Mystery battery issue pauses Ford F-150 Lightning production

Ford has been forced to halt production of its flagship electric pickup truck due to a potential problem with the lithium-ion battery pack.

CNBCreports a Ford F-150 Lightning displayed a “potential problem as part of the automaker’s pre-delivery quality inspections”.

A spokesperson for Ford USA confirmed to CNBCproduction was paused at the start of the week commencing February 6, 2023, but didn’t confirm the nature of the problem.

“The team is diligently working on the root cause analysis,” the spokesperson told CNBC, confirming vehicles already with dealers can still be delivered to customers.

Demand for the F-150 Lightning has outstripped supply since the vehicle’s launch in 2021.

Ford was forced to close its order books in December 2021, before production had even started, and in 2022 announced plans to double its production output in an attempt to get cars to customers sooner.

While Ford has been making pickup trucks since before most of us were born, its work in the electric vehicle space has been much more limited.

It leased Ranger EVs to American customers in the late 1990s and early 2000s, then introduced a Focus Electric around a decade later that was little more than a compliance car.

Now, it’s in the midst of a rollout of electric vehicles.

While crosstown rivals General Motors and Stellantis have committed to a bevy of vehicles across multiple segments and multiple brands, Ford has arguably had more of a laser focus with its F-150 Lightning, E-Transit, E-Transit Custom and Mustang Mach-E leading the charge.

It’s primarily on these four pillars that Ford is setting its aspiration to have EVs account for 50 per cent of its global sales volume by 2030.