Ford CEO Jim Farley announced at a press conference that Ford Motor Company will partner with the world’s largest battery company, a China-based company called Contemporary Amperex Technology, to create a battery factory of electric vehicles in Marshall, Michigan, on February 13. 2023 in Romulus, Michigan.
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DETROIT — Ford engine is suspending production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck for an additional week following a battery issue that caused one of the vehicles to catch fire earlier this month.
Ford said Friday that its battery supplier, SK, has started building battery cells again at a plant in Georgia, but it will take time “to make sure they go back to building high-quality cells and delivering them to the Lightning production line”.
“Teams worked quickly to identify the root cause of the issue,” Ford said in a statement Friday. “We agree with SK’s recommended changes to their equipment and processes for SK’s cell production lines.”
Last week, Ford said it expected Lightning production to be down at least this week as engineers determined the root cause of the battery issue and implemented improvements to the manufacturing process.
The fire occurred on February 4 in a holding lot during a pre-delivery quality check while the vehicle was under load, followed by Ford suspending production and issuing a stop shipping vehicles to dealerships. Ford said engineers determined there was no evidence of a charging fault.
Ford said it is not aware of any incidents related to this issue in vehicles that have previously been delivered to customers and dealerships.
The F-150 Lightning is being watched closely by investors as it is the first consumer electric pickup truck on the market and a major launch for Ford.
The battery issue comes on top of ongoing “execution issues” detailed to investors earlier this month by Ford CEO Jim Farley that crippled the automaker’s fourth-quarter earnings.
