Photo: Ford
Ford confirmed it canceled dealer orders for the 2023 F-150 Lightning in the US and Canada. The Blue Oval says the decision was made because of the model year switchover and has nothing to do with the UAW strike or lack of demand. The strike impacted Ford's production at two important plants, although the Rouge EV Center, where the Lightning is produced, was not affected.
Ford is among the traditional carmakers best positioned to take on Tesla in the EV market. While the Mustang Mach-E is struggling to compete with the Model Y, the F-150 Lightning is among the best-selling electric pickups in the US. However, the Blue Oval's EV efforts have been hampered in the past months by production halts, faulty F-150 Lightning batteries, and, recently, the UAW strike.
Against this background, we've heard rumors that Ford canceled dealer orders for the F-150 Lightning across the US and Canada, and discussions on forums and social media linked this to the current UAW strike or even lack of demand for Ford's electric pickup. Although the strike has not directly impacted Ford's Rouge EV Center, where the electric F-150 is produced, it wreaked havoc among Ford's parts suppliers.
In some cases, rumors are even more alarming, claiming Ford shut down the F-150 Lightning completely. That would've been preposterous, so we tried to find out what this is all about. It turns out the rumors have consistency as Ford indeed canceled some dealer orders for the F-150 Lightning in the US and Canada. However, the reason behind this move might be more benign than most people thought.
We've contacted Ford and learned that the canceled orders have nothing to do with the UAW strike or the demand for the electric pickup. Instead, the move was prompted by Ford running out of build slots for the 2023 model year as it prepared for the MY24 production start. According to Ford, this decision only affects dealer orders, and no customer orders have been canceled by Ford. Of course, this doesn't mean dealers haven't canceled customer orders after Ford canceled theirs.
Sometimes, there's no smoke without fire, and it turns out this time there is some merit to the F-150 Lightning production halt. Ford is indeed limiting dealer orders to prepare for the 2024 model year, but the start of production is still months away. Ford was expected to continue building the 2023 model for a while. This didn't happen because Ford decided to perform "additional quality checks" at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center (REVC).
Last month, Ford issued the CSP bulletin 23B57, instructing dealers to verify about 40,000 F-150 Lightning trucks built after October 14, 2021. The problem lies with the high-voltage battery, which sometimes throws error code P0B24 – Hybrid Battery Voltage Unstable. Ford will offer a software update to detect these problems and replace the faulty battery modules (or rather the entire pack) of those affected free of charge. Based on discussions in the f150lightningforum.com, some owners have already been notified to schedule battery replacement based on a remote diagnosis.
We're unsure if this campaign is related to the "additional quality checks" cited by Ford as cause for the 2023 F-150 Lightning dealer order cancelations. Given the timing (the CSP 23B57 was issued on September 13), it might very well be the cause. The good news is that Ford is investigating and will fix these issues for the 2024 model year. Orders for the refreshed model are expected to open in January.
Against this background, we've heard rumors that Ford canceled dealer orders for the F-150 Lightning across the US and Canada, and discussions on forums and social media linked this to the current UAW strike or even lack of demand for Ford's electric pickup. Although the strike has not directly impacted Ford's Rouge EV Center, where the electric F-150 is produced, it wreaked havoc among Ford's parts suppliers.
In some cases, rumors are even more alarming, claiming Ford shut down the F-150 Lightning completely. That would've been preposterous, so we tried to find out what this is all about. It turns out the rumors have consistency as Ford indeed canceled some dealer orders for the F-150 Lightning in the US and Canada. However, the reason behind this move might be more benign than most people thought.
We've contacted Ford and learned that the canceled orders have nothing to do with the UAW strike or the demand for the electric pickup. Instead, the move was prompted by Ford running out of build slots for the 2023 model year as it prepared for the MY24 production start. According to Ford, this decision only affects dealer orders, and no customer orders have been canceled by Ford. Of course, this doesn't mean dealers haven't canceled customer orders after Ford canceled theirs.
Sometimes, there's no smoke without fire, and it turns out this time there is some merit to the F-150 Lightning production halt. Ford is indeed limiting dealer orders to prepare for the 2024 model year, but the start of production is still months away. Ford was expected to continue building the 2023 model for a while. This didn't happen because Ford decided to perform "additional quality checks" at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center (REVC).
Last month, Ford issued the CSP bulletin 23B57, instructing dealers to verify about 40,000 F-150 Lightning trucks built after October 14, 2021. The problem lies with the high-voltage battery, which sometimes throws error code P0B24 – Hybrid Battery Voltage Unstable. Ford will offer a software update to detect these problems and replace the faulty battery modules (or rather the entire pack) of those affected free of charge. Based on discussions in the f150lightningforum.com, some owners have already been notified to schedule battery replacement based on a remote diagnosis.
We're unsure if this campaign is related to the "additional quality checks" cited by Ford as cause for the 2023 F-150 Lightning dealer order cancelations. Given the timing (the CSP 23B57 was issued on September 13), it might very well be the cause. The good news is that Ford is investigating and will fix these issues for the 2024 model year. Orders for the refreshed model are expected to open in January.
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