Ford‘s first all-electric F-Series pickup truck is proving so popular that the Blue Oval has been forced to stop taking reservations ahead of the start of production.
As of December 8, 2021, Ford has closed U.S. reservations of its 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning, as shared by a F150gen14.com forum user.
“In order to prepare for the upcoming order bank opening, Ford will close the reservation system for F-150 Lighting on December 8th,” reads an email sent from an AutoNation Ford dealer.
A Ford spokesperson confirmed this closure of F-150 Lightning reservations to Automotive News.
This is reflected on the U.S. Ford website where the button to reserve an F-150 Lightning has been removed.
For now, the Canadian Ford website is still accepting refundable CA$100 (A$110) deposits as reservations, although it’s not expected to stick around for much longer.
The email shared by the forum user further outlines the customer order bank will open in January 2022, with production to begin in the Northern Hemisphere Spring of 2022 (March-May).
In November 2021, Ford CEO Jim Farley told Automotive News that F-150 Lightning orders were “approaching 200,000 units” and he expected more than 80 per cent of reservation holders to convert into actual sales.
Reuters reports Ford is doubling its production target to more than 80,000 F-150 Lightnings per year in 2024.
In order to make this happen, the company is reportedly intending to spend an additional US$850 million (A$1.18 billion).
Ford reportedly has expected production targets for the F-150 Lightning of 15,000 units in 2022, followed by 55,000 units in 2023 and more than 80,000 units in 2024.
Using the reservation figure of 200,000, Mr Farley is expecting approximately 160,000 F-150 Lightning to be sold which could see the F-150 Lightning be sold out until 2024 or later.
“Due to extraordinarily high demand, not all reservation holders will receive an invitation to place an order for 22MY,” says the email shared by the F150gen14.com user.
Ford reportedly plans to implement a “waved invitation approach” that’ll convert reservations into orders at staggered dates, according to a Ford spokesperson.
“The number of waves will be adjusted throughout the process based on available commodities and customer order rates from each wave,” said the Ford spokesperson in a statement.
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“Invitations to order a 22MY will continue to be sent to reservation holders until 22MY production is fulfilled. Remaining reservationists will be invited to order in subsequent model years.”
Rivian is currently leading the all-electric pickup truck pack with its R1T model, of which customer deliveries have commenced.
GMC will beat Ford to production as well with its Hummer EV set for customer deliveries in December 2021.
Tesla on the other hand has delayed its Cybertruck countless times but CEO Elon Musk insists it will be coming in 2023.
The company is already planning to develop the next-generation F-Series truck at its Blue Oval City production hub, and will pump US$5.6 billion (A$7.8 billion) into creating this 3600-acre facility set to be operational by 2025.
This second-generation F-150 Lightning is due in 2025 and will be based on the company’s new TE1 body-on-frame EV architecture.
Annual production of the F-150 Lightning is expected to be around 150,000 once the second-generation model debuts.
Ford previously announced it’s increasing its spending on electric vehicle technology to over US$30 billion (A$41.87 billion) by 2025.
Pricing in the U.S for the current-generation F-150 Lightning when it goes on sale will kick off at US$40,000 (A$55,826) for the entry-level Pro model.
Claimed range is 370km in the standard model, and 480km in the long range.
With 420kW of power and 1050Nm of torque in the most-powerful dual-motor variant, Ford claims the F-150 Lightning will do the 0-100km/h sprint in the mid-four-second range.
The Standard Range model will have an identical torque output, but ‘just’ 318kW of power.
At its fastest, the F-150 Lightning will charge at 150kW when plugged into a DC fast-charger.
Standard-range models will have a 900kg payload on 18-inch alloy wheels, and maximum towing capacity will be 4535kg on long-range XLT and Lariat models.
MORE: Ford F-150 Lightning EV: Production doubled due to demand – report
