Ford has been holding its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickups for quality tests since February 9, when it ceased shipping the vehicles.
A representative for Ford, Emma Bergg, declined to identify the specific quality issue that led to the shipment delay, referring to such delays as a normal aspect of production when cars are being produced for a new model year. Ford has started distributing new gasoline- and hybrid-powered F-150 pickups for the 2024 model year.
The trade publication Automotive News broke the initial news of the shipment halt.
Compared to the battery-powered Lightning, Ford sells a lot more F-150s with gasoline and hybrid engines. For over forty years, the F-series full-size pickups have been the best-selling vehicle of any kind in the United States. Of the 750,000 F-series trucks sold by Ford in the previous year, roughly 24,000 were Lightnings.
According to Berg, F-150 Lightning vehicles are currently available for purchase at Ford dealers, so buyers should be able to find trucks to purchase until shipments resume.
Ford stopped producing the Lightning because to a potential battery problem almost exactly a year ago. After a few weeks, production was resumed.
Ford provides two all-electric cars in the US, including the Lightning. The other is the Mustang Mach-E, which the Tesla Model Y is directly rival to. Ford sold a little over 40,000 Mach-E SUVs in the previous year.
Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, recently disclosed that the company has an engineering team developing future electric vehicle technology.
