Ford Will Cut Planned Electric F-150 Production as Demand Slows

Slower-than-expected growth in sales of electric vehicles has forced several automakers to scale back once-ambitious production plans. Ford Motor Co. has become the latest company to join that pullback.

In a memo sent to suppliers, the company said it now expected to produce an average of 1,600 electric F-150 Lightning pickup trucks per week in 2024, about half the level it had previously hoped to achieve.

The reduced target reflects the substantial dimming of expectations for sales of battery-powered cars and trucks that automakers are now coming to grips with. Ford and its main rival, General Motors, had been racing to increase production of a variety of EVs, but consumer enthusiasm has not kept pace with those plans over the last six months. Some would-be buyers have been put off by the high prices of many EVs, including the F-150 Lightning, as well as the availability and reliability of charging stations.

GM once expected to produce 400,000 EVs by the middle of 2024 but withdrew that goal in November and is delaying some new electric models. Rivian, a younger automaker, has said it aims to make 52,000 EVs by the end of this year, one-third of the 150,000 a year it is hoping its Illinois factory will eventually produce.

Similarly, Ford had hoped to have the capacity to make 600,000 battery-powered vehicles a year by the end of next year. As recently as September, Ford said it aimed to be able to make 150,000 electric F-150s a year — a rate of about 3,000 vehicles a week. It has also lowered production plans for its electric sport utility vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E.

Even with the reduced target, Ford still expects 2024 production and sales of the Lightning to easily surpass 2023 levels, a spokesperson said. In the first 11 months of this year, Ford sold more than 20,000 of the trucks, a rise of more than 50% from the same period in 2022. The company’s sales of all electric models grew 16%, to more than 62,000 vehicles.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .