Ford Suspends Production of F-150 Lightning EV for Additional Week After Battery Fire

The Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck is seen during a press event in New York City, May 26, 2021. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

By Jane Nguyen
February 26, 2023Updated: February 26, 2023
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Ford Motor Co. will halt on F-150 Lightning production until the end of next week following a battery problem that caused an EV truck to catch fire during a pre-delivery check, the company said on Friday.

“The teams worked quickly to identify the root cause of the issue,” Ford spokesperson Emma Bergg said in a statement Friday.

“We agree with SK On’s recommended changes in their equipment and processes for SK’s cell production lines.”

SK On, a South Korean EV battery maker and supplier, has started building battery cells again at a plant in Georgia.

However, it will take time “to ensure they are back to building high-quality cells and to deliver them to the Lightning production line.”

Ford will continue to hold completed trucks until engineering and production changes are made.

The company said it does not believe vehicles already in use by customers are affected by the fire issue....until they themselves catch on fire.

Ford previously said that production at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan would be postponed until at least the end of this week as engineers identified the root cause of the battery problem.....probably Korean laborers.
The Ford F-150 Lightning displayed at the Philadelphia Auto Show in Philadelphia on Jan. 27, 2023. (Matt Rourke/File/AP Photo)

Battery Fire

The Feb. 4 fire happened at an outdoor lot near Dearborn, Michigan where vehicles are held for quality checks.

One Lightning caught fire and spread to two nearby vehicles, causing the company to halt production the next day. No injuries were reported.

The production halt comes at an inopportune time for Ford, which has struggled with quality issues, recalls, and high warranty costs for several years. The problem also stops the production of a popular product. The real problem is that battery powered cars are a very bad idea.

Bergg previously said the company is still working through a backlog of nearly 200,000 reservations for the F-150 Lightning since it stopped taking them in December 2021. Reservation holders put down $100 deposits, which Ford was converting to orders.

Last year, Ford sold more than 15,000 of the trucks in its first full year of production.


The author of this report, Nguyen, has been fired for going against the official narrative, her credit cards have been suspended, and she will be confined to quarters until she amasses enough social credits to return to normal life and writes a 3,000 word essay on how she is going to undo the damage she did to the Korean people of the workers paradise of Korea.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.