Ford has confirmed that production of the F-150 Lightning has been halted due to one of the electric pickup trucks going up in smoke – literally. According to a company spokesperson, the issue is fire-related and is currently under investigation. The spokesperson also stated that current F-150 Lightning owners should not be concerned. The production line is expected to remain offline until at least February 23rd, though there is no word yet on when it’s expected to resume.
Only a couple of days ago, we found out that production and shipments of the F-150 Lightning had stopped. At the time, very little was known about the actual root of the stoppage but it was clear that it surrounded battery issues. Now, we know that the “issue” was that one F-150 Lightning sitting in a pre-shipment quality review caught fire.
Emma Bergg, Ford spokeswoman, told the Detroit Free Press, “I can confirm one vehicle fire. Let me reiterate, we have no reason to believe F-150 Lightnings already in customer hands are affected by this issue.” It also confirmed that manufacturing of the all-electric pickup truck will remain paused until February 23rd. It did not say when shipments would begin again.
More: Ford Recalls Nearly 1,000 Vehicles Because They Might Run Away In Park
Bergg did say that the automaker felt it was confident about the source of the fire. “We believe we have identified the root cause of this issue. By the end of next week, we expect to conclude our investigation and apply what we learn to the truck’s battery production process; this could take a few weeks.” In addition, the automaker is unaware of any incidents surrounding the issue in the field.
Unnamed sources tell the Detroit Free Press that Ford is working with its battery supplier ‘SK On’ because it suspects the issue to be with the battery itself and not related to assembly. Of course, any production line pause is incredibly expensive but in this case, it seems reasonable. The last thing Ford wants is a slew of pickup trucks out there that require a recall over potential fire risks.
A similar case plagued Chevrolet and its Bolt EV to the point that when production finally restarted, Chevy had a whole relaunch campaign around the car. Better safe than sorry.
