Ford F-150 Lightning Production Ramping Up After Battery Fire, Door Handle Shortages

Ford is reportedly reopening the order books for its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck. According to Reuters, it's the first step in the Blue Oval's plan to scale production to 150,000 units per year. The news comes after yet another production snag on the F-150 line because of — and this is a weird one — missing door handles.

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  It wasn't too long of a delay. Reuters first reported on the issue on May 3rd, and the outlet said some vehicles have been parked until the correct handle can be installed while some shipments are being held. It's an issue that affects both the Lightning and regular internal combustion-powered F-150 being built at three plants.

  For the F-150 Lightning, it's the second sizable production delay of 2023. Back in February, we reported that a large battery fire in a vehicle holding lot put the brakes on production. It didn't resume until March and also caused Ford to issue a recall of 18 F-150 Lightnings that were found to have the same battery that caused the fire. We also reported on the dramatic video that showed the trucks engulfed in flames.

  "While a supplier part shortage is affecting some of our North American plants, we expect to make up all of the production that is impacted," a spokesperson for the automaker said in a statement to Reuters.

  Despite some of these snags, the outlet reports that Ford posted strong first-quarter revenue. It also apparently reiterated its plans to bring Lightning production to 150,000 vehicles per year by the end of 2023.