Only 15,000 available at launch?

[Bboy72]

Am I reading this correctly? This seems to say that only 15,000 will be available at/after launch. Will 105,000 people have to wait a year or more?

EXCLUSIVE Ford doubles Lightning production target on strong pre-launch demand -sources

Ford Motor Co has doubled its production target for the F-150 Lightning because of strong early demand for the full-sized electric pickup truck ahead of its 2022 launch, and the company plans to spend an additional $850 million to meet that target, several people and suppliers familiar with the...

www.reuters.com

 

[Jenja]

Am I reading this correctly? This seems to say that only 15,000 will be available at/after launch. Will 105,000 people have to wait a year or more?

EXCLUSIVE Ford doubles Lightning production target on strong pre-launch demand -sources

Ford Motor Co has doubled its production target for the F-150 Lightning because of strong early demand for the full-sized electric pickup truck ahead of its 2022 launch, and the company plans to spend an additional $850 million to meet that target, several people and suppliers familiar with the...

www.reuters.com

Well that's disheartening, Probably those 15,000 will go to YouTubers and influencers to boot...Looks like I'll be waiting 1-2 years...

 

[firefight04]

THIS PISSES ME OFF, LIKE WHAT DID THEY EXPECT EV ARE SOMETHING NEW? UGH I GUESS ILL PUT MY RESERVATION ON RIVIAN CAUSE I HATE TESLA AFTER OWNING THIER CAR FOR 8 YEARS. SERVICE SUCKS! SO NO CYBER TRUCK FOR ME.

OH FORD I HOPE IM ONE OF THEN 15K SPECIAL PEOPLE.

 

[Cybermonkey]

This is getting stupid, I love the new lightning, but every truck I reserve is taking years to deliver. The cybertruck, f-150. Meanwhile my 2013 f-150 3.5 eco boost check engine light just came on again while towing my not super heavy fishing boat. I've already dumped like $10,000 into maintenance of this truck and I've replaced both turbos and a timing chain for megabucks the last time my check engine light came on while towing the boat. The waiting is killing my future truck ev money savings. Whatever, since I'm a plumber and I need a truck, for work and play, and I want too do better for the planet, while having a kickass vehicle, guess I'll wait, and keep shelling out service money while losing value on my trade -ins. Thanks for letting me vent through that.

 

[firefight04]

This is getting stupid, I love the new lightning, but every truck I reserve is taking years to deliver. The cybertruck, f-150. Meanwhile my 2013 f-150 3.5 eco boost check engine light just came on again while towing my not super heavy fishing boat. I've already dumped like $10,000 into maintenance of this truck and I've replaced both turbos and a timing chain for megabucks the last time my check engine light came on while towing the boat. The waiting is killing my future truck ev money savings. Whatever, since I'm a plumber and I need a truck, for work and play, and I want too do better for the planet, while having a kickass vehicle, guess I'll wait, and keep shelling out service money while losing value on my trade -ins. Thanks for letting me vent through that.

That's what I did. Haha

 

[Cybermonkey]

THIS PISSES ME OFF, LIKE WHAT DID THEY EXPECT EV ARE SOMETHING NEW? UGH I GUESS ILL PUT MY RESERVATION ON RIVIAN CAUSE I HATE TESLA AFTER OWNING THIER CAR FOR 8 YEARS. SERVICE SUCKS! SO NO CYBER TRUCK FOR ME.

OH FORD I HOPE IM ONE OF THEN 15K SPECIAL PEOPLE.

At this point I think it's going to be a race to see who can get it done first. I'm keeping both reservations on the cybertruck, and the lightning. Gentlemen, start your ev engines!

 

[Timtal]

If they have 120,000 pre-orders right now and if one assumes half of those will become real orders, Ford would be really hurting their bottom line if the don’t get capacity up in a hurry. I think they know that a lot of those orders will go elsewhere if they don‘t get this done. I really would like to get this truck next year.

 

[frunk]

I like to look at the glass half full. It look like Ford is doing what they said they would do. They are going to let us order in late fall. They keep saying they are increasing production. And I do not think Ford would only crank up the plant for two weeks and that's all Look at this.

"We produce over 1,000 trucks a day," said plant manager Debbie Manzano, who oversees the massive operation that builds the Ford F-150 seven days a week. "It's almost like having a small city..

i can not believe that Ford can not produce more than 15,000 trucks. It sound crazy to me.

 

[Hersbird]

Those batteries don't grow on trees

 

[frunk]

Those battery's are made by a difference company. SK they are and have been ready. there is not a problem with getting battery's and ford said they already had the chips.

 

[v2hman]

Well that's disheartening, Probably those 15,000 will go to YouTubers and influencers to boot...Looks like I'll be waiting 1-2 years...

Someone from Ford needs to affirm or correct this story. Until they do, we have to assume Reuters got their facts right.

 

[Hersbird]

Those battery's are made by a difference company. SK they are and have been ready. there is not a problem with getting battery's and ford said they already had the chips so there

They are 15,000 ready or 350,000 ready? It's no question Ford can build 100,000 F150s every month. So if they only plan on 1 or 2 thousand a month EV then something different about the EV is holding them up. Now what's different about the EV?

 

[corradoborg]

Those battery's are made by a difference company. SK they are and have been ready. there is not a problem with getting battery's and ford said they already had the chips.

Ford absolutely does not have the chips or batteries yet. Hell, they have tens of thousands of otherwise completed ICE F-150s sitting in storage right now waiting for chips. If they had chips on hand, that's where they would be going. There's also no way they have more than a few prototype batteries sitting around. Companies like Ford time their vendors' parts deliveries to coincide with production. The batteries will be produced and shipped to Ford when Ford needs them (when they begin Lightning production), not sooner.

 

[frunk]

This is not the article i had read but will work. When Ford starts production most of the order has to be in the ford plant so they can keep the assembly line supplied. Ford is going to stat assembling at the end of this month so I am sure SK has a lot of them made and waiting after all Ford will be making a !,000 a day. Another article said Ford is pussing SK to make longer running battery's.

Ford scored some silicon and is back to building F-150, report says

The new trucks are set to start rolling out to dealers in the near future.

www.cnet.com

 

[corradoborg]

This is not the article i had read but will work. When Ford starts production most of the order has to be in the ford plant so they can keep the assembly line supplied. Ford is going to stat assembling at the end of this month so I am sure SK has a lot of them made and waiting after all Ford will be making a !,000 a day. Another article said Ford is pussing SK to make longer running battery's.

Ford scored some silicon and is back to building F-150, report says

The new trucks are set to start rolling out to dealers in the near future.

www.cnet.com

That article is about putting chips into the already-made ICE F-150s that are sitting in storage waiting for them. It mentioned nothing about the BEV Lightning.

And when they get back to making 1000 trucks a day, that's strictly the ICE trucks, too. Lightning production won't be anything near that. Based on the most recently reported numbers, the new plant building the Lightning will put out maybe 50 trucks a day for the first year.

 

[frunk]

That article is about putting chips into the already-made ICE F-150s that are sitting in storage waiting for them. It mentioned nothing about the BEV Lightning.

And when they get back to making 1000 trucks a day, that's strictly the ICE trucks, too. Lightning production won't be anything near that. Based on the most recently reported numbers, the new plant building the Lightning will put out maybe 50 trucks a day for the first year.

Great info where is your proof . They got the chips for the Lightning from another company. The electric truck is much more simpler then an ICE. Show some proof . How can Ford start an assembly line if they have not ordered and acquired the parts and modules they need to run an assembly line. I really don't you know what you are talking about. If you have documents to back up what you are saying I would love to see it

 

[corradoborg]

Great info where is your proof . They got the chips for the Lightning from another company. The electric truck is much more simpler then an ICE. Show some proof . How can Ford start an assembly line if they have not ordered and acquired the parts and modules they need to run an assembly line. I really don't you know what you are talking about. If you have documents to back up what you are saying I would love to see it

The evidence is the article at the beginning of this thread. Until Ford says otherwise, the most recent information is that they only plan to make about 15,000 Lightnings in the first year. And we also know that the Lightning will not be available until spring 2022 at the earliest. Ford is not going to start mass producing the truck now, and just sit on them for more than six months. They’re also not going to go into full production in a brand new plant without test runs. That may be what you heard about starting at the end of September - a very early test production run. Not the actual production run.

Time for you to produce some evidence yourself. The only article you’ve shared is one that is very clearly only discussing the ICE F-150.

 

[Wattdriver]

Also, not likely that any sort of stockpile of batteries would be ordered/produced, as unlike virtually every other part of an EV, LI-on batteries have a shelf life and are designed to be put into service soon after manufacturing.

 

[v2hman]

Am I reading this correctly? This seems to say that only 15,000 will be available at/after launch. Will 105,000 people have to wait a year or more?

EXCLUSIVE Ford doubles Lightning production target on strong pre-launch demand -sources

Ford Motor Co has doubled its production target for the F-150 Lightning because of strong early demand for the full-sized electric pickup truck ahead of its 2022 launch, and the company plans to spend an additional $850 million to meet that target, several people and suppliers familiar with the...

www.reuters.com

I believe the Lightning shares many of the same components as the ICE 150s. It would seem six months should be more than enough time to shift some of Ford's production capacity and set up for the production of however many reservation holders are serious about following through with a purchase. So how about requiring a non-refundable deposit if Ford is nervous about making a serious commitment to the production of Lightnings?

 

[corradoborg]

I believe the Lightning shares many of the same components as the ICE 150s. It would seem six months should be more than enough time to shift some of Ford's production capacity and set up for the production of however many reservation holders are serious about following through with a purchase. So how about requiring a non-refundable deposit if Ford is nervous about making a serious commitment to the production of Lightnings?

You are correct about many components being the same. But chips are a bottleneck for both versions of the F-150, and batteries are a bottleneck for the Lightning. Those - and the logistics of starting up a brand new plant - seem to be the main issues. If Ford had unlimited quantities of both chips and EV batteries, they could probably ramp up quickly to almost any number they wanted.

It also bears mention that at least some of the body panels on the Lightning are different from the ICE models. The wheel arches don't have the crease above them that the current ICE models have, and the "fuel filler door" is moved from the quarter panel to the front fender. Even the hood may be different since the "grill" comes up with it when you open the frunk. And the tailgate is unique on the Lightning Lariat and Platinum trims due to the light bar (Pro and XLT get the ICE version).