Ford F-150 Lightning production to double

Ford has announced that it will nearly double production of its all-new 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning in response to “soaring customer demand” for the battery-electric pick-up.

With almost 200,000 pending reservations, the Blue Oval says it is now targeting a production rate of 150,000 units per annum ahead of first North American orders being accepted this week and an autumn (US spring) production start.

There is currently no right-hand drive production of the Ford F-150 – either electric or combustion-engined – which rules it out for the Aussie market in the short-term, but Ford Australia is believed to be working on a plan for local conversion.

So scaling up production of the Lightning EV could have positive flow-on effects for Australia.

The F-150 Lightning can produce up to 420kW of power and 1051Nm of torque, equating to a 0-60mph (97km/h) time of just 4.4 seconds. It also has a driving range of up to 480km.

According to Ford’s Americas and International Markets Group president Kumar Galhotra, more than 75 per cent of reservation holders in North America are new to the Ford brand, forcing it to adopt a wave-by-wave reservation process.

“With nearly 200,000 reservations, our teams are working hard and creatively to break production constraints to get more F-150 Lightning trucks into the hands of our customers,” he said.

“The reality is clear; people are ready for an all-electric F-150 and Ford is pulling out all the stops to scale our operations and increase production capacity.”

For now, all F-150 Lightning models are built at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, with reservation holders being told to keep an eye out for an email “over the next few months” inviting them to place their order.

A Ford spokesperson confirmed “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”.

It remains to be seen whether this “unprecedented customer interest” translates into demand for an all-electric Ford Ranger, but it seems a sub-F-Series EV ute is on the cards – most likely materialising as a battery-powered version of the Ford Maverick.

Separately, Ford has also tripled production output of the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which translates to 200,000 units by the end of this year.

This is another model that’s yet to be confirmed for Australia, but is a likely starter.

Ford’s first EV in Australia will be the 2022 Ford E-Transit van that’s due to launch mid-year.

Within 24 months, the Blue Oval brand will have the global capacity to produce 600,000 battery-electric vehicles per year.