Ford employees produce the electrical F-150 Lightning pickup on Dec. 13, 2022 on the automaker’s Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center (REVC).
Michael Wayland | CNBC
DETROIT – Ford Motor plans to restart production of its electric F-150 Lightning pickup on March 13 – greater than a month after a battery issue caused one among the vehicles to catch fire.
The automaker on Thursday told CNBC the production timeline will allow its battery supplier, SK On, to accumulate production and deliver battery packs to the Michigan plant where the truck is produced.
The hearth occurred Feb. 4 in a holding lot during a pre-delivery quality check while the vehicle was charging. Ford suspended production of the vehicles and issued a stop-shipment to dealers. Ford declined to reveal details of the difficulty that caused the vehicle to catch fire or of the implemented solution. The corporate previously said engineers determined there was no evidence of a charging fault.
“Within the weeks ahead, we’ll proceed to use our learnings and work with SK On’s team to make sure we proceed delivering high-quality battery packs – right down to the battery cells. As REVC ramps up production, we’ll proceed holding already-produced vehicles while we work through engineering and parts updates,” Ford said in a press release to CNBC.
Ford last week announced SK had began constructing battery cells again at a plant in Georgia but said the automaker would extend downtime at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, where the F-150 Lightning is built, through at the least this week.
The F-150 Lightning is being closely watched by investors, because it’s the primary mainstream electric pickup truck in the marketplace and a significant launch for Ford. The battery issue adds to ongoing “execution issues” detailed to investors last month by Ford CEO Jim Farley that crippled the automaker’s fourth-quarter earnings.
Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro
Ford initially opened customer reservations for the F-150 Lightning when it was revealed in May 2021. Greater than 200,000 reservations were placed prior to Ford temporarily closing the method to try and align production with expected demand.
Many reservation owners are still waiting for his or her vehicles, as Ford said earlier Thursday it’s sold fewer than 20,000 of the all-electric trucks since they went on sale last 12 months.
