Ford F150 electric truck has 130,000 reservations—is it good or bad?

Ford F150 Lightning electric pickup has now 130,000 reservations— Is it good or bad?

Electrek.co by Fred Lambert September 2, 2021

[{"selector":"#anim-f36b1862-8341-4019-8fc0-77724954f04b","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Ford confirmed that the F150 Lightning, its new electric pickup truck, has now accumulated 130,000 reservations. Do you think this is an indication of strong demand or not?

[{"selector":"#anim-0e9f89a7-5dac-43d1-a27b-ef21cc687b94","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Earlier this year, Ford unveiled the F-150 Lightning , an all-electric version of the company’s best-selling pickup truck. The vehicle has the potential to greatly accelerate electric vehicle adoption in the US since the F-150 is already the best-selling passenger vehicle in the market.

[{"selector":"#anim-e9b90014-d217-4ecc-ad83-102067c4b51c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Ford impressed many when it comes to specs and pricing, but will it translate to actual demand for the electric pickup truck? Now, the market is looking at the demand behind the vehicle. The automaker is taking reservations with a $100 refundable deposit for the electric pickup truck that’s coming in mid-2022.

[{"selector":"#anim-5a419b78-aa14-48c1-9026-7d38d3bf1141","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] CEO Jim Farley said that Ford received 20,000 reservations on the first day. It ramped up to 44,000 reservations for the F-150 Lightning within 48 hours .

[{"selector":"#anim-a1ec66a9-3873-4d2c-8f58-0429ee99aad5","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Ford kept getting steady demand for the F150 Lightning and added about 80,000 reservations for a total of 120,000 pre-orders as of the end of July. Now, Ford F150 Lightning reservations appear to have finally slowed down, with the automaker confirming that it just crossed the 130,000-reservation mark:

[{"selector":"#anim-f50e6296-4620-4c5d-920f-750b7f33a0be","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-11815457-12aa-42f5-aba6-95c08e878470","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] It looks like the company added about 10,000 reservations over the last month. Original tweet

[{"selector":"#anim-df3a508e-4442-4c32-8ea7-6b8145e88ed4","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Is the demand for the Ford F150 Lightning strong or weak? If we compare the reservations to the Tesla Cybertruck, which is a fair comparison considering both vehicles have similar reservation programs with each $100 deposit, it doesn’t look good. Tesla has received more reservations for the Cybertruck on the first day of unveiling the truck than Ford did for the Lightning in the first three months.

[{"selector":"#anim-f465d545-a964-4e29-8ee8-86a2a00e3606","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] By the time Ford unveiled its electric pickup truck in May, Tesla had apparently accumulated over 1 million reservations for the Cybertruck . It’s clear that Tesla has more brand power than Ford, but it remains to be seen how many of those reservations will translate to actual orders.

[{"selector":"#anim-0f674432-a413-46c5-b0a9-3a03b38fb2fe","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Ford appears happy with those results, and that might have something to do with their production plans. We recently learned that Ford’s plan includes a ramp to 15,000 vehicles in 2022, 55,000 in 2023, and 80,000 in 2024. Ford will then target 160,000 vehicles in 2025 when the second-generation Lightning hits the road

Learn more

[{"selector":"#anim-547e037b-2011-48f7-872b-e5a481777125","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-1d740226-7d80-4f7f-8366-bf5afed64ddc","keyframes":[{"transform":"rotate(-540deg) scale(0.1)","opacity":0},{"transform":"none","opacity":1}],"delay":0,"duration":1000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both","iterations":1}] Therefore, if everyone who placed a reservation ends up ordering the vehicle, which is obviously not happening, but just in theory, it means that the first three years of Ford F150 Lightning production are sold out. It really depends on how you look at it.