Ford representatives and DriveElectricTN recently held a webinar where several of the automaker’s key upcoming all-electric vehicles were discussed. While the event was primarily focused on fleets and fleet managers, Ford representatives James Morgan and Nathan Gyori provided some key updates about the highly-anticipated F-150 Lightning, which is expected to enter production and start deliveries next year.
As per the Ford representatives, the F-150 Lightning’s order banks for both retail and fleet customers would be opened on January 2022. Production of the F-150 Lightning is slated for June 2022, and first customer deliveries are now expected to begin in September 2022. This update represented a delay for the vehicle’s deliveries, as initial estimates pointed to a Spring 2022 release instead.
Considering that the F-150 Lightning has now surpassed 160,000 reservations, the chances of retail customers getting their all-electric trucks next year seems quite slim. With deliveries only starting in September 2022, Ford would only have a few months’ worth of production to deliver to its customers before the year ends. This sentiment seemed to be shared by F-150 Lightning reservation holders, with several users in the F-150Gen14 Forum noting that they would probably receive their Lightnings well into 2023 with the pickup truck’s updated delivery target.
While the F-150 Lightning would most likely be worth the wait, the delayed deliveries of the all-electric work truck could provide its competitors with some time to saturate the market. These include the Rivian R1T, which competes with the F-150 Lightning’s higher trim levels, and potentially even the Tesla Cybertruck, which may compete with the all-electric Ford’s lower and mid-trim variants.
Longtime rivals such as the expected Chevy Silverado Electric may also see a reveal before the Lightning’s customer deliveries, which could result in some reservation holders shifting their orders to GM’s all-electric pickup truck instead. Overall, the electric pickup truck market is expected to grow in the coming year, and at this point, getting to market first matters. Ford was initially poised to make a significant step forward with the Lightning’s Spring 2022 release, but with the vehicle’s deliveries starting in Q3 2022 instead, the story may very well change.
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Source: TESLARATI
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