Here's everything Ford CEO Jim Farley said about making 600,000 EVs by 2023

Published Tue, Apr 26 20224:39 PM EDT

The CEO of Club holding Ford Motor (F) appeared on CNBC Tuesday afternoon, following an event to celebrate the start of regular production for the company's F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. A confident Jim Farley provided insight into Ford's manufacturing outlook and electric vehicle (EV) strategy more broadly. Here's a recap of what Farley told CNBC's Phil LeBeau. Lightning production targets Ford is now planning to make 150,000 F-150 Lightning EVs within the next year or so; its initial target was only 40,000, but the automaker raised targets in response to strong consumer demand. In December, Ford stopped taking reservations for the vehicle , capping it at 200,000. The F-150 Lightning is important to Ford's EV push overall because Ford's internal combustion engine F-Series has been the best-selling vehicle in America for four decades straight. On Tuesday, Farley said Ford will meet its 150,000 goal in the face of supply chain pressures. "We can. ... It's all about batteries and raw materials. We have the batteries secured now. We're in good shape," Farley told CNBC. Farley said "everyone knows" how important it is to successfully make the F-150 Lightning at scale, as the company tries to take a big slice of the burgeoning electric pickup market. He said it fundamentally comes down to Ford's internal execution. "The F-150 is second only to iPhone in revenue as a consumer product globally. We know what this launch means. We know. We're on time. We've built 2,000 units already. Some of our competitors have been building for a year and haven't built 2,000." 600,000 by 2023 Outside of just the Lightning, Ford plans to increase EV production capacity to 600,000 units globally by 2023 . Farley explained how Ford intends to accomplish it: "We're going to protect these electric vehicles. This is a strategic move by the company to get to 600,000 units. If we're shorted on [semiconductors], they're going into these kind of products, No. 1. No. 2, it's Ford Motor Co. The B-24 Liberator; ventilators during the pandemic; the Model T. This is what we do. We're not some new start-up. This is what we do. We build things in scale. We know how to do this." Supply chain Both startups and legacy automakers like Ford and General Motors (GM) are investing heavily in EVs. However, there's uncertainty about whether existing supply chains are equipped to meet the demand for the raw materials that go into EV batteries. This is important for the future of EV production. LeBeau asked Farley if the auto industry was "united enough with the [Biden administration] to make this happen." Here's Farley's answer: "The industry is starting to get in line because we all realize the same thing at the same time. We need mining permitting. We need processing precursor refinement permitting in the U.S., and we need government and private sector to work together to bring it here. We can't just mine the raw materials here and ship it out to Asia or Africa. We have to keep it here, and to do that we need the government's support. We have to move faster." (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long F. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Ford CEO Jim Farley speaks with reporters outside the company's world headquarters on May 19 in Dearborn, Michigan, following the debut of the electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck

Michael Wayland / CNBC

The CEO of Club holding Ford Motor (F) appeared on CNBC Tuesday afternoon, following an event to celebrate the start of regular production for the company's F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck.

A confident Jim Farley provided insight into Ford's manufacturing outlook and electric vehicle (EV) strategy more broadly. Here's a recap of what Farley told CNBC's Phil LeBeau.