Ford Prolongs Pause on F-150 Lightning Assembly

by Matthew Guy

Published: February 24th, 2023

ford prolongs pause on f 150 lightning assembly

Continuing the saga of hiccups with what is arguably Ford’s most important product in decades, Blue Oval suits are pulling the trigger on prolonging production downtime for one extra week in the wake of a battery fire earlier this year.

As per reports from those in the know at Automotive News, the all-electric Lightning will not resume production for another week whilst the battery supplier, SK On, gets their poop in a group and ensures they are building battery cells fitting the parameter of Ford – which presumably include not igniting at random. According to AN, spox from the company said teams worked to identify the root cause and recommended manufacturing changes on which the Blue Oval agreed.

Presumably, this extra week’s pause is to give SK On time to make a few dry runs with these new processes in place, making sure everything goes as planned and these changes do not have any adverse side effects. Ford said the existing stop-ship decree will extend for an extra week as well. Readers who perused articles of this ilk in the last few days may recall other elements of this story, including the apparent tiff between Ford and SK over how much access the former should have to the latter’s production line. If changes to production have been made and agreed upon, we can infer that the lover’s quarrel was settled – at least to a degree.

There’s no official word about what specific problem has befallen these batteries, nor is any explanation expected. One openly wonders about the health of batteries in Lightnings which have already been built; if the issue was significant enough to warrant a change on the production line, what about the unit which have been installed in the however-many thousand Lightnings which are already either on the road or on dealer lots?

Through to the end of 2022, Ford delivered 15,617 F-150 Lightnings after its launch in May of that year. To say it is America’s “best-selling electric truck” is absolutely true but also a title they earned by being one of the first to market. Rivian et al won’t surpass Ford’s numbers for EV trucks in terms of sales, GM’s twins have yet to hit the floor, and Ram won’t appear with their rig until the end of – ahem – 2024. All told, Ford sold 61,575 electric vehicles last year (over double than in 2021) comprised of the Lightnings, roughly 39.5k Mach-E SUVs, and 6.5k e-Transit vans.

[Image: Ford]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#ElectricVehicles #EV #PickupTrucks #Ford

Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

More by Matthew Guy

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 50 comments

Cprescott on Feb 27, 2023

Apparently there was a battery fire on the assembly line that consumed a Lightning and another before things were brought under control.....

2 Reply
- See 1 previous
- EBFlex on Feb 27, 2023
  
  These fake lightnings are unmitigated junk
  
  Like
- Sgeffe on Feb 27, 2023
  
  Whoops! 😬🔥🧯
  
  Like
El scotto on Feb 27, 2023

Ford's CEO has divided the company into two competing divisions, EV vs ICE. Both are failing miserably. Time for a Ford deathwatch?

Disclosure time: I bought a few thousand shares of Ford when it was two bucks and some change. All Ford has to do is make F-150's and Mustangs and keep the wheelbarrows headed to the bank. Right??

It seems all Ford wants to do is sell the most expensive trucks they can for as long as they can. This will probably end up as text book example of excessive corporate greed. This will fail miserably. The 80K truck market isn't that large and it's already full.

Will members of the extended Ford family start dumping their class B stocks?

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Rick T. "If your driving conditions include near-freezing temps for a few months of the year, seek out a set of all-seasons. But if sunshine is frequent and the spectre of 60F weather strikes fear into the hearts of your neighbourhood, all-seasons could be a great choice." So all-seasons it is, apparently!
1995 SC Should anyone here get a wild hair and buy this I have the 500 dollar tool you need to bleed the rear brakes if you have to crack open the ABS. Given the state you will. I love these cars (obviously) but trust me, as an owner you will be miles ahead to shell out for one that was maintained. But properly sorted these things will devour highway miles and that 4.6 will run forever and should be way less of a diva than my blown 3.8 equipped one. (and forget the NA 3.8...140HP was no match for this car).As an aside, if you drive this you will instantly realize how ergonomically bad modern cars are.These wheels look like the 17's you could get on a Fox Body Cobra R. I've always had it in the back of my mind to get a set in the right bolt pattern so I could upgrade the brakes but I just don't want to mess up the ride. If that was too much to read, from someone intamately familiar with MN-12's, skip this one. The ground effects alone make it worth a pass. They are not esecially easy to work on either.
Macca This one definitely brings back memories - my dad was a Ford-guy through the '80s and into the '90s, and my family had two MN12 vehicles, a '93 Thunderbird LX (maroon over gray) purchased for my mom around 1995 and an '89 Cougar LS (white over red velour, digital dash) for my brother's second car acquired a year or so later. The Essex V6's 140 hp was wholly inadequate for the ~3,600 lb car, but the look of the T-Bird seemed fairly exotic at the time in a small Midwest town. This was of course pre-modern internet days and we had no idea of the Essex head gasket woes held in store for both cars.The first to grenade was my bro's Cougar, circa 1997. My dad found a crate 3.8L and a local mechanic replaced it - though the new engine never felt quite right (rough idle). I remember expecting something miraculous from the new engine and then realizing that it was substandard even when new. Shortly thereafter my dad replaced the Thunderbird for my mom and took the Cougar for a new highway commute, giving my brother the Thunderbird. Not long after, the T-Bird's 3.8L V6 also suffered from head gasket failure which spelled its demise again under my brother's ownership. The stately Cougar was sold to a family member and it suffered the same head gasket fate with about 60,000 miles on the new engine.Combine this with multiple first-gen Taurus transmission issues and a lemon '86 Aerostar and my dad's brand loyalty came to an end in the late '90s with his purchase of a fourth-gen Maxima. I saw a mid-90s Thunderbird the other day for the first time in ages and it's still a fairly handsome design. Shame the mechanicals were such a letdown.
FreedMike It's a little rough...😄
Rochester Always loved that wrap-around cockpit interior. The rest of this car, not so much. Between the two, it was always the mid-90's Cougar that caught my attention.