Interest in the first-ever all-electric Ford F-150 – the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning – has been strong since the pickup was revealed earlier this year as over 120,000 prospective buyers have lined up to reserve one. Despite this, Ford has said that F-150 Lightning production will be limited in the truck’s very first model year, which isn’t a surprise given the fact that it’s an entirely new vehicle being built in a brand new plant – the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center. Regardless, strong demand for the electrified pickup has apparently motivated Ford to double its F-150 Lightning production target, according to Reuters.
Ford will reportedly spend an additional $850 million to meet its target, which is on top of the 50 percent boost in production the automaker already added last November. Strong pre-launch interest in the electrified pickup – particularly among commercial customers – was the driving factor in this decision, as one source told Reuters that Ford was “pleasantly surprised by the demand for the Lightning.”
Ford’s plans to ramp up production of the F-150 Lightning include increasing the number of units built with each passing year. Additionally, Reuters notes that the second-generation Lightning is scheduled to launch in 2025, at which point the automaker plans on producing around 160,000 units per year.
While the current-gen F-150 Lightning rides on underpinnings heavily derived from the ICE-powered F-150’s platform, the next-gen model will utilize Ford’s new TE1 architecture, which is being developed specifically for electric vehicles. Ford announced that it was developing that platform, along with the GE2 architecture, back in May. The two platforms are designed to underpin a wide variety of vehicles, lowering development and production costs as well as simplifying both processes.
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