-150 Lightning has no doubt been an immensely popular truck. Yet, serious battery issues made Ford halt production on the EV pickup truck. A battery issue, (that hasn’t been fully explained by Ford) caused one truck to catch fire, on February 4. The fire spread to one other truck, and Ford stopped production of the Ford F-150 Lightning shortly afterward. The stoppage has lasted nearly a month after production went down in mid-February.

Now, it looks like the battery issue has been fixed, although Ford hasn’t explained what the issue is. Production of the Ford F-150 Lightning will restart on March 13. The delay will allow its battery supplier, SK On to ramp battery manufacturing back up, and for Ford to ensure that the battery packs produced are of high quality.

Ford says that there were no reported issues of F-150 Lighting fires of vehicles on the streets. But, the brand did stop shipping already-produced trucks to dealers. Now, the shipments have resumed, although there likely will be a delay to the already huge backlog of orders for the truck.

Interestingly enough, Ford says its on track to triple its F-150 Lightning production. Ford wants to build more than 150,000 of electric trucks by the end of the year. It also wants to ramp up production of the Mustang Mach-E, E-Transit, and Maverick, to satisfy the immense demand for these products. Ford also wants to make more gas-powered F-150 and Bronco Sports, too.

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Kevin Williams
Kevin Williams

Kevin has been obsessed with cars ever since he could talk. He even learned to read partially by learning and reading the makes and models on the back of cars, only fueling his obsession. Today, he is an automotive journalist and member of the Automotive Press Association. He is well-versed in electrification, hybrid cars, and vehicle maintenance.

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