Ford hits highest level in 20 years after doubling F-150 Lightning production target in accelerated EV push

• Ford surged as much as 12% on Tuesday after the automaker said it's nearly doubling planned production of the electric F-150 Lightning.
• The new target is for 150,000 F-150 Lightnings per year by 2023, up from a prior goal of 80,000.
• Ford's accelerated push comes after it received 200,000 reservations for the truck.
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Ford stock surged as much as 12% on Tuesday, hitting its highest level since August 2001, after the automaker said it would nearly double its planned production of the F-150 Lightning electric truck.

The new target is for 150,000 F-150 Lightnings per year by 2023, up from a prior goal of 80,000 and an initial one of only 40,000. The accelerated push comes after Ford received upwards of 200,000 reservations for the electric pickup truck, which required a $100 deposit.

"The reality is clear: People are ready for an all-electric F-150 and Ford is pulling out all the stops to scale our operations and increase production capacity," said Kumar Galhotra, who is president of Ford's Americas and international markets group.

The automaker plans to begin delivering its electric F-150, which is the most popular selling car model in America, in the first half of 2022. Ford is also beginning to allow waves of its F-150 Lightning reservation holders to begin customizing their cars and selecting trims.

Ford has seen early success with its electric vehicle efforts, with the company also boosting planned production of its Mustang Mach-E to 200,000 vehicles per year by 2023. Meanwhile, the company's electric van, the 2022 E-Transit, will go on sale in early 2022.

Besides being good business for Ford given the strong demand, electric vehicles have also lifted shareholders. Ford stock surged 138% in 2021, far outpacing even Tesla's impressive gain of 50%, and the S&P 500's gain of about 27%.