Ford is preparing to follow up the 2022 F-150 Lightning with another full-size electric pickup truck designed from the ground up for “extreme volume,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in an interview. consult with Automotive News (requires registration).
The new full-size truck, which may not be available for several years, will have a new platform and will be built at one of the major plants Ford recently announced, Farley said.
Ford in September announced two large complexes in Kentucky and Tennessee, with the Tennessee facility expected to build a next-generation truck on a dedicated EV platform. That’s different from the already revealed F-150 Lightning, which is based on the existing petrol-powered F-150.
Ford Blue Oval City – rendering of manufacturing complex in Tennessee, September 2021
Farley also said demand for Lightning was about two to three times higher than what Ford predicted.
Ford currently has “160,000 units of demand” for Lightning, Farley said. The automaker had originally planned for a production capacity in the “far north” of 20,000 units a year, but nowhere near that number, he said, he said. Ford had it earlier this year double Lightning output up to 80,000 pcs per year.
It could be a reaction to the customer’s initial interest. Farley said pre-orders for Lightning are close to 200,000 and that Ford is working to convert those preorders into physical orders.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro
General Motors – Ford’s longtime rival in the truck segment – is also preparing to launch its first electric pickup trucks. GM has adopted a “structured sandwich” approach to 2022 GMC Hummer EV, giving it the ability to fit very large battery packs. But the company still needs to show that it can scale to the number of full-size electric trucks it wants.
Upcoming Chevrolet Silverado electric will also be a bulk entry, with some at a fleet price point — though GM has yet to say exactly what that means.
