We seem to be reaching an inflection point for car manufacturers' embracing of electric vehicles. Whether it's for financial reasons, a response to customer's embracing of Tesla, or other reasons we don't exactly know, it's great to see nearly every company make public statements. They are not designing prototype or "compliance" cars for California. They're making full-fledged EVs for everyone. Personally, I believe a car needs to look normal. It should be electric as an "extra" in order to appeal to people. Nobody wants a Jetsons car. With the F150 Lightning, Ford is ready to make waves.
Ford says its planning to double production of its upcoming electric pickup truck, the F-150 Lightning, to 150,000 vehicles per year by 2023. The news comes as the automaker prepares to start making and shipping its new EV in the first half of 2022.
Andrew Hawkins for The Verge
Production of both the F-150 Lightning and F-150 Lightning Pro for commercial customers has entered its final pre-build stage this week at the company’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. Deliveries of the first trucks are expected to start in the spring.
Ford has definitely been listening. The F150 Lightning debuted in the second-half of 2021 and on the outside it doesn't look much different than a normal F150. That is good! But, it has all the power, instant torque, and other benefits one gets by switching to an electric. In America, people here love trucks and want them all the time. With Ford focusing on the F150 to move it to an EV, they're making sure it appeals to people who want a truck. I think the strategy is genius.
I have spotted the Mustang Mach-E on the road a few times and the demand is there for this too.
Ford also recently announced that it was tripling production for the Mustang Mach-E, with the expectation that it will reach over 200,000 units per year by 2023.
I think it's only a short time before we start seeing a 70/30 split of EVs on the road instead of the 95/5 split we see of gas cars and some Teslas on the road. It's exciting times to see this finally reach a point where EVs finally move into the mainstream.