Ford's pure electric truck, the F-150 Lightning, has finally been delivered. At the same time, it also announced the launch of its second pure electric pickup truck. Ford CEO Jim Farley even expressed that he would challenge Tesla and other competitors to make Ford the leader in electric vehicles.
Ford has finally produced and delivered the first F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup truck, a major milestone for the historic American Motor City.
After nearly a year of waiting, the all-electric version of the best-selling truck in the United States, the F-150, has finally been delivered to customers. This is Ford’s second all-electric vehicle after the electric Mustang Mach-E and the only full-size all-electric pickup on the market. The Rivian R1T is a medium-sized truck, and pure electric trucks from GM, Tesla and, RAM have not yet been delivered.
The Ford F-150 Lightning will definitely deliver a huge market impact. Number of orders is as high as 200,000 units. If Ford can improve delivery speed, it is likely to poach many customers from the waiting lists of pure electric Hummers and Cybertrucks.
▲ F-150 Lightning orders makes Jim Farley have mixed feelings
"We plan to challenge Tesla and other competitors to become the global leader in electric vehicle manufacturers," said Ford CEO Jim Farley. Immediately after the F-150 Lightning, production of next-generation pure electric trucks is expected to begin in 2025. It will also be the F series but with more powerful performance.
The question is, will Ford have the means to produce enough vehicles to meet orders? According to Jim Farley, at the time of the grand delivery celebration, Ford has produced 1,800 F-150 Lightnings but also admitted that it is difficult to achieve the goal of delivering 150,000 vehicles in 2022 because of the shortage of battery supply.
Ford has partnered with SK Battery, a major battery manufacturer in South Korea, to jointly build a battery supply plant. Jim Farley believes that this battery plant will help Ford expand production capacity and complete the delivery target. "It's going well so far and that's the only obstacle to getting to 150,000 cars a year."
Aren't chips a problem for Ford? "The chip supply limits Ford, but it won't limit Lightning." Jim Farley said that he will ensure that Lightning gets enough chips and pure electric vehicles are currently Ford's highest priority.
In these chaotic times, selling electric cars is not a problem but producing enough electric cars is. At present, most new cars have a waiting list of more than 6 months. Almost all car manufacturers give priority to producing high-priced vehicles. At the same time, the more electric vehicles delivered, the more helpful to carbon reduction goals. From this point of view, it will increase incentives for consumers to buy electric vehicles.
However, Ford faced more than the problem of car manufacturing. Except for Tesla, almost all car manufacturers rely on third parties to provide charging services. The European market has opened Tesla supercharging stations for other car manufacturers to use but the United States has not. It will be a major hurdle for car owners and one that Ford needs to address urgently.