Update 3/2: Ford announces production for the F-150 Lightning electric pickup will restart on March 13. Read the full story and Ford’s statement in our new story here.
Update 2/16:A report from the Associated Press revealed what the “battery issue” was that Ford said prompted the stop-build order. Turns out, the battery of an F-150 Lightning pickup caught fire in an outdoor lot in Dearborn, Mich. The truck that caught fire and two nearby vehicles were damaged in the fire, and the AP reports that no injuries occurred.
Ford confirmed the fire to Autoblog in a statement, but did not provide any additional information.
Update 2/15:Ford provided Autoblog with an update including additional information about the production stoppage. The company’s statement follows below.
“We are suspending production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center through at least the end of next week. During a standard Lightning pre-delivery quality inspection, one vehicle displayed a battery issue. We believe we have identified the root cause of this issue. By the end of next week, we expect to conclude our investigation and apply what we learn to the truck’s battery production process; this could take a few weeks. We will continue holding already-produced vehicles while we work through engineering and process updates.
“We are not aware of any incidents of this issue in the field and do not believe F-150 Lightnings already in customers’ hands are affected by this issue.”
The original story continues below.
Production for the Ford F-150 Lightning is currently on pause due to a stop-build and stop-ship order issued by Ford, Motor Authority reported today.
The exact cause of the pause isn’t clear yet, but a Ford spokesperson told Motor Authority that the orders were given “due to a potential battery issue.” We reached out to Ford with questions and a spokesperson confirmed the news, adding that the company is not currently aware of any incidences in the field regarding the issue.
As of now, the Ford spokesperson has only said that the issue was identified during Ford’s “pre-delivery quality inspections.” The spokesperson goes on to say that “a vehicle displayed a potential battery issue, and we are holding vehicles while we investigate.” Additionally, Motor Authority reports that there is no stop-sale order for already-built Lightnings sitting on dealer lots, leaving those models clear for delivery to customers.
Ford didn’t provide a timeline for the lifting of the stop-build order, but The Detroit Free Press reported that the plant building F-150 Lightnings has been shut down “since last week.” All the spokesperson said regarding timing for getting the plant back running is that the engineering team is currently working on “establishing the root cause of the potential issue.”
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