Ford plans to produce 600,000 EVs a year by the end of 2023

Ford has ambitions to become the biggest US-based EV manufacturer someday, and that means greatly ramping up its production. Company CEO Jim Farley has announced that the automaker is planning to produce 600,000 electric vehicles per year by the end of 2023, which will double the number of EVs it originally intended to manufacture. According to Automotive News, production will be spread across the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit.

Ford’s current EV lineup is wildly popular, Farley said, and the demand is “so much higher” than the company expected. The Mustang Mach-E is selling on three continents, while the Ford F-150 Lightning has been popular from the time it was announced. Ford received 100,000 reservations within three weeks after it was unveiled, and that number’s now up to 160,000 — all placed with a $100 refundable deposit. Due to the high demand for the F-150, Ford previously decided to invest $250 million to boost its production, creating 450 new jobs to help it make 80,000 trucks a year. It’s unclear how much that target would change now that the company is doubling its manufacturing goal. 

Before it achieves its ultimate goal of being the biggest EV producer in the US, Ford is first aiming to become the second largest behind Tesla. As CNBC notes, whether Ford can achieve that with 600,000-a-year production target remains to be seen. Long-time Ford rival GM is expecting to sell 1 million electric vehicles by 2025 and is also ramping up production by converting current plants and opening new ones in the US over the coming years.