Ford said on Thursday that it plans to restart production of the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck. The company’s assembly line was down for about a month, after a fire in a holding lot caused it to halt proceedings as it, and its battery supplier SK On, investigated.
“We will restart production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center (REVC) on March 13, allowing time for SK On’s battery cells to be built into battery arrays and packs and be delivered to the Lightning production line,” a spokesperson told The Detroit News.
The issue started on February 4, when an F-150 Lightning combusted in a Ford holding lot, damaging two other vehicles. By February 16, that automaker said it had determined the root cause of the fire, and said it would improve the battery production process.
More: Ford F-150 Lightning Fire In Factory Wasn’t Due To A Design Flaw, Says Battery Maker
On February 28, SK On, Ford’s battery supplier, announced that it had resumed production of the batteries. It claimed that the problem that led to the fire was not a fundamental flaw in the battery cell’s design, nor its manufacturing process, and called the incident a “rare occurrence.”
Although it did not elaborate on the root cause of the issue, its findings have apparently satisfied Ford, which will resume production of the F-150 Lightning in the coming days.
“In the weeks ahead, we will continue to apply our learnings and work with SK On’s team to ensure we continue delivering high-quality battery packs — down to the battery cells,” Ford’s spokesperson said today. “As REVC ramps up production, we will continue holding already-produced vehicles while we work through engineering and parts updates.”
From the beginning, Ford has maintained that the problem that led to the fire only affects pre-delivery vehicles, and that F-150 Lightning owners have no cause for concern with their own vehicles.
