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Motor Co. is extending the halt on F-150 Lightning production until the end of next week, the company said Friday, as it works to resolve a battery problem that caused a vehicle fire.
The Feb. 4 fire occurred in one of the company’s holding lots during a predelivery quality check, a Ford spokeswoman said. The blaze spread to two other trucks, according to a fire department incident report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Ford said last week that production would be stalled until at least the end of this week.
“We have no reason to believe F-150 Lightnings already in customers’ hands are affected by this issue. We monitor vehicle data to help ensure our vehicles are performing as expected in the field,” a Ford spokeswoman said Friday.
The Dearborn, Mich., auto maker said the battery supplier for this vehicle, SK On, has recommended changes to its equipment and processes, and that it will take time to implement those. Ford agrees with these changes, the spokeswoman said, but declined to elaborate on what they entail.
The South Korean battery maker has resumed production of its batteries after identifying the cause of the issue and making changes to address it, said a spokesman for the company, which is part of
SK Innovation Co.
“SK On believes this was a rare occurrence, not a fundamental issue with the technology of the battery cells or our overall manufacturing systems,” the spokesman said Friday.
The Lightning began rolling off assembly lines in Ford’s Dearborn plant last spring, and the company has continued to increase production to meet customer demand.
The truck is one of three battery-powered models Ford sells in the U.S., along with the Mustang Mach-E SUV and an electric version of its Transit cargo van. Ford sold about 15,600 F-150 Lightning vehicles in 2022.
Stalling production on such a popular vehicle will be costly for the company, analysts have said, with research firm Evercore ISI estimating that about a month of downtime could cost Ford between $25 million to $120 million of operating profit, assuming $5,000 to $15,000 in variable margin per vehicle.
A local fire department responded to a call from a Ford employee around 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 4, and found three EV pickups on the lot that were plugged into charging stations and on fire, according to the incident report. One officer attempted to shut power off at a nearby panel but was unsuccessful, the report said.
After putting out the fire on two of the trucks, the battery in the third began to burn, but was “un-extinguishable,” according to the report. A fire captain with expertise in EV technology was contacted for ideas on how to handle the situation, the report said, and several more trucks were moved to prevent any additional fire spreading.
The fire department instructed Ford’s security to wet down the truck every 15 minutes, or if flames became visible, and maintain a person at the scene throughout the night, according to the report.
Write to Nora Eckert at nora.eckert@wsj.com and Ryan Felton at ryan.felton@wsj.com
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