Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center is up and running after a six-week break in production to expand and retool the plant to triple manufacturing capacity of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck.
Beginning this fall, the Dearborn, Michigan, facility will have the ability to produce 150,000 electric pickups every year.
NO RESERVATIONS: FORD IS CHARGING UP ELECTRIC F-150 LIGHTNING PRODUCTION
The Ford facility is already scheduled to build more than 70,000 F-150 Lightning trucks this year.
With the upgrades to the plant, the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center now utilizes equipment to automatically measure and validate exterior body fit for margin and flushness precision, marking the first time these tools have been deployed in Ford’s North American plants.
Meanwhile, a third station was added to validate wheel alignment and headlamp aim for driver assist technology, Ford said.
"We are all looking forward to getting these F-150 Lightning trucks into the hands of our customers – from the U.S. to Norway," said Debbie Manzano, Ford's director of manufacturing said.
Training for an additional 1,200 manufacturing employees will continue for three weeks, with incoming operators shadowing experienced employees in a "buddy system" designed for rapid onboarding, Ford said.
Last week, Ford recalled over 870,000 F-150 trucks in U.S. for a wiring-related problem with their electric parking brakes
Ford began cutting prices on the F-150 Lightning in July due to increased plant capacity and the falling costs of raw materials for batteries.
FORD EXTENDS F-150 PRODUCTION HALT
Shares of the auto giant are up on Tuesday and have climbed 13.9% year to date.
