Ford has confirmed that pre-production has begun on its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup. The trucks are being made at at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford says the first sample trucks are now leaving the factory.
Lighting pickups will go on sale next spring, and demand has been strong. Over 150,000 reservations were made for the electric pickup since it was announced. Ford has invested an additional $250 million into its production facilities and added 450 additional jobs to meet demand. The investment and new jobs were made across three different manufacturing facilities in southeast Michigan. With those new resources in place, Ford expects to be able to build 80,000 Lighting pickups each year.
The F-150 Lightning is targeting an EPA estimated driving range of 300 miles per charge with the extended range battery pack – which also boosts power its motor output to 563 horsepower. The starting MSRP for the fully electric truck is $40,000 for the base model, but high-end trims will certainly cost significantly more than that amount, especially those equipped with the extended range option.
Source:: 95 Octane