Photo: Ford | Edited
Ford announced that it's reducing the wait time for the most popular trim of the F-150 Lightning as the production catches up with demand. Ford is on track for an annual production capacity of 150,000 units by the end of this year, and the XLT trim will make up the bulk of the production. Ford's announcement sounds positive but could also mean the demand has cooled.
Ford F-150 Lightning has been crowned North America's most popular electric pickup truck, with almost 16,000 units delivered in 2022. Nevertheless, the 2023 performance has been somewhat disappointing, falling behind Rivian. Ford delivered about 4,300 electric pickups in the first three months of the year. This is still respectable, considering that F-150 Lightning production was stopped at Rouge EV Center for over a month in the first quarter. The production halt was triggered after one truck burst into flames in a holding lot due to a battery defect.
In May, Ford surprised everyone by announcing that the reservation system would not be needed anymore. Ford amassed 200,000 reservations for the electric pickup before it stopped accepting new ones. Surely, it couldn't possibly fulfill them all. Ford delivered a little more than 20,000 Lightnings by then, which indicates that many of those reservation holders gave up on them. Whatever the case, Ford decided the reservations were worth nothing, instructing dealers to allow everyone to order the truck.
Ford announced that delivery times would be drastically reduced, at least for the XLT trim. This is the most popular F-150 Lightning version because it gives the best bang for the buck. Not only that, but most XLT configurations qualify for the full $7,500 IRA tax credit after Ford adjusted prices on May 9. More specifically, it raised the price of the Standard-Range XLT version by $1,000, to $64,474, and made the Extended Range version $2,100 cheaper, at $78,874.
Ford again claims that the increased production at its Rouge EV Center in Michigan allowed it to reduce the wait time. The Blue Oval says the plant is on track to reach the 150,000-unit planned production by the end of the year. Thus, customers who order one F-150 Lightning XLT today will be able to drive it home as early as September. This sounds impressive, but we've seen similar announcements from Rivian, and it wasn't for a good reason. The EV startup is having a hard time convincing customers to buy its trucks, even though it promised a speedy delivery in less than 14 days.
Giving up the reservation system was already a red line, indicating that reservation holders were not serious about buying the electric truck. With the latest announcement, Ford admits that the production is finally matching demand because the latter is very low, not because the former is very high. On the other hand, the Blue Oval closed the order books for the F-150 Lightning Pro, the work truck version of the electric pickup, as it sold out for the 2023 model year.
In May, Ford surprised everyone by announcing that the reservation system would not be needed anymore. Ford amassed 200,000 reservations for the electric pickup before it stopped accepting new ones. Surely, it couldn't possibly fulfill them all. Ford delivered a little more than 20,000 Lightnings by then, which indicates that many of those reservation holders gave up on them. Whatever the case, Ford decided the reservations were worth nothing, instructing dealers to allow everyone to order the truck.
Ford announced that delivery times would be drastically reduced, at least for the XLT trim. This is the most popular F-150 Lightning version because it gives the best bang for the buck. Not only that, but most XLT configurations qualify for the full $7,500 IRA tax credit after Ford adjusted prices on May 9. More specifically, it raised the price of the Standard-Range XLT version by $1,000, to $64,474, and made the Extended Range version $2,100 cheaper, at $78,874.
Ford again claims that the increased production at its Rouge EV Center in Michigan allowed it to reduce the wait time. The Blue Oval says the plant is on track to reach the 150,000-unit planned production by the end of the year. Thus, customers who order one F-150 Lightning XLT today will be able to drive it home as early as September. This sounds impressive, but we've seen similar announcements from Rivian, and it wasn't for a good reason. The EV startup is having a hard time convincing customers to buy its trucks, even though it promised a speedy delivery in less than 14 days.
Giving up the reservation system was already a red line, indicating that reservation holders were not serious about buying the electric truck. With the latest announcement, Ford admits that the production is finally matching demand because the latter is very low, not because the former is very high. On the other hand, the Blue Oval closed the order books for the F-150 Lightning Pro, the work truck version of the electric pickup, as it sold out for the 2023 model year.
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