Video: F-150 Lightning production starts  

Full production of Ford F-150 Lightning pickup trucks (utes) for US customers has begun at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Centre.

It’s still a way off for New Zealand and Australia, especially with a host of US orders to fill first.

Ford says demand is “unprecedented” with about 200,000 reservations – three out of four reservation holders new to Ford, and the factory set to ramp up production to a planned annual run rate of 150,000 in 2023.

Priced from about US$40,000, the Lightning is a 10kW smart power plant on wheels, with software updates (Ford Power-Ups) that will make it even better over time, the company says.

“We celebrate the Model T moment for the 21st Century at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Centre,” says Ford executive chair Bill Ford.

“The Rouge is where Ford perfected the moving assembly line, making it a fitting backdrop as we make history again.”

The company has invested US$950 million and created 750 jobs at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Centre, with its investment in Michigan for the F-150 Lightning alone now more than US$1 billion, with 1700 recently created jobs spread among five Ford plants in the state, including Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Centre where Lightning electric motors and electric transaxles are assembled, and Rawsonville Components Plant where Lightning batteries are assembled.

“America’s real transition to electric vehicles starts now,” says Ford president and chief executive Jim Farley.

“F-150 Lightning is just the beginning of our ambitions for growth and leadership in digital, electric vehicles.

“We continue to expand our EV manufacturing footprint across the US, including the start of site preparation at BlueOval City, which will enable us to meet the ever-increasing customer demand for our exciting EV line-up.”

Ford is on track to deliver more than two million EVs annually by 2026, equal to about one-third of the company’s global volume, on the way to 50% by 2030.

The Rouge Electric Vehicle Centre is the first Ford plant without traditional in-floor conveyor lines and instead uses robotic autonomous guided vehicles to move F-150 Lightning trucks from workstation to station in the plant.

The plant also uses cobots, or collaborative robots, that work side-by-side with people without any safety cages needed.

Ford is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and to using 100% local, renewable electricity in all of its manufacturing operations by 2035.

The full-size pickup provides 400 litres of cargo space out of sight. This “Mega Power Frunk” doubles as a cooler – washable and drainable – with lighting to see in the dark.

It also has 2.4kW of exportable power, bringing the truck’s “Pro Power Onboard” total to up to 9.6kW from 11 power points. 

It can power a house during an outage for three days and in time will be able to offer power back to the grid. It can also charge other EVs.

The F-150 Lightning has a 98kWh standard range battery pic and a 131kWh extended range pack offering about 515km range, accelerating from zero to nearly 100km/h in the mid-four-second range with the extended-range battery, 40kW of power and 1050Nm of torque, and providing effortless towing, according to Ford.

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