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Ford F-150 Lightning orders to open in January, company tells dealerships
Ford is planning to open the ordering bank for the F-150 Lightning in January 2022, internal company documents indicate.
The Ford F-150 Lightning is the legacy automaker’s second electric vehicle, following the Mustang Mach-E. The F-150 Lightning is the electric version of the F-150, the United States’ best-selling pickup truck, and Ford is finally ready to allow customers to customize their trucks as it just shut down reservations on December 8th. The vehicle has around 200,000 pre-orders, Ford representatives told Teslarati. CEO Jim Farley said Ford is working to double production of the F-150 Lightning from 70,000-80,000. “We’re going to try to double that…Don’t bet against Ford when we have to increase capacity. This is what we do,” he told CNBC.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro. Pre-production model with available features shown. Available starting spring 2022. (Credit: Ford)
Internal documents from Ford, recovered by Ford Lightning Owners forum member ChasingCoral, state that Ford has advised employees to begin preparing for the order bank to open in January. This will allow some of the reservation holders to customize their orders, including which of the four available trims they would like to order, exterior and interior colors and features, add-ons, and more.
“Ford is proud to communicate the revolutionary all-new, all-electric F-150 Lightning is getting one step closer to launch,” the document states. “The customer order bank opens in January 2022. MY22 (Model Year 2022) F-150 Lightning production begins in Spring 2022.”
Ford will only allow some of the reservation holders to complete their orders in January, due to extremely high demand, the company said. “Each dealer will have the ability to prioritize a small number of loyal customers who are reservation holders,” Ford advises dealership employees. It will use a Ford-generated program to determine prioritization, although this does not guarantee that the customer will have a truck allocated for them. Customers who are unable to receive an invitation to order the 2022 Model Year of the F-150 Lightning will have their invitations reserved for a following model year, but not necessarily 2023. It could be later. “Again, they will be reminded of the option to hold their reservation or cancel for a full refund at any time,” Ford highlights.
Ford says it will communicate with all reservation holders prior to the order bank opening, advising them that the order process will begin soon. “Prior to order bank opening, all reservation holders will receive an email confirming their reservation, outlining the wave order process to begin in January 2022 and explaining that due to high demand, not all reservation holders will be receiving a 22MY invitation,” the documents state.
-->Ford F-150 Lightning unveiled: Price, Release date, Range, Features and more
Because of the excessive demand, there is the chance that some F-150 Lightning variants will not be available when customers come to order them. In this case, Ford states that it will offer the opportunity to “maintain their reservation for a subsequent model year, work with their dealer to modify their order for a different configuration, or cancel their reservation for a full refund — again, at any time.”
The full document from Ford is available below.
Ford f150 Lightning Order Bank by Joey Klender on Scribd
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Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
The refreshed Tesla Model 3 has won the DRIVEN Car Guide AA Insurance NZ Car of the Year 2025 award in the Passenger Car category, beating all traditional and electric rivals.
Judges praised the all-electric sedan’s driving dynamics, value-packed EV tech, and the game-changing addition of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) that went live in New Zealand this September.
Why the Model 3 clinched the crown
DRIVEN admitted they were late to the “Highland” party because the updated sedan arrived in New Zealand as a 2024 model, just before the new Model Y stole the headlines. Yet two things forced a re-evaluation this year.
First, experiencing the new Model Y reminded testers how many big upgrades originated in the Model 3, such as the smoother ride, quieter cabin, ventilated seats, rear touchscreen, and stalk-less minimalist interior. Second, and far more importantly, Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
FSD changes everything for Kiwi buyers
The publication called the entry-level rear-wheel-drive version “good to drive and represents a lot of EV technology for the money,” but highlighted that FSD elevates it into another league. “Make no mistake, despite the ‘Supervised’ bit in the name that requires you to remain ready to take control, it’s autonomous and very capable in some surprisingly tricky scenarios,” the review stated.
-->At NZ$11,400, FSD is far from cheap, but Tesla also offers FSD (Supervised) on a $159 monthly subscription, making the tech accessible without the full upfront investment. That’s a game-changer, as it allows users to access the company’s most advanced system without forking over a huge amount of money.
News
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out.
It appears that the Tesla AI team burned the midnight oil, allowing them to release FSD V14.2.1 on Thanksgiving. The update has been reported by Tesla owners with AI4 vehicles, as well as Cybertruck owners.
For the Tesla AI team, at least, it appears that work really does not stop.
FSD V14.2.1
Initial posts about FSD V14.2.1 were shared by Tesla owners on social media platform X. As per the Tesla owners, V14.2.1 appears to be a point update that’s designed to polish the features and capacities that have been available in FSD V14. A look at the release notes for FSD V14.2.1, however, shows that an extra line has been added.
“Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity.”
Whether this could lead to more drivers being alerted to pay attention to the roads more remains to be seen. This would likely become evident as soon as the first batch of videos from Tesla owners who received V14.21 start sharing their first drive impressions of the update. Despite the update being released on Thanksgiving, it would not be surprising if first impressions videos of FSD V14.2.1 are shared today, just the same.
-->Rapid FSD releases
What is rather interesting and impressive is the fact that FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out. This bodes well for Tesla’s FSD users, especially since CEO Elon Musk has stated in the past that the V14.2 series will be for “widespread use.”
FSD V14 has so far received numerous positive reviews from Tesla owners, with numerous drivers noting that the system now drives better than most human drivers because it is cautious, confident, and considerate at the same time. The only question now, really, is if the V14.2 series does make it to the company’s wide FSD fleet, which is still populated by numerous HW3 vehicles.
News
Waymo rider data hints that Tesla’s Cybercab strategy might be the smartest, after all
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota Connected Europe designer Karim Dia Toubajie has highlighted a particular trend that became evident in Waymo’s Q3 2025 occupancy stats. As it turned out, 90% of the trips taken by the driverless taxis carried two or fewer passengers.
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota designer observes a trend
Karim Dia Toubajie, Lead Product Designer (Sustainable Mobility) at Toyota Connected Europe, analyzed Waymo’s latest California Public Utilities Commission filings and posted the results on LinkedIn this week.
“90% of robotaxi trips have 2 or less passengers, so why are we using 5-seater vehicles?” Toubajie asked. He continued: “90% of trips have 2 or less people, 75% of trips have 1 or less people.” He accompanied his comments with a graphic showing Waymo’s occupancy rates, which showed 71% of trips having one passenger, 15% of trips having two passengers, 6% of trips having three passengers, 5% of trips having zero passengers, and only 3% of trips having four passengers.
The data excludes operational trips like depot runs or charging, though Toubajie pointed out that most of the time, Waymo’s massive self-driving taxis are really just transporting 1 or 2 people, at times even no passengers at all. “This means that most of the time, the vehicle being used significantly outweighs the needs of the trip,” the Toyota designer wrote in his post.
-->Cybercab suddenly looks perfectly sized
Toubajie gave a nod to Tesla’s approach. “The Tesla Cybercab announced in 2024, is a 2-seater robotaxi with a 50kWh battery but I still believe this is on the larger side of what’s required for most trips,” he wrote.
With Waymo’s own numbers now proving 90% of demand fits two seats or fewer, the wheel-less, lidar-free Cybercab now looks like the smartest play in the room. The Cybercab is designed to be easy to produce, with CEO Elon Musk commenting that its product line would resemble a consumer electronics factory more than an automotive plant. This means that the Cybercab could saturate the roads quickly once it is deployed.
While the Cybercab will likely take the lion’s share of Tesla’s ride-hailing passengers, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover would be perfect for the remaining 9% of riders who require larger vehicles. This should be easy to implement for Tesla, as the Model Y and Model 3 are both mass-market vehicles.
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
