Ford has paused shipments of its 2024 F-150 Lightning electric pickup over a quality issue. The Detroit News calls the pause “part of a longer-than-expected quality check process.” Industry publication Automotive News reports that the move comes thanks to an “undisclosed quality issue.”
It’s not the first time Ford has done this. The company paused shipments of the 2023 Lightning last fall to conduct additional quality checks on trucks before sending them to dealers.
The Lightning is the bestseller in the small category of electric trucks. It won our Best Buy Award among electric trucks for 2023 and is the reigning 5-Year Cost to Own champion among electric trucks.
But the category is small, with significant competition just beginning to appear in American driveways. Chevrolet has started shipments of its Silverado EV, the first Tesla Cybertrucks are new on American roads, and Rivian R1T has been picking up steam.
And, though critics appreciate the Lightning’s design, Ford has battled persistent quality issues in recent years. The company led the nation in recalls each of the last two years.
CEO Jim Farley has launched a major push to improve quality control internally. The push may be bearing early fruit – Ford issued 55 safety recalls in 2023, down from 67 in 2022.
But, because quality problems can take years of ownership to emerge, an improvement in build quality may not be evident to shoppers for several years. Some of the best-known quality studies use 3-year-old cars as test subjects.
Though Ford has stopped shipping the trucks to dealers, it’s still actively building them, Automotive News reports. The company will send thousands of stored gas-powered F-150 pickups to dealers to make room for Lightning models to await detailed inspection in holding lots.
