Ford cancels Model e Dealer Program, letting all US retailers sell EVs

[Otto klub]

Man, you guys are relentless. They (the powers that be) thought EVs would sell in much greater numbers. They were wrong. They wanted to control who and how could sell EVs. That backfired. Now they don't give a damn who sells EVs.
How many dollars have they committed to new assembly and battery plants for EVs that are not selling in any numbers? What will happen when they back off that?
A call for public execution maybe?

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[Gloff]

You're confusing the time it took to develop the program which may have been many years (though I doubt it) with the brief time it took to figure out it failed and cancel it, which was a mere 21 months.

Yes, I agree it is better to cut your losses quickly and cancel a bad initiative. I gave Ford credit for that in the excerpt you quoted. But announcing an important nationwide initiative with fanfare and alienating dealers with stiff requirements, and then having to climb down and cancel the damn thing in less than two years??? Absolutely that is embarrassing!

A lot in the EV landscape changed between announcement and launch. Certainly more competitors in the space changed the sales trajectory. You and I are going to continue to disagree on the embarrassment point. I don't think the sticking point was the program itself, the biggest issue was the financial commitment from the dealers on charging infrastructure. If that didn't exist, I believe this program would still be in place.

I still firmly believe Ford should create their own network like Tesla, but I don't see a plan like that getting approved.

In an ideal world, I think that Tesla should sell their supercharger hardware to other manufacturers , both in the EV Charging space (EVgo/EA/Chargepoint/et. al.) and the automotive space to deploy with the ability to both cost share and profit share. That way the infrastructure would get standardized to NACS, as well as spread the costs of this massive infrastructure to more than one company. We're already part of the way there with nearly all the major players committing to NACS going forward.

 

[CarlSagan82]

How long before Farley is gone? How much customer and dealer trust and goodwill has evaporated since the MME was released?

Maybe once Farley starts shipping millions of dollars of GPUs from the public Ford to one of his private companies. Has that ever happened?

 

[phil]

Man, you guys are relentless. They (the powers that be) thought EVs would sell in much greater numbers. They were wrong. They wanted to control who and how could sell EVs. That backfired. Now they don't give a damn who sells EVs.
How many dollars have they committed to new assembly and battery plants for EVs that are not selling in any numbers? What will happen when they back off that?
A call for public execution maybe?

The usual repercussion for atrocious executive decision-making is termination of employment. Flogging and public execution are rarely necessary.

 

[dbsb3233]

In an ideal world, I think that Tesla should sell their supercharger hardware to other manufacturers , both in the EV Charging space (EVgo/EA/Chargepoint/et. al.) and the automotive space to deploy with the ability to both cost share and profit share. That way the infrastructure would get standardized to NACS, as well as spread the costs of this massive infrastructure to more than one company. We're already part of the way there with nearly all the major players committing to NACS going forward.

I just don't think auto manufacturers building and operating refueling networks makes sense for the long term, unless the assumption is it can never be profitable on it's own and can only survive with perpetual subsidization (in this case, taking profits from auto sales). I know that's how Tesla did it, and they've had success doing it, but that's because they were first (with real volume) and they had no choice. Their auto business would have died without it. But that's not the case for Ford, or GM, or other legacy who already have thriving auto business and ongoing profits to preserve. In fact, it's those ICE/hybrid sales that are subsidizing massive EV losses.

Ironically, Tesla being first and being forced to build a DCFC network is helping them now, because they have the DCFC volume that other networks (and automakers) don't. They have economy of scale working for them now, generating enough DCFC revenue to reportedly be profitable with it. Any other automaker making such an investment now likely wouldn't come close (as much as I like Rivian, I don't see them turning a profit on DCFC, probably ever). And stealing from auto profits to subsidize a DCFC operation just makes it that much harder to catch Tesla on EV profitability too.

Of course, the other big advantage Tesla has is their ability to produce good products at low cost, as they've achieved with their Supercharger hardware. Until others can replicate that, they'll continue to flounder in the red. Charger hardware manufacturers have been significant culprits IMO. Most are too expensive and not dependable enough. While Tesla laps them on both counts. That's one point I agree on - hoping Tesla sells DCFC hardware to other networks (at a reasonable price, of course).

 

[Sikkun]

Man, you guys are relentless. They (the powers that be) thought EVs would sell in much greater numbers. They were wrong. They wanted to control who and how could sell EVs. That backfired. Now they don't give a damn who sells EVs.
How many dollars have they committed to new assembly and battery plants for EVs that are not selling in any numbers? What will happen when they back off that?
A call for public execution maybe?

Irony being Ford EV’s are selling and most likely better than expected.

But because Tesla sales slowed down, obviously EV end of the world.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I don't know how Ford experiences embarrassment.
It seems to just shrug it off and keep going. But then what else is it supposed to do?

Ford isn’t a living being. It has no emotions whatsoever, embarrassment or otherwise.

 

[Snakebitten]

Ford isn’t a living being. It has no emotions whatsoever, embarrassment or otherwise.

Kinda my point.
Ford is so much more than Farley
Tesla is so much more than Elon

But folks will blame either of them for a failed coolant pump.

 

[Sikkun]

Ford isn’t a living being. It has no emotions whatsoever, embarrassment or otherwise.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood

 

[Sikkun]

Kinda my point.
Ford is so much more than Farley
Tesla is so much more than Elon

But folks will blame either of them for a failed coolant pump.

Farley owns like 0.01% of Ford stock while Musk owns at least 13% and effectively controls the board.

I get what your saying, but the two are not even close in power over their perspective companies.

 

[Snakebitten]

Good point.
But neither Elon or Farley are personally the reason that order #8888 of a FREE DCFC adapter hasn't been shipped. (for example)

 

[ChasingCoral]

The problem here is even though the press seems to think SS batteries are around the corner, in reality a commercially-viable one is a decade or more away. ?‍?

Not true. They are only five years away and have been for the last ten years. ?

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood

Corporate personhood is a legal fiction. It does not give them emotions.

 

[Jimrpa]

Another biggie is qualifying for the $7500 tax credit. The loss of that (while the Model Y got it back) clobbered Mach-E demand.

Build a 275 mile range compact UTE BEV (Ecosport) with good-enough 6 second 0-60 that's profitable at $33,000 ($25,500 after tax credit), and they're back in the game. Not every EV needs to perform like a sports car. An EV Ecosport would be Ford's answer to the Chevy Bolt.

Yeah, that will drive me to my friendly BMW dealer right quick ?

 

[Jimrpa]

Not true. They are only five years away and have been for the last ten years. ?

Closer than fusion. Fusion was only 20 years away when I was an undergrad. It’s still “20 years away” and I’m retired ???

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