The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning
The Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup has been one of the most talked-about vehicles in America since its 2021 debut. But it hasn’t been one of the easiest to find. Ford sold about 200,000 reservations for the truck within weeks of its debut, then closed them down. A new report says dealers will begin taking orders even for non-reservation holders tomorrow.
The report comes from the LightningOwners.com forum. It cites an email reportedly sent to dealers last week that says Ford will open the 2023 Lightning order bank “to all customers. No reservation is needed in order for customers to place an order. Prior to this date, customers needed a reservation and were invited to place an order through the F-150 Lightning Reservation to Order Program.”
We don’t know, however, what price buyers will have to pay. The document also says a price update is coming on May 9. Currently, prices run from nearly $60,000 to over $100,000.
We have a natural skepticism of internet forum reports. But Ford executives hinted on their first-quarter earnings call that the move might be coming soon.
The phrase “order bank” is important here. A reservation and an order are two different things. When Ford introduced the truck, the company sold reservations, not orders. A reservation cost $100 at the time, was not binding, and earned the holder the right to order a truck later. Ford invited reservation-holders in waves to order trucks.
Ford initially built trucks at a slower pace and said it could take three years to clear the backlog of reservations of every hand-raiser that placed an order. But the company has been working to expand factory capacity. Just 16 months later, it is now comfortable taking new orders.
In a March press release, Ford said it is on pace to triple production this year, “targeting an annual production run rate of 150,000 by the end of 2023.”
New orders will be limited to certain trims. The document says dealers should accept orders for only the XLT, Lariat, and Platinum models. Ford says the entry-level Pro trim is sold out for the year.
