Despite an ongoing pause in F-150 Lightning production, Ford says it will boost output this year in response to overwhelming demand. Ford aims to triple Lightning and double Mach-E production as consumers continue gravitating toward its popular EVs.

After selling 61,575 EVs last year, Ford became the second-largest electric vehicle maker in the US, behind only Tesla.

The automaker has encountered some issues this year after pausing production on its popular F-150 Lightning in early February. During pre-delivery quality inspections, one of the vehicles displayed a battery issue prompting Ford to pause shipments nationwide while they investigated.

Ford has since fixed the issue, stating it will restart production on March 13 at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.

Although the stop-shipment applies to already-produced Lightning models and those in transit (but not already on dealer lots), it likely won’t affect current shoppers.

The production halt comes at a critical time as automakers enter a critical year to advance their brands and solidify their position in the future of the industry.
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Despite the setback, Ford plans to increase its EV production to meet the strong customer demand.

Ford said in a press release Friday it will “boost production of its popular EVs” after a “strong start to 2023 sales.”
Here are the EV production targets Ford looks to meet by the end of this year.

• F-150 Lightning: 150,000 annual run rate
• Mustang Mach-E: 210,000 annual run rate

After propelling Ford to number two in US EV sales, selling over 39k, Ford aims to nearly double the hourly production of its Mustang Mach-E.
Despite the production halt, the automaker says overall F-150 Lightning production is on track to triple this year, selling 3,600 through February.

Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, says the increase “benefits both our customers and our business.”

electrek's Take

This isn’t the first or second time Ford has announced it will increase production of its popular EVs after a positive response.

Two years ago, Ford said it was planning to double production to include 55,000 electric vehicles (three times its original guidance) in 2023.

Now the company is aiming to manufacture over 360,000 EVs this year. Although it may sound like a significant increase, it’s still not enough. The demand is there. The issue is keeping up with production.
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The Lightning is an incredible vehicle; hopefully, Ford can get back on track and deliver this year once the issues are fixed. There are a lot of customers waiting for Ford vehicles to be delivered.​​​​​​​