Ford pauses EV truck production to focus on gas trucks
Ford has put the brakes on its F-150 Lightning electric truck production after a fire at a key aluminum supplier's plant on September 16, 2025, caused a major material shortage.
With aluminum tough to get, Ford is shifting focus to its gas and hybrid F-Series trucks—they're more profitable and less dependent on aluminum.
Ford plans to boost gas and hybrid F-Series production
Even though F-150 Lightning sales jumped nearly 40% this past quarter, they're still tiny compared to Ford's gas and hybrid trucks (just 10,000 Lightnings sold vs. over 200,000 regular F-Series).
Ford says it has enough Lightnings in stock for now and hasn't set a restart date.
To bounce back from the supply hit and keep up with demand, Ford plans to boost F-Series production by more than 50,000 trucks in 2026—adding jobs as workers from the paused EV plant shift over.
For anyone watching the EV race or thinking about future jobs in auto, it's a reminder that change can come fast—and sometimes unexpectedly.