Ford's $19.5B EV Overhaul: Ditching Lightning, Betting Big on Batteries and Hybrids

Ford BioSnap a weekly updated Biography. Ford just dropped a bombshell on December 15, announcing a massive 19.5 billion dollar restructuring of its EV ambitions, writing down nearly 20 billion in book value as it retreats from unprofitable electric models like the F-150 Lightning and pivots to hybrids, cheaper EVs, and grid batteries, according to Fitch Ratings and Canary Media reports from December 16 and 20. This seismic shift, one of the biggest corporate impairments ever, spares its credit rating but signals industry-wide jitters over sluggish U.S. EV sales at just 10 percent amid vanished tax credits and cheap gas under three bucks a gallon, with layoffs hitting Kentucky's BlueOval plant where 1600 workers face the axe and Tennessee scaling back hires for gas trucks instead. Ford's spinning it as a decisive capital redeployment, repurposing that Kentucky factory for two billion in lithium iron phosphate cells for data center grid storage rivaling Tesla Megapacks, targeting 20 gigawatt-hours annually by 2027, while keeping Michigan's Marshall plant for home batteries after dissolving its joint venture with SK On and nixing a 6.5 billion deal with LG Energy Solution, as WardsAuto detailed on December 19. On the sales front, Ford and Lincoln launched their Holiday Haul promo this week via fromtheroad.ford.com, unlocking zero down, zero percent APR for 60 months, and no payments for 90 days on over 250,000 vehicles to ease holiday sticker shock, building on their blockbuster From America, For America campaign. Safety snag though: NHTSA flagged a recall of 273,000 rigs including 2022 to 2026 F-150 Lightnings, 2024 to 2026 Mustang Mach-Es, and 2025 to 2026 Mavericks over faulty parking modules that might not lock, risking rollaways, with over-the-air fixes rolling out by February, per CBS News. Stock dipped 29 cents a share from December 15 to 19, FordAuthority notes, amid the EV drama. No big exec sightings or X buzz lately, but this EV U-turn could redefine Ford's legacy for years. Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.