The all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck officially entered series production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center within Ford’s historic Rouge Complex in Michigan, while the company already hints at additional electric models.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said at the event that an additional electric pickup model will be produced at the upcoming Blue Oval City plant in Tennessee, announced in September 2021.
Several months ago, it was said that the plant will produce the next-generation electric F-Series pickups and 43 GWh of batteries (joint venture with SK Innovation's SK On), starting around 2024-2025, which suggested a next-generation of the electric Ford F-150 Lightning.
Later, we heard also that Blue Oval City is envisioned for "a brand-new platform — a full-size pickup platform" and "incredibly high volume."
According to Jim Farley (via Automotive News), the new vehicle will be "another" model that's not the Ford F-150 Lightning:
"It's another truck. This is not our only truck. We said very clearly we want to be the leader in electric pickup trucks."
In other words, something really big and important is in the pipeline. An all-new platform and an all-new electric model on top of the Ford F-150 Lightning from the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.
The question is whether it will be a solely fully-electric vehicle or maybe also with a range-extender option, to compete with the upcoming electric Ram pickup truck - Range Electric Paradigm Breaker (REPB) version?
We are also not so sure about the size - Ford might be willing to launch at some point in the future a medium- or small-size electric pickup, as the Ford F-150 Lightning already sits in the full-size segment.
Ford's official plan is to deliver more than 2 million electric vehicles annually by 2026 (globally), which at the time will be equal to about one-third of the company’s global volume. By 2030, the share is expected to increase to 50%.
In the short-term, the production target is 600,000 BEVs per year (globally) by the end of 2023.
Gallery: Ford F-150 Lightning Production
