Paul Lienert

DETROIT, (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (NYSE 🙂 Co stated Tuesday that the company will almost double its annual production of its F-150 Lightning Electric Pickup to 150,000 vehicles. This is a model that has attracted more than 200,000 reservations in advance of its arrival this spring at U.S. Dealers.

Ford’s announcement came a day ahead General Motors Co (NYSE)’s unveiling public of its Chevrolet Silverado pickup electric vehicle, which will be available for purchase in the early 2023.

Mary Barra, GM’s Chief Executive Officer will unveil the Silverado E on Wednesday during a remote session that is part of the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

CNBC host Jim Cramer was interviewed by Jim Farley, Ford’s Chief Executive Officer. Farley stated that Ford could no longer take reservations for the 2022 Lightning after there had been so many.

Ford initially had a production capacity of 70,000 to 80,000 Lightnings. Farley stated in December that Ford had originally planned to increase its production capacity by 70,000-80,000 Lightnings over the next two year at Ford’s Rouge plant near Dearborn, Michigan.

Ford also is planning to triple annual production of its popular Mustang Mach-E electric crossover to more than 200,000 by 2023, to meet better-than-anticipated demand.

Automaker stated that it would have an annual capacity to create 600,000 electric cars globally in less than 24 months. It also stated it wants to “become the clear No. Tesla (NASDAQ:), the largest North American manufacturer of electric vehicles, is second to Tesla (NASDAQ.). Last year Tesla sold over 900,000.

According to AutoForecast Solutions, future Ford EVs will be made in America, Canada, Mexico and China, as well as Germany.

It will be available in both commercial and retail markets at a starting cost of $39974. Ford stated that more than 75% of Lightning reservations holders were new to Ford.