Ford Suspends F-150 Lightning Production For Another Week

(RTTNews) - Ford Motor Co. (F) has suspended the production of its electric F-150 Lightning pickup for another week due to the battery issue.

On Friday, Ford said that its battery supplier, SK, has started building battery cells again at a plant in Georgia but it will take time "to ensure they are back to building high-quality cells and to deliver them to the Lightning production line."

"The teams worked quickly to identify the root cause of the issue," Ford said in a statement. "We agree with SK's recommended changes in their equipment and processes for SK's cell production lines."

Last week, Ford said it expected Lightning production to be suspended for at least this week, as engineers found out the root cause of the battery issue and implemented improvements to the manufacturing process.

On February 4, an F-150 EV truck caught fire during a pre-delivery quality inspection in a company holding lot in Dearborn, Michigan. The fire spread to a nearby truck. The automaker halted production the next day at its assembly plant.

Ford said engineers determined there was no evidence of a charging fault. Ford said it is not aware of any incidents of this issue in vehicles that have already been delivered to customers and dealers.

Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it is holding discussions with Ford Motor.