- Ford expects to halt production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck by at least the end of next week to address a potential battery issue.
- The updated timing comes a day after Ford confirmed it had suspended production of the highly regarded electric vehicle early last week over a potential battery issue.
- Ford believes engineers have found the cause of the problem.
Ford CEO Jim Farley pats a Ford F-150 Lightning truck before announcing at a news conference that Ford Motor Company will be working with the world’s largest battery company, a China-based company called Contemporary Amperex Technology, to build a battery factory for electric vehicles to be erected at Marshall, Michigan on February 13, 2023 at Romulus, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | News from Getty Images | Getty Images
DETROIT — Ford Motor expects to halt production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck by at least the end of next week to address a potential battery issue, the automaker said Wednesday.
The updated timing comes a day after Ford confirmed production of the closely watched vehicle had been suspended earlier last week after a vehicle showed a problem with the battery during a pre-delivery quality check.
Ford said on Wednesday that engineers found the cause of the problem. The investigation into the issue is expected to be completed by the end of next week, followed by adjustments to the truck’s battery production process that “could take a few weeks”.
A Ford spokeswoman declined to provide further details of the problem, leading to a halt to production and deliveries of trucks already in production.
The truck’s battery supplier is South Korea-based SK On, a spin-off of SK Innovation, with which the Detroit-based automaker announced a joint venture last year to set up battery manufacturing facilities in the United States
Ford said there are no known incidents of this problem in vehicles that have already been delivered to customers and dealers. Dealers can continue to sell vehicles they may already have in stock.
The F-150 Lightning is being closely watched by investors as it’s the first mainstream electric pickup truck on the market and a major launch for Ford.
The battery issue comes on top of the ongoing “execution issues” described to investors by Ford CEO Jim Farley earlier this month, which crippled the automaker’s fourth-quarter earnings.
Farley reiterated on Wednesday that the automaker needs to do better operationally to be more profitable and bring margins in line with those of its competitors. He said Ford is less profitable than its old rivals because it has a $7 billion to $8 billion cost disadvantage.
“We can cut costs, we can cut staff, we can do that very quickly, and we will do whatever we have to do,” Farley said during a Wolfe Research conference. “The reality is, if you don’t change the efficiency of engineering, supply chain and manufacturing, the fundamental work statement, the way people work, the efficiency of that, it’s going to grow again
Farley later added, “This is really about reinventing what we’re doing in the 120-year-old part of the company.”