Automaker Ford is Determined to Double Production Capacity of Electric F-150 Truck

Car manufacturer Ford’s CEO announced that the company is doing “whatever it takes” to double the production capacity of its electric F-150 pickup truck.

Chief Executive Jim Farley told CNBC this week that the company is scrambling to meet the increasing interest in the soon to be launched truck dubbed the F-150 Lightning.

“Our [production] capacity is about half of what the demand is,” Farley said an in interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer on “Mad Money.”

Ford has nearly 200,000 retail reservations for its electric pickup truck, which is set to arrive in dealerships by mid-2022. Those non-binding reservations require a $100 fully refundable deposit.

“We have a dedicated team right now just doing one thing: finding a way to double our capacity by finding batteries, whatever it takes, to double our capacity of Lightning,” Farley explained.

The Michigan-based manufacturer is aggressively pushing into the electric vehicle space and the F-150 Lightning is a crucial part of the company’s endeavors.

Ford announced plans in September to add jobs at three facilities in Michigan to help expand manufacturing capacity for the F-150 Lightning.

In a recent interview with Automotive News, Farley said Ford plans to increase its EV production to 600,000 vehicles by 2023. This will double number the company initially thought it would make in that time period.

Demand for Ford’s Mustang Mach-E also is “about twice our production rate,” Farley told Cramer. “That’s why we’re committing in the next 24 months to get 600,000 units of capacity, but it’s going to take a lot of work by our team,” the CEO said.

Farley appeared on “Mad Money” alongside Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff, after the companies announced a partnership for a new software offering geared toward tradespeople who drive the automaker’s commercial vehicles.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.