Ford halts production, shipments of F-150 Lightning through next week over potential battery issue

Production of the F-150 Lightning will remain halted until at least the end of next week as Ford Motor Co. attempts to fix an undisclosed battery issue, the company said Wednesday.

A day after confirming the production pause and hold on shipments, Ford spokeswoman Emma Bergg said the company believes it has identified the root cause of the issue, although she did not elaborate.

“By the end of next week, we expect to conclude our investigation and apply what we learn to the truck’s battery production process; this could take a few weeks,” Bergg said in an emailed statement. “We will continue holding already-produced vehicles while we work through engineering and process updates.”

Bergg previously said an investigation began after a vehicle displayed a possible problem as part of the company's pre-delivery quality inspections.

The company is not aware of any potential issues with any Lightnings that have already been delivered to customers, Bergg said.

The delay in production and shipments was first reported by Motor Authority.

The F-150 Lightning is a key part of Ford's plans to produce 600,000 EVs annually by the end of this year, and 2 million by 2026. Ford recently added a third shift at the Rouge plant as it works to boost production to 150,000 Lightnings by the end of the year.

CEO Jim Farley has said the product would likely determine whether the U.S. was ready to fully embrace EVs.

Ford, however, has been plagued by quality issues and trouble on many of its highest-profile products. Last year, Ford issued a stop-sale on the Mustang Mach-E as it recalled nearly 50,000 crossovers over a safety defect that could cause it to lose power.

Farley earlier this month blamed long-standing execution issues, including high costs and quality issues, as the reason why Ford lost $2 billion in 2022.