Production and shipping of Ford's F-150 Lightning pickup truck is anticipated to remain halted until at least the end of next week as the company deals with a potential battery issue that led to a vehicle fire on February 4. In an announcement on Wednesday, the automaker revealed its plans to address the problem and ensure customer safety.

Ford has said that its engineers have likely identified the source of the vehicle fire, and investigations into the problem are anticipated to conclude by the end of next week. Following this, the company plans to make changes to the truck's battery production process, which may take a few weeks to implement. As production remains on hold, Ford is reassuring customers that F-150 Lightnings already delivered to dealerships and customers are not affected.

"We believe we have identified the root cause of this issue," Ford spokeswoman Emma Bergg told CBS MoneyWatch on Wednesday. "By the end of next week, we expect to conclude our investigation and apply what we learn to the truck's battery production process."

The fire, which was initially reported by the Detroit Free Press, took place during a pre-delivery quality inspection in a holding lot.

The F-150 Lightning pickup's battery is provided by SK On, a subsidiary of South Korean company SK Innovation. To date, there have been no significant battery problems reported for batteries supplied by SK.

​Ford does have plans to switch battery chemistries in the F-150 Lightning to a safer lithium iron phosphate (LFP) but those plans are unrelated and were already in the works long before this incident.
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No additional information has been provided by the company at this time.

Ford is no stranger to building souped-up performance demonstrator vehicles... and the latest F-150 Lightning teaser has the world buzzing...

Ford recently made an announcement of its comeback to Formula 1 racing in partnership with Red Bull Racing in 2026. Along with the announcement, they also shared a graphic (pictured below) showcasing how they believe racing leads to the development of successful products. The graphic contained outlines of several upcoming vehicles, including an electric pickup demonstrator (based on the F-150 Lightning), new Mustang race cars, and the already disclosed Ranger Raptor.

Previous EV performance demonstrator vehicles were the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400 dragstrip special, the 1,400-horsepower, 7-motor Mustang Mach-E 1400 Prototype, the 1,973-hp quad-motor SuperVan 4, and the 1978 F-100 Eluminator pickup. Each as absolutely ridiculous and spectacular as the rest.

The next EV performance demonstrator can now be all but confirmed as CEO Jim Farley took to Twitter to share a photo of himself giving Formula 1 racing driver Daniel Ricciardo a sneak peak at the vehicle. 

The details regarding the unveiling of the F-150 Lightning performance demonstrator are uncertain at this time, including the method Ford intends to use for showcasing it, and if influence any changes or additions to the production version F-150 Lightning. If they do release a performance version of the truck, it might have some crazy numbers that go along with it.

One thing is certain though, Ford is serious about performance.