By Dhirendra Tripathi

Investing.com – Ford Motor stock (NYSE:) rose 1% Thursday as the company said it will boost output and add jobs to meet demand for its all-electric truck F-150 Lightning.

Ford Motor claimed that it has received over 150,000 truck reservations to date. The vehicle will be one of the mainstays of Ford’s EV play.

Ford announced that it will invest an additional $250m and create 450 new jobs at its Rouge electric vehicle center, Van Dyke powertrain center, and Rawsonville component plant in Michigan.

The additional jobs and investment will allow Ford to increase its production capacity by 80,000 trucks annually.

Rawsonville’s components plant will produce the batteries. The Van Dyke electric powertrain centre will expand its ability to provide electric motors for the F-150 Lightning.

Ford’s F-150 Lightning Lightning has been priced aggressively. Its base model is $40,000 which makes it less expensive than the Tesla (NASDAQ 🙂 Cybertruck. Rivals such as the Rivian R1T or the Hummer EV are more expensive.

With the extended-range battery, this vehicle can travel 300 miles at EPA estimates.

It has made every effort to expand its EV business. It has a joint venture with South Korea’s SK Innovation to produce approximately 60 GWh annually in traction battery cells and array modules, starting mid-decade, with potential to expand.

Ford also invested more equity in Solid Power to produce all-solid state batteries for electric vehicles. These solid-state batteries have great potential. They don’t use the liquid electrolyte found in conventional lithium-ion batteries, can be lighter, with greater energy density and provide more range and lower cost.