Ford to Pause F-150 Lightning Production, Deliveries Over Battery Issue

(Image: Ford)Ford is pausing production and shipments of its F-150 Lightning, the highly anticipated, first-of-its-kind electric pickup from a mainstream automaker. Company sokesperson Emma Bergg confirmed for Motor Authority Tuesday that it would temporarily freeze the F-150 Lightning’s assembly line and shipment schedule thanks to a potential battery issue. The issue was uncovered during pre-delivery quality testing. Bergg declined to disclose what exactly is going on with the F-150 Lightning’s battery but said that the pause order was issued early last week. As of now, it’s unknown when production and new deliveries will continue.

“It depends on how long it will take to conduct the root cause analysis,” Bergg told Motor Authority.

The freeze isn’t a good look for Ford, whose investors closely follow the electric truck’s impact on the auto market. The F-150 Lightning is a major release for the automaker. Ford has been hard at work electrifying models that wouldn’t traditionally become EVs, like the Mustang (via the Mach-E) and the Bronco. But the F-150 has been the company’s best-selling product for decades, and the all-electric version represents both a tremendous opportunity and risk for Dearborn.

Battery issues are a problem for any vehicle, but they’re particularly detrimental to EVs for obvious reasons. The F-150 Lightning’s battery is sourced from SK On, a subsidiary of SK Innovation that isn’t known to have had poor experiences with its batteries in the past. As far as Ford itself is aware, F-150 Lightning customers haven’t experienced any performance or safety issues related to their trucks’ batteries either, meaning it’s likely we’ll be in the dark for a while.

The F-150 Lightning isn’t the only electric pickup to experience manufacturing road bumps as of late. Tesla’s storied Cybertruck has been delayed a few times, with the most recent setback being announced just last month. The EV’s reputation—which certainly precedes it, thanks to a total lack of deliveries so far—is rife with battery production hiccups, supply chain issues, and subsequent price increases.

Speaking of price increases, the F-150 Lightning has those, too. Though the entry-level model was priced at $39,974 (before destination charge or tax credits) at launch, it’s now listed at a whopping $57,869.

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