Ford Halves Its Lightning Output To Fewer Than 100,000 A Year

At a time when Ford expected to be ramping up its electric truck production toward 600,000 pickups, the automaker announced that it would be cutting production on its electric assembly line by half.

Decision Slashes Production

Ars Technica, quoting the leading automotive trade paper Automotive News, has noted that Ford’s suppliers have been told that beginning next month, the automaker will be slashing its electric truck production by half, from 3,200 trucks a week to 1,600 pickups. Ford will cut its output from over 166,000 annually to just over 83,000 electric trucks annually.

EV makers could silence critics battery concerns

The automaker teased the Ford F-150 electric truck throughout the end of 2021 as the automaker headed toward unveiling the electric in April 2022. Ford, not to be an automaker to set off in a brand-new direction with its truck production, made what it was now calling the F-150 Lightning with common body parts that left the electric truck looking just like its internal combustion engine (ICE) and hybrid counterparts in the F-150 lineup. The only difference one might notice between the F-150 Lightning and the ICE pickup version was the specialized front-end lighting.

F-150 To The Rescue Of Stuck Cybertruck

As with other vehicles, Ford decided to keep the weight of its battery pack as low as possible. For the F-150 Lightning, it means that the battery pack rides between the chassis rails.

 Conservative Styling 

Unsurprisingly, Ford has taken a very conservative styling approach with the Lightning. The automaker bet that the battery electric truck would be a hit with its automaker’s fan base. As noted, except for a detail here and there, the F-150 Lightning looks like the rest of the lineup. Ars Technica noted that you can’t tell the F-150 Lightning from the ICE version or the diesel.

The conservative design “appeared to be a winning strategy with the pickup crowd. Ford’s order books were flooded with over 200,000 reservations before any trucks” rolled off the lines onto the streets.

Ford Takes 4 Major KBB Honors

This flood of reservations for the F-150 Lightning prompted Ford to “double its original production plan and aim for an annual production rate of 150,000 trucks a year.” Ford later said it expected production to hit 660,000 a year by 2026, and the build rate would hit 1 million by 2030.

Early Electrifying Thoughts

At that time, pricing also helped Ford shape its production plan as it seemed there would be a “commercial model with a smaller battery” with an MSRP of $39.974 “before tax credits.”

Things haven’t worked out as the Blue Oval had planned. “Ford’s EV division, Model e, isn’t near the break-even point. As Ars Technica points out, the Model e division likely won’t hit profitability “until 2026 at the earliest.” This follows a pricing roller coaster that saw Ford raising Lightning prices, even “after a price cut in July.” At this point, the “cheapest electric F-150 still costs $49,995.”

Ars Technica also pointed out that Ford’s move to cut production follows “a string of stories this year about overflowing EV inventories and a dearth of buyers.” This resulted in a “case of cold feet” by Ford.

One Question Leads To Production Cut Story

Interestingly, Ford’s response Ars Technica wasn’t about the Lightning. The automaker’s spokesman was talking about Mustang Mach-E production. The spokesman said, “ In November of this year, we said as the market and our customers transition to EVs, we will balance volume with demand while focusing on cost. It's not solely about delivering a specific volume by a specific date. It's about building a profitable, enduring business with competitive cost structure."

Ars Technica received the info about the Lightning production cut on a follow-up question:  “When we followed up with Ford about changes to the F-150 Lightning production plan, it told us that "’ we will continue to match Lightning production to customer demand.’"

Marc Stern has been an automotive writer since 1971. His automotive articles have appeared in venues including Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, AutoWeek, SuperStock, Trailer Life, Old Cars Weekly, Special Interest Autos, and others. You can follow Marc on Twitter or Facebook.