Since it debuted back in the spring, the Ford F-150 Lightning has been a huge success, with Ford receiving over 200,000 reservations. Impressively, 70 percent of those customers are new to the Ford brand.

Demand has been so high that the electric pickup is already sold out for the 2022 model year before production has begun. Reservations requiring a $100 deposit were closed earlier this month. Thanks to a lengthy internal document posted on the Lightning Owners forum, we now know exactly how the dealer ordering process for the F-150 Lightning will work.

Unfortunately, demand for the electric pickup has been so high that not every reservation holder will be invited to place an order for the 2022 model. Ford will invite reservation holders to place orders in waves when the order bank opens in January 2022. After the first wave, reservation holders will be contacted every two weeks until 2022 model year production capacity is filled.

Ford will invite reservation holders based on factors including reservation timing and dealer allocations. Dealers will also be able to prioritize allocations for certain customers. For example, if a dealer received 50 to 100 reservations, it can prioritize ten customers.

If a customer's configuration is unavailable, they can choose to maintain their reservation for another model year, work with the dealer to adjust their order using configuration options that are available, or cancel their reservation and get a full refund. Once the 2022 model year capacity is fulfilled, reservation holders will be notified that their next opportunity to place an order will be for a subsequent model year.

Production for the Ford F-150 Lightning will begin in the spring and Ford aims to increase annual production to 160,000 units by 2024 to keep up with the demand. With demand high and allocations limited, don't be surprised to see F-150 Lightnings being sold at dealerships with outrageous markups like the Bronco.