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2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Receives 44,500 Reservations Within 48 Hours

A resounding success for the Ford Motor Company, the F-150 Lightning is riding on a wave of hype that would make the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian R1T, and GMC Hummer EV blush with admiration. No fewer than 44,500 reservations were made within two days of the pickup’s reveal according to chief exec Jim Farley, who has recently hinted at an e-Bronco.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning 32 photos
Photo: Ford
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Farley also made it clear that production numbers for the F-150 Lightning would be limited in the first year, mirroring the Dearborn-based automaker’s production strategy for the Mustang Mach-E. How many will be made is anyone’s guess right now because reservations are not firm orders and because the Rouge factory leaves many questions unanswered.

In addition to the tighter demand compared to internal combustion-engined trucks, a huge problem that Ford hasn’t solved yet is battery production. After Korean EV battery makers LG and SK reached a $1.8-billion settlement over a trade dispute, SK Innovation is now free to build lithium-ion cells for the F-150 Lightning as part of a joint venture with FoMoCo.

BluOvalSK is the name of the joint venture, and the Georgia-based manufacturing plant aims to deliver 60 gigawatts of cells each year at full capacity. The Mustang Mach-E, by comparison, is powered by LG Chem. The Korean supplier assembles battery cells at the Wroclaw plant in Poland, the facility that’s also responsible for the battery cells of the E-Transit van.

Turning our attention back to the F-150 Lightning, the Ford Motor Company has an enormous advantage over General Motors, Tesla, and Rivian. On the one hand, the blue-ovaled pickup truck is very affordable at $39,974 for the commercial-oriented base model with 230 miles (370 kilometers) of range while the Hummer Edition 1 costs $112,595 in the first year of production. The weird-looking Cybertruck is nowhere to be seen, and Rivian doesn’t have the experience of Ford, GM, or Tesla in selling or servicing electric vehicles.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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