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Ford to boost production capacity of electric F-150 Lightning to 150,000 per year; ability to produce 600K BEVs annually within 24 months

Ford Motor Company plans to raise production of the F-150 Lightning pickup at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn to 150,000 trucks per year to meet high demand, Beginning Thursday, the first group of reservation holders will be invited to place their orders for the F-150 Lightning.

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Due to unprecedented customer interest, Ford is implementing a wave-by-wave reservation process, with reservation holders being asked to watch for an invitation via email from Ford or to log into their Ford.com account over the next few months. Those who don’t receive invitations to convert for the 2022 model year will have an opportunity to order a future model year vehicle in due course.

Flexibility is key to Ford’s production system and the way teams are now working to deliver the company’s future lineup of electric vehicles. To deliver this latest increase, a small task force of employees from manufacturing, purchasing, strategy, product development and capacity planning are finding ways to quickly adapt and expand production of the groundbreaking pickup.

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Ford is working with key suppliers—as well as with its own manufacturing facilities Rawsonville Components Plant and Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center—to find ways to increase capacity of electric vehicle parts, including battery cells, battery trays and electric drive systems.

This week marks the final pre-build phase before accelerating into mass production of F-150 Lightning trucks for retail customers and F-150 Lightning Pro for commercial customers. These production-level trucks will be used for testing in real-world customer conditions, collectively accumulating 1 million miles.

The Lightning is drawing interest from customers of competitor brands at a record rate in North America, with more than 75% of reservation holders new to the Ford brand. Production of the 2022 F-150 Lightning pickup will begin this spring at a starting MSRP of $39,9741 before potential federal tax incentives.

Ford is investing more than $30 billion in electric vehicles through 2025. Over the next two years, Ford aims to emerge as the clear No. 2 electric vehicle maker in North America and then challenge the No. 1 spot as its huge investments in battery and electric vehicle manufacturing come onstream. Within 24 months, Ford will have the global capacity to produce 600,000 battery electric vehicles annually.

In addition to scaling Lightning production, Ford recently announced the tripling of production for the Mustang Mach-E and expects to reach 200,000-plus units per year by 2023. Ford’s all-electric van, the 2022 E-Transit, goes on sale early this year.

Ford is building the largest, most advanced, most efficient auto production facility in its 118-year history in Tennessee, where it will assemble next-generation F-Series electric pickups. Together with SK Innovation, Ford is also building three new BlueOval SK battery plants—one in Tennessee and two in Kentucky—to produce advanced lithium-ion batteries to power next-generation Ford and Lincoln vehicles. (Earlier post.)

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