Joseph White

DEARBORN (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (NYSE:) will begin regular production of its F-150 Lightning electric pick-up truck on Tuesday. This is more than the planned annual production that Ford Motor has tripled. Its new model symbolizes Ford’s 118-year-old drive to retool for a new millennium.

Ford will commemorate the “Job One” ceremony of the Lightning by hosting a webcast Tuesday, at 1:30 EDT (1700 GMT). It marks the acceleration of Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center’s Lightning assembly line in Dearborn.

Ford plans 150,000 Lightning vehicles per year from the newly constructed Rouge production plant while building an even larger Tennessee facility for electric vehicles.

Ford originally intended to make 40,000 per year, but the surge in demand for electric vehicles led Ford to increase production two times since last August’s Lightning. This Lightning is a modified F-150 pickup truck.

Lightning was reserved by about 200,000 customers before Ford stopped accepting preliminary orders in December.

Rivian, a startup, will sell the Lightning, and it will follow Stellantis NV, GM Co (NYSE)’s Electric Silverado pickup. However, The Lightning will come ahead of General Motors Co, (NYSE)’s electric Silverado, General Motors Co’s promise electric Ram truck, and Tesla (NASDAQ) Inc’s Cybertruck.

Rivals GM & Ford have different approaches to the market for electric pickups. Ford modified its F-150 truck to include a battery-carrying trunk, an electrical outlet for a house or construction site and sufficient outlets. The construction of an assembly line next to the Rouge F-series factory took 19 months.

GM took more time to design the electric Silverado. They also gutted a Detroit factory to make it, as well as several other electric cars, and created new factories to produce GM-designed battery packs. Silverado should launch in 2023.

Ford knew it was crucial to meet its goal of starting F-150 Lightning regular production this spring. Ford has had a history of late and poorly executed launches. This includes the failed launch in 2019 of the Explorer sport utility vehicle.