Ford is temporarily halting reservations for its upcoming F-150 Lighting electric pickup truck due to massive demand. The company's CEO, Jim Farley, said Thursday that demand for its soon-to-launch electric vehicle has become so great that it has been forced to halt reservations.
Farley said that they are now "completely oversubscribed" with their EV offerings, and they have halted reservations at 200,000 for the Lightning. Farley said the company is now working to push their factories to capacity at around "70,000 to 80,000" Ford F-150 Lighting electric pickup trucks to meet the current orders.
Ford hasn't officially revealed how many F-150 Lighting trucks it wants to produce in 2022, but sources said the carmaker is planning to build up to 80,000 units in 2023. After initially aiming at only 40,000 per year, Ford said that it aims to build that many in 2024 and has begun employing extra workers to meet the demand.
Farley said Ford plans to double its capacity as it has done in the past to meet the growing demand. The F-150 Lighting electric pickup truck, the electric version of the company's best-selling F-series pickup truck, is scheduled to hit dealerships by the middle of next year.
Since he was promoted to CEO from being Ford's COO, Farley has made significant improvements to the company. Since he took the position in October last year, Ford's stock has gained nearly 200% as of Wednesday's closing.
In a previous interview, Farley said that he aims to raise Ford's worldwide EV manufacturing capacity to 600,000 cars by 2023. He expects Ford to be the No. 2 electric vehicle manufacturer, after Tesla.
Ford said it already has 200,000 refundable $100 deposits for the electric pickup, which was debuted back in May. With reservations now halted, buyers interested to get their hands on one may have to wait a while until the company is able to deliver on the initial reservations.
The F-150 Lightning starts at $40,000, but the price may be more than quadruple depending on the variant. The entry model is expected to have a range of roughly 230 miles and a more basic cabin, which has a 12-inch landscape touchscreen display that runs Ford's Sync 4 system.
Higher trims will have the same 15.5-inch vertical touchscreen as the Mustang Mach-E, as well as an extended range battery that can increase the range to roughly 300 miles. Depending on the design, towing capacity ranges from 7,700 to 10,000 pounds.
Ford will join Rivian and GMC as the only automakers having an electric pickup truck on the market. Tesla's long-awaited Cybertruck has been put back to next year, and CEO Elon Musk has stated that the business would not begin mass production until 2023.
