Are electric utes boom or bust? Ford F-150 Lightning production paused until 2025 due to low demand: Report

Ford will pause production of the electric version of its F-150 for the rest of the year, reports say, as demand for the ‘Lightning’ isn’t meeting production capability.

Along with a week in which Ford’s US production plants are closed for Christmas in December, Ford will halt production of the F-150 Lightning electric car between November 18 and January 6.

In a statement to various media outlets including Reuters, a Ford spokesperson said “we continue to adjust production for an optimal mix of sales growth and profitability.”

The move isn’t the first time the model’s production has been pared back, with Ford having also cut production down from three shifts to one in April.

This also comes only a couple of months after Ford admitted its plans to go EV-only in Europe by the end of the decade were “too ambitious” and shifted focus back to internal combustion engines (ICEs) and hybrids.

“I don't think we can go all in on anything until our customers decide they're all in, and that's progressing at different rates around the world,” Marin Gjaja, Chief Operating Officer for the brand’s ‘Ford Model e’ electric car division told Autocar at the time.

While Ford said its F-150 Lightning sales more than doubled to 7100 in the quarter ending at September 30, the Lightning electric ute still represents only 3.6 per cent of F Series sales.

According to Reuters, Ford is expected to lose “about US$5 billion” (A$7.62 billion) on EVs in 2024 alone.

The Blue Oval also earlier this year cancelled a planned three-row electric SUV and had to abandon about US$1 billion (A$1.52 billion) in costs.

Here in Australia, Ford’s electric offerings are limited to the Mustang Mach-E and the E-Transit van, with the vast majority of its sales being made up by the Ranger ute and related Everest SUV.

Next year, the brand will launch a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the Ranger.