Ford F-150 Lightning manufacturing to renew March 13

Detroit – ford motor plans to renew manufacturing of its electrical F-150 Lightning pickup on March 13 — greater than a month after a battery drawback prompted a automobile fireplace.

The automaker instructed CNBC on Thursday that the manufacturing timeline will enable its battery provider SK On to provide and distribute battery packs on the Michigan plant the place the vans are produced.

The hearth broke out on February 4 within the holding lot when the automobile was being charged, then high quality checks had been being carried out earlier than supply. Ford suspended manufacturing of the autos and issued a stop-shipment to sellers. Ford declined to reveal particulars of the issue that prompted the automobile to catch fireplace or the answer it applied. The corporate had beforehand stated that engineers decided there was no proof of defective charging.

“Within the weeks forward, we’ll proceed to use our learnings and work with the group at SK On to make sure that we proceed to ship prime quality battery packs – battery cells. As REVC manufacturing progresses We’ll proceed to maintain the autos already produced whereas we work by engineering and elements updates,” Ford stated in a press release to CNBC.

Ford introduced final week that SK has begun manufacturing battery cells once more at a plant in Georgia, however stated the automaker will lengthen the downtime at its Rouge Electrical Car Heart by no less than this week, the place F -150 Lightnings have been made.

The F-150 Lightning is being intently watched by traders as the primary mainstream electrical pickup truck in the marketplace and a serious launch for Ford. The battery challenge was added to the “efficiency points” detailed to traders final month by Ford CEO Jim Farley that crippled the automaker’s fourth-quarter earnings.

Ford initially opened buyer reservations for the F-150 Lightning when it was revealed in Could 2021. Greater than 200,000 reservations had been positioned earlier than Ford briefly shut down the method in an try to align manufacturing with anticipated demand.

Many reservation house owners are nonetheless ready for his or her autos, as Ford stated Thursday that fewer than 20,000 all-electric vans have been bought since happening sale final 12 months.