Ford was pleasantly surprised by the demand for its upcoming electric pickup truck, the F-150 Lightning. So much so that it’s doubling its production target for the truck.
The automaker will spend $850 million to meet its target of raising production from 40,000 a year in 2024 to 80,000 per year, sources who asked not to be named told Reuters. The company plans to build around 15,000 of the trucks next year, ramping up to 55,000 in 2023, before reaching its final production ambitions.
Ford will eventually make 160,000 F-150 Lightnings per year in 2025, though those trucks will be the second-generation truck based on a new platform that is a step ahead of the upcoming F-150 Lightning’s and more differentiated from the standard F-150’s platform.
Read Also: Ford Focused On Creating “Compelling” EVs, Already Has 120k F-150 Lightning Reservations
Strong demand for the truck means that Ford already has more than 120,000 reservations for the F-150 Lightning. Although some may wonder if F-150 customers are willing to give up their gas engines, it turns out that private owners aren’t driving the most sales. Commercial customers seem to be the most eager to buy up the electric pickups.
As the Biden administration moves to make EV ownership more attractive, many companies are looking to shift their fleets to electric vehicles to reduce their carbon footprints. Although Ford is just one of a number of companies with an electric pickup on its way (others include Tesla, Rivian, and Canoo) it’s one of the few major manufacturers with one coming up. Even GMC’s Hummer is more of a luxury vehicle than a commercial vehicle, though GM will be coming out with an electric Silverado soon and RAM has its own plans.
Ford has already announced that it expects to spend more on developing EVs than internal combustion vehicles by 2023. The F-150 Lightning is set to start at just $39,974 and will go up to 300 miles per charge.
