Ford employees produce the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck on December 13, 2022 at the automaker’s Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center (REVC).
Michael Wayland | CNBC
DETROIT- Ford engine plans to restart production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck on March 13 – greater than a month after a battery problem caused one of the vehicles to catch fire.
The automaker on Thursday told CNBC that the production schedule would allow its battery supplier, SK On, to ramp up production and deliver batteries to the Michigan plant where the truck is being built.
The hearth occurred on February 4 in the car parking zone during a pre-delivery quality check while the vehicle was being loaded. Ford has suspended vehicle production and stopped shipping to dealers. Ford declined to expose details of the problem that caused the vehicle to catch fire, or the solution used. The corporate previously said engineers said there was no evidence of a charging failure.
“In the coming weeks, we will proceed to make use of our experience and work with the SK On team to be certain that we proceed to deliver quality batteries – right all the way down to the battery cells. As REVC increases production, we will proceed to store vehicles already produced while we work on technical updates and parts,” Ford said in an announcement to CNBC.
Last week, Ford announced SK had restarted battery cell production at its Georgia plant, but said the automaker would extend shutdowns at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, where the F-150 Lightning is being built, at the least until this week.
The F-150 Lightning is closely watched by investors because it is the first electric pickup on the market and a very important Ford launch. The battery issue adds to the ongoing “execution issues” detailed to investors last month by Ford CEO Jim Farley which have crippled the company fourth quarter profit.
Ford initially opened customer bookings for the F-150 Lightning when it was revealed in May 2021. Greater than 200,000 bookings had been made before Ford temporarily shut down the process to attempt to align production with expected demand.
Many reservation owners are still waiting for his or her vehicles, as Ford said Thursday that fewer than 20,000 all-electric trucks have been sold since they went on sale last yr.