Ford Motor Company has paused production and shipment of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck — at least through the end of next week, the company announced on Wednesday, Feb. 15. The halt is the result of a vehicle fire on Feb. 4 caused by a “battery issue,” CNBC reported.
The automaker initiated the pause last week after a fire sparked in a vehicle during a routine pre-delivery quality check. The fire occurred in a holding lot and spread to two other vehicles before being extinguished, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“By the end of next week, we expect to conclude our investigation and apply what we learn to the truck’s battery production processes,” Ford spokeswoman Emma Bergg said in a statement. “This could take a few weeks.”
No Recall Issued
As of this writing, Ford has not issued a recall on any of the F-150 Lightnings it has already delivered to customers.
“We monitor vehicle data to help ensure our vehicles are performing as expected in the field,” Bergg continued.
The fire and subsequent halt in production come on the heels of a recent spate of battery-related fires in electric vehicles. A Jan. 30 Tesla fire in California required 6,000 gallons of water to extinguish.
Ford produces the F-150 Lightning at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Mich. SK Innovation, a South Korean manufacturer that operates a plant in Georgia, supplies the truck’s batteries to Ford.
The Associated Press reported that Ford sold more than 15,000 F-150 Lightning models in the vehicle’s first full year of production. The company stopped taking reservations for the truck in 2021 and has been working through a backlog of 200,000 reservations ever since. According to CNBC, Ford is allowing retailers to continue selling F-150 Lightnings they already have in stock.
