Factory Blaze Results in Insufficient Aluminum for Ford to Manufacture the F-150 Lightning

      A Ford F-150 Lightning is currently on the assembly line at the Rogue Electric Vehicle Center.

      The Ford F-150 Lightning is the top-selling electric pickup truck in the United States, but its success is overshadowed by the fact that the gasoline-powered F-150 and Super Duty models are significantly more popular. As a result, Ford has decided to focus its efforts on these models while facing aluminum supply shortages due to a fire at one of its suppliers. Consequently, production of the all-electric truck will remain paused into the new year.

      Ford has indefinitely halted Lightning production and is redirecting its available aluminum toward internal combustion and hybrid F-Series models, which require less of the material and are in shorter supply at dealerships.

      Ford representative Sam Schembari stated to The Drive, "The F-150 Lightning is the best-selling electric pickup truck in the U.S. – despite increased competition from CyberTruck, Chevy, GMC, Hummer, and Rivian – and it achieved record sales in Q3. Currently, we are concentrating on producing F-150 ICE and Hybrid as we recover from the fire at Novelis. We have a solid inventory of the F-150 Lightning and will resume operations at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center (REVC) when the timing is right, but we do not have a specific date yet."

      Ford has been dealing with this issue since September 16, when a fire at its aluminum supplier, Novelis, located in Oswego, New York, halted operations at its hot mill. The supplier anticipates that it will not be back in production until December, and Ford estimates that the downtime may result in losses of up to $2 billion. In response, the automaker plans to ramp up production of regular F-150 trucks early next year and temporarily reassign staff from the REVC, where the Lightning is manufactured, to the Dearborn plant, where the other vehicles are produced.

      This is one of several production challenges the F-150 Lightning has encountered during its relatively brief time in the market. Almost exactly one year ago, Ford paused production of the electric pickup due to low demand and excess inventory at dealerships. Earlier in 2023, production was briefly halted due to a "battery issue."

      This article has been updated with an official statement from Ford.

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