Ford Hits a Major Roadblock With Its EV Progress

Federal safety regulators have new information regarding the cause of the Ford F-150 Lightning fire.

Ford's F  (F) - Get Free Report-150 Lightning has been doing some hard traveling lately.

Not too long ago things were looking up for the electric version of the iconic F-150 pickup, which Ford declared was the No. 1 electric truck in America in December. 

However, the F-150 has suffered some setbacks in 2023. 

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In February, Ford suspended production of the vehicle after one of them caught fire at the automaker's Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.

The root cause was related to the battery cell production at the SK On plant in Georgia, the company said, referring to the automaker’s battery supplier. Ford didn't disclose what caused the fire.

EVs prone to Short-Circuiting 

Production resumed on March 13, but just a few days earlier Ford said it was recalling 18 F-150 Lightnings due to a battery cell manufacturing defect, which the company said "had occurred over a four-week period starting at the end of last year."

The carmaker said that it is not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to the recall.

Electric vehicles are particularly prone to short-circuiting into a fire due to the high-voltage lithium-ion batteries that keep them running. 

Those fires in turn can be larger and more difficult to control than those typically seen with gas-powered engines.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration posted some documents on March 22 regarding the F-150.

The agency said that the high-voltage battery pack “may experience an electrical short-circuit when the battery is fully charged or near fully charged.”

Ford to Overhaul Financial Reporting

NHTSA said that "when the vehicle’s high voltage battery is at a high state of charge, the vehicle could experience an internal short circuit in the battery which could result in a fire,” according to InsideEVs.

 The agency also said that “due to production process deviations at the supplier, the cathode aluminum tabs may contact the anode electrode material causing an internal short circuit when the high voltage battery cells are at a high state of charge.”

Separately, Ford will unveil an overhauled financial reporting structure for the redesigned company that lays out profit and loss for each business line, Bloomberg reported.

Management will host a “teach-in” for analysts and investors before offering full results in the first-quarter earnings report May 2.

The new-look balance sheet will give investors a more complete view of Ford’s nascent EV business, including expenses and revenue — and how much money it’s losing.