Ford Dealer Asking For EV Input

[Fremont Kid]

I support what others have said. A few items that I did not see mentioned:

• Find on this forum where Ford has requested "...private message me your contact information and name of your dealer..." Most of these situations are systemic not dealer or a single MME specific. These are the situations that have affected owners the most and that your staff can use to differentiate themselves.
• As a dealer get Ford to share with you software design specifics, i.e. how the charge settings are architected. If you can help owners understand charge setting problems, you'll earn a lot of business.
• Learn the acronyms. As you can read, acronyms proliferate. Your staff does not need to use these with new customers, rather your staff should know them when customers use them. HVBJB is one example.
• Accept that no dealership is fully knowledgeable about all features of such a rapidly expanding set of technologies. Have your staff say things like "ooh, another feature I can learn."
• Use the road trips that have been posted to help owners/potential owners see that long distance travel has been successful by many people. Maybe even reproduce route maps that show charging locations, Ford dealership locations along the route, and ways to plan trips.
• Related to the previous point, be sure your staff can show owners how to use the route planner and how it can show charging stations, etc.

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[Larry Paul]

Hey All!

My name is Eric and I am a manager at a dealership in Southern California. If any of you have cross-shopped the Bronco, you may know me from the Bronco6G forums.
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...or-socal-buyers-kearny-mesa-ford.3115/page-95

I believe the experience we're currently offering EV buyers is so-so at best, likely below customer expectations if I'm being critical. We're above average when compared to other dealerships but I still see so much room to improve. So my hope is that I can get some input from you all, the MachE buyers and enthusiasts, as to how dealers should better serve today's EV buyers.

My 2-point question is this: Other than being competitively priced and having the right inventory, is there an experience that a dealer could provide which would make you travel beyond your closest dealer to purchase / service an EV? And part two to that is, how could that dealership communicate to you that they offer that experience?

I'm in the process of ground-up building a dedicated EV team, and I'd greatly value any input you could share! Whether it's about your experience when you bought your MachE, what you're experiencing as a current shopper, or even just your hypothetical ideal dealership interaction. I'm here to listen! I'm also glad to share the steps we're taking internally already for anybody who is curious.

Thanks for your time!

Eric Bunch

Eric,

Thank you for asking this very important question. Most dealerships are not good at selling any car, let alone EV's and few dealerships ask for advice-so I appreciate just being asked the question. Here is a long, but short summary answer to a simple question with a complex answer.

I have been a "car guy" my whole life. I have owned a big variety of cars including muscle and race cars, economy cars and daily commuters, but I have always liked "special cars".

In 1989 I purchased my first new car, a Ford Taurus SHO. Since then I have purchased 8 other new cars and leased 1. (I only leased one car in my life because that was the only way I could get it- it was an EV back in 1999). 5 of those 10 cars are battery EV. One was a hybrid, one of those was a Range Extended EV (Chevy Volt in 2012 - my last new "gas" car, even though I rarely used gas in it as it drove on battery power for 91% of its 10 years of ownership with me).

I signed the paperwork for my first leased EV almost exactly 25 years ago (It took 5 months to get the car once we we were approved to be one of the few that they would lease the car to) we have now driven over 350K miles on battery power since January 1999.

For me, I just want a hassle free purchase experience. I am one that is very researched and I think in every purchase, I have known much more about the vehicle than the salesperson. I often ask questions that I know the answer to - just to see how the salesperson responds. It is great when they know the answer, but I find the answer of "I don't know" is ideal to one that they make up (they will always lose my business if there is BS at any point in the process). The best answer if they don't know is when they also add, "but I will find out for you" (and then they do).

The purchase of my Mach E from Neil at Galpin Ford was the best new car purchase experience ever- by far. No backroom pressure to get features I did not want. I special ordered the car so it was configured exactly as I wanted it. Everything went as expected and I was done in under an hour.

For new EV drivers, I think the biggest unknown for them is the charging experience so the sales person has to be more knowledgeable and experienced than a "typical" car salesperson as they are an educator on how this "new" (not new) technology works.

I am often asked about EV's. One statement I almost always say to people when they are asking me about their "range anxiety" is: Reset your trip odometer every day when you leave your house and see how far you actually go in a day.

Once they understand that and they realize that with an L2 charger (depending on the rate of the L2 charger) they will recover 15-35 miles per hour while they are sleeping. Using an example of 20 miles of recovery per hour, I ask how often do they go 150 miles in a day where they need to go more than 120 more miles the next day? That answer is almost never, for daily commuting (that is 6 hours of recovery).

If it is all about road trips, then the conversation must be about public DCFC "L3" charging. This is a bit more difficult to discuss since the L3 situation is different everywhere. Some places it is great. Others...not as much. I often state that the L3 support is growing every month and that experience is improving often, but also will transition to support NACS over the next few years and that will also give many more options as all cars can be adapted to use all DCFC charge locations. I also point out that most people don't take long road trips often, and if they do, the choices are: Be a knowledgable and semi brave adventurer and use the tools in the car as well as ABRP (a better route planner) and Plug Share apps and do a little bit of pre-planning. Or, take a different car in the household for those occasional trips or just rent a car. For me, we typically fly somewhere and rent a car for most long distance trips that we take. We rarely drive a long distance starting at our home any longer.

Back in 1999 living with an EV of up to 100 miles of range and very little public infrastructure was far more of a planning adventure when we pushed it over 90 miles in one day, but that was far more challenging than it is today in most places in the country where most EV's have 250 miles of range and some level of L3 charging capacity.

We still drive our 2002 Rav4EV for local trips. It has batteries manufactured in 2002 and it still has up to an 80 mile range (was rated at 80-100 when new) but I rarely push it very hard as I want it to last for as long as possible and our other two BEV's can go well over 250 miles on a charge.

my 2¢. Hope that this helps. If you want to speak with me more, please contact me with an direct message.

Best,

Larry

 

[Fremont Kid]

One additional thought. You might get inexpensive and worthwhile deliverables by hiring a college intern to perform a lot of legwork and produce reading materials, references, produce maps, etc. If staff have the time, great but students are also a worthwhile source. Students studying graphic arts, education/curriculum development, even business marketing would probably benefit from such an internship. However, develop a solid mission statement and set of deliverables if you do use an intern.

 

[EricAtKearnyMesaFord]

@AtomicInternet @VegasWeezy @JoeDimwit @ChasingCoral @Logal727 @HuntingPudel @Blue highway @Sillybibbles @thekat03 @Lloydian @DanCoon @glenthompson @Scorpy2643 @stealthytolkien @AlanJ @bp99 @Mach-Lee @RedStallion @Mach1E @Guss-E 2021 @Bikespace @canuck1975 @GatorJ_MME @rkmoray @MellowJohnny @tomterky @RickMachE @Almondtree @keithnteri @ctenidae @KevinS @dtbaker61 @iam-s-Hon @Mike Curtis @moparguy @RSH @josephyancey @deadduck @MotownMachdoc @jgcom @goodguy @Bikespace @Mach-E VLOG @Fremont Kid @Larry Paul

Thank you everybody for your genuine and thorough input! I and several others from my dealership have read through each of your comments and made notes about your pain points and suggestions. To be honest, none of your expectations seem out of line at all. There were several suggestions that will take significant planning and restructuring, but it's still great to know what everyone wants so we can start steering in that direction.

Based on your feedback, I can clearly see my first 3 objectives. The rest will still be objectives down the road.

• Continue to improve Salesperson / Manager knowledge and communication abilities.
• Ensure our Service Dept is ready to grow as our Sales Dept grows.
• Rewriting the EV purchase experience to be streamlined and efficient.

By all means please continue to share any other input or ideas! I was a fan of the "Eat your own dog food" advice. There's no better way to understand your client than to be a user yourself.

For the curious data nerds like me, here is the data I aggregated from your comments. I generalized and lumped some topics together, but it gave a clear picture of what is most important to most of you.

Cheers!

Responses Reviewed	48
Salesperson Knowledge	26	54%
Service Experience / Tech Knowledge	23	48%
Transparent + Fair Price (no adds)	13	27%
Purchase Experience (efficient and easy)	9	19%
Public Charging Stations	7	15%
Monitor Forums	7	15%
EV Loaners in Service	6	13%
Dedicated EV Team	4	8%
Community Involvement	4	8%

 

[Logal727]

@AtomicInternet @VegasWeezy @JoeDimwit @ChasingCoral @Logal727 @HuntingPudel @Blue highway @Sillybibbles @thekat03 @Lloydian @DanCoon @glenthompson @Scorpy2643 @stealthytolkien @AlanJ @bp99 @Mach-Lee @RedStallion @Mach1E @Guss-E 2021 @Bikespace @canuck1975 @GatorJ_MME @rkmoray @MellowJohnny @tomterky @RickMachE @Almondtree @keithnteri @ctenidae @KevinS @dtbaker61 @iam-s-Hon @Mike Curtis @moparguy @RSH @josephyancey @deadduck @MotownMachdoc @jgcom @goodguy @Bikespace @Mach-E VLOG @Fremont Kid @Larry Paul

Thank you everybody for your genuine and thorough input! I and several others from my dealership have read through each of your comments and made notes about your pain points and suggestions. To be honest, none of your expectations seem out of line at all. There were several suggestions that will take significant planning and restructuring, but it's still great to know what everyone wants so we can start steering in that direction.

Based on your feedback, I can clearly see my first 3 objectives. The rest will still be objectives down the road.

• Continue to improve Salesperson / Manager knowledge and communication abilities.
• Ensure our Service Dept is ready to grow as our Sales Dept grows.
• Rewriting the EV purchase experience to be streamlined and efficient.

By all means please continue to share any other input or ideas! I was a fan of the "Eat your own dog food" advice. There's no better way to understand your client than to be a user yourself.

For the curious data nerds like me, here is the data I aggregated from your comments. I generalized and lumped some topics together, but it gave a clear picture of what is most important to most of you.

Cheers!

Responses Reviewed	48
Salesperson Knowledge	26	54%
Service Experience / Tech Knowledge	23	48%
Transparent + Fair Price (no adds)	13	27%
Purchase Experience (efficient and easy)	9	19%
Public Charging Stations	7	15%
Monitor Forums	7	15%
EV Loaners in Service	6	13%
Dedicated EV Team	4	8%
Community Involvement	4	8%

I have never met a more thorough dealership employee in my life, you sir are a unicorn and I hope your dealership knows that.

 

[canuck1975]

I'll second what @Logal727 said - it's quite refreshing to see a dealership proatively try to improve. I've been to terrible dealerships that I walked out of and great dealerships that I've stayed loyal to, and I think you're putting your dealership into the right mindset!

 

[Guss-E 2021]

I have never met a more thorough dealership employee in my life, you sir are a unicorn and I hope your dealership knows that.

I hope Ford knows that. I'm sure Jim Farley wishes more dealerships were being this supportive and proactive.

 

[leeman]

Dealership willing to put in the work to have a dedicated EV area with people that are knowledgeable about EVs is super important because only the staff at most of the Ford dealers knows what EV stuff is about. Most of the time they just talk real fast and get you to sign a piece of paper and get you out the door which is fine but sometimes being new technology you want a little bit more explanation about what's going on but they don't necessarily know what they're telling you. I also agree with one of the replies that having noticeable EV charging stations at the dealership is huge it is a huge expense although in California they pay you back for putting those things in. And I'm talking fast chargers two that would be super helpful because then it also has a reason for people to come into the dealership to look at new things if there's a charging facility there. I know of one dealership in Costa Mesa that re-purposed an old gas station that would've been perfect for EV greeting and charging area to bring your cars in for service etc. that's on the same lot but separated. It's important to bring people into your store and have people there that know what they're talking about to help push the EV market I can tell you right now that every Ford dealership I drive by has at least 10 to 15 Mach E sitting on their lot. Most of them that I've come across are just select models they have a lot of those. A dealer in Costa Mesa I noticed had for lightning on their lot the interesting thing is none of them were marked up. selling at sticker or below.

 

[jeffvick2005]

1. Your team needs to be aware of the latest tax credits
   1. I recently had to educate the General Manager of my local dealership about forms the dealership is required to provide to the IRS & buyer at the time of sale
      1. He was basing his knowledge on last year's tax situation
      2. Things change too quickly, you need keep up to date

Be up to date on tax laws. I was shocked that my salesperson had no clue about tax credits. I had to educate her on what they were, which vehicles they were applicable to, etc...including an estimate of the volume of EV's Ford had sold and how this mattered.

 

[sukhoi_584th]

I think a big one for service is being able to do diagnostics quickly so you can preorder parts if necessary. Don't make me wait a week without my car so you can then spend 5 mins to figure out a module is bad. The diagnostics are so fast now they should be started ASAP.

 

[stealthytolkien]

@AtomicInternet @VegasWeezy @JoeDimwit @ChasingCoral @Logal727 @HuntingPudel @Blue highway @Sillybibbles @thekat03 @Lloydian @DanCoon @glenthompson @Scorpy2643 @stealthytolkien @AlanJ @bp99 @Mach-Lee @RedStallion @Mach1E @Guss-E 2021 @Bikespace @canuck1975 @GatorJ_MME @rkmoray @MellowJohnny @tomterky @RickMachE @Almondtree @keithnteri @ctenidae @KevinS @dtbaker61 @iam-s-Hon @Mike Curtis @moparguy @RSH @josephyancey @deadduck @MotownMachdoc @jgcom @goodguy @Bikespace @Mach-E VLOG @Fremont Kid @Larry Paul

Thank you everybody for your genuine and thorough input! I and several others from my dealership have read through each of your comments and made notes about your pain points and suggestions. To be honest, none of your expectations seem out of line at all. There were several suggestions that will take significant planning and restructuring, but it's still great to know what everyone wants so we can start steering in that direction.

Based on your feedback, I can clearly see my first 3 objectives. The rest will still be objectives down the road.

• Continue to improve Salesperson / Manager knowledge and communication abilities.
• Ensure our Service Dept is ready to grow as our Sales Dept grows.
• Rewriting the EV purchase experience to be streamlined and efficient.

By all means please continue to share any other input or ideas! I was a fan of the "Eat your own dog food" advice. There's no better way to understand your client than to be a user yourself.

For the curious data nerds like me, here is the data I aggregated from your comments. I generalized and lumped some topics together, but it gave a clear picture of what is most important to most of you.

Cheers!

Responses Reviewed	48
Salesperson Knowledge	26	54%
Service Experience / Tech Knowledge	23	48%
Transparent + Fair Price (no adds)	13	27%
Purchase Experience (efficient and easy)	9	19%
Public Charging Stations	7	15%
Monitor Forums	7	15%
EV Loaners in Service	6	13%
Dedicated EV Team	4	8%
Community Involvement	4	8%

Do you have a management or communications degree? I wish my colleagues in my company (completely different field of work than yours) wrote as well as you do.

If you were within a reasonable distance from me, you’d be the only person who I would buy and sell cars from.

 

[BMT1071]

I think a big one for service is being able to do diagnostics quickly so you can preorder parts if necessary. Don't make me wait a week without my car so you can then spend 5 mins to figure out a module is bad. The diagnostics are so fast now they should be started ASAP.

That's hilarious! Where do you come up with this stuff???

 

[ctenidae]

I think a big one for service is being able to do diagnostics quickly so you can preorder parts if necessary. Don't make me wait a week without my car so you can then spend 5 mins to figure out a module is bad. The diagnostics are so fast now they should be started ASAP.

It surprises me they don't have a diagnostic readout as soon as you pull in. My 2012 BMW sent telemetry they read before I even got out of the car. I'm sure Ford could manage it, 11 years later.

 

[KevinS]

Be up to date on tax laws. I was shocked that my salesperson had no clue about tax credits. I had to educate her on what they were, which vehicles they were applicable to, etc...including an estimate of the volume of EV's Ford had sold and how this mattered.

This seems like the sort of thing that could easily be put up in a sales and finance office so everyone can know its there and refer to it.

I don't expect a salesperson to necessarily recall on command everything (I've become more compassionate on this as I've gotten older) but they should very quickly know where to find the latest information.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I’ll just offer you an anecdotal example. Twenty years ago, I bought a corvette while living in the Detroit metro area. I used to drive by several dealerships to service my car at the top Corvette store in the area (and one of top three nationally): Les Stanford Chevy in Dearborn, MI (yes, in Ford’s backyard):

1. While a typical Chevy store had 2-5 Corvettes in stock, Less Stanford had over 100!
2. Employees from the GM to the janitor were Vette enthusiasts (pics on their desks, memorabilia, shirts, etc, etc)
3. Employees drove from far away places to work for the store…
4. …and so did customers (to buy or service)
5. Most importantly, service was top notch. Techs were Corvette whisperers. They diagnosed and fixed issues like no one else did and took care of your vehicle (they knew how special it is for the customer and treated it like their own).
6. They created so much excitement around the product and made you feel special for being part of an exclusive group (Corvettes are a dime a dozen in Detroit where most people used to get heavy discounts).
7. You’d be surprised how much are customers willing to pay to be treated well.

Doing a quick search online, it looks like they lost their luster since then. But it was such a special place to do business with.

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