Ford sets 5 new requirements for EV dealers, including remote delivery, fast chargers & non-negotiable pricing

[Mach-Lee]

I would just like Ford to enforce the L2 charger, 14-50 outlet, and service equipment (e.g. battery lift) requirements they have in place now. I don’t think DCFC should be a requirement for all dealers yet.

The price guarantee is good though.

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[ctenidae]

These all seem like good things for Ford to do. I wonder what the attrition rate for dealers will be. How many won't make the leap to EV, how many will stay all-ICE until they can't any more?

My sales guy only sold one MME (mine, obv), and opted to stick with his role as team lead for Bronco. My guess is he's looking to retire in a few years.

Having some sort of quick charge at dealerships will be very nice in the places where it's needed, kind of nice in places where it's useful, and unnoticeable in places it's not needed. But, I think we'll eventually see all dealerships have some form of charging available.

Having the tooling and equipment and trained techs needed is kind of a gimme for the future, for sure. Ought to be now, for all that...

 

[AKgrampy]

I wonder if the dealers will be allowed to outsource the DCFC? There is one DCFC station in Fairbanks Alaska that is rarely used (at least I never see anyone using it.) A DCFC at the dealer will also likely be rarely used especially if the rate is as high as the public one already in service. The price is double what I pay at home. The electric demand charge alone would be a significant increase for the dealer not to mention the cost of installation. The dealership also is fenced in for security reasons so having a station available 24/7 will be somewhat problematic. I believe there should be some latitude by Ford on this requirement and I imagine there may be some pushback - certainly from smaller dealers. I think a good idea would be to allow the Ford dealer to partner with others to install a DCFC station at perhaps a better location then at the dealership itself. Finally please take note that the requirement is for no change in price from order not that there is no ADM so price is set at day of order but still set by dealership.

 

[jeevez]

I wonder what this means for Canada dealers. Map shows US only in the Inside EV's article. Would be a great way to get some rural coverage options!

 

[moparguy]

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a new DCFC at my local Hyundai dealer. Sales person said they had to install it to sell Ioniq 5's. They were already enjoying it saying that it made topping up test models much faster (I think a lot of test drives in their Ioniq 5/etc).

I think it will be hard for Ford dealers to install DCFC when Ford is trying to force them out of business, they are making it clear they want the Tesla model, Hyundai is empowering their dealer network, you can't order through Hyundai, must go through a dealer, Hyundai dealers are also charging ADM but you don't see the CEO bashing them every day, I think mainly because they understand it's a free country and no one is forcing anyone to pay adm, at least with Ford you can check whose not charging ADM and order with them the exact specs you want VS Hyundai you have to knock on every dealer door until you find one not doing ADM and buy whatever is available, Ford dealers aren't fools, they are already noticing that, it's going to be hard to make them invest more without heavy incentives, some will, but I don't think they will be in the business enough to see that ROI on those DCFC, where with Hyundai, the more they adapt the "Better" allocations they get, my buddy wanted to install two at his gas station and he told me he will never recoup the cost in 100 years, that's how expensive it is.

I like that they will focus on training, that's on Ford, they should train techs and incentivize for new EV techs, that's how you make things better, also focus on quality as well, have a better loaner program.

 

[bcaceres]

Nope. I live in my little bubble. Still haven't driven more than 150 away from my house yet, but am sure when I do my tune will likely change. Don't ruin it, let me live in my fantasy world for a little while longer.

What is crazy is that I have seen a few horror stories with Electrify America network for trips between Los Angeles and San Diego -- I was really surprised given the number of EV charging stations I saw driving through Southern California.

I think having DCFC at every Ford dealership that sells EV's will help offset the reliability of the Electrify America charging network even for California.

 

[RedStallion]

I'm hoping that the dealers can set requirements for Ford too. Like tracking numbers on parts, accountability for communications that are clear and timely, more visibility to delivery of cars....

Dealers don't really care about any of that, consumers do. So it's important for Ford to communicate to consumers that information.

 

[RedStallion]

I'd imagine it won't have high power requirements - 50kW DC charger or the like. It makes sense to me. Not only allow customers access which could be a lifesaver in rural areas, but also easier for inevitable tows that come in with 0% SoC. Also allows dealership to quickly get a car up to 50% when customer brings it in at 5% for service/etc.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a new DCFC at my local Hyundai dealer. Sales person said they had to install it to sell Ioniq 5's. They were already enjoying it saying that it made topping up test models much faster (I think a lot of test drives in their Ioniq 5/etc).

I don't think it will make any difference. Most people who buy EVs are charging overnight at home. A small percentage who's buying EV without that opportunity are for a big disappointment, it will be seriously inconvenient and likely more expensive than having a gasoline car.
Most people need fast chargers on interstate, they don't need them where they live. And my hope that the batteries will be improved to provide enough charge for a day travel without the need for fast chargers. That would increase battery life as well. So having a 500-mile battery may end up costing less than a 300-mile one over its lifetime, not even mentioning the cost of fast charging infrastructure.

 

[EELinneman]

I don't think it will make any difference. Most people who buy EVs are charging overnight at home. A small percentage who's buying EV without that opportunity are for a big disappointment, it will be seriously inconvenient and likely more expensive than having a gasoline car.
Most people need fast chargers on interstate, they don't need them where they live. And my hope that the batteries will be improved to provide enough charge for a day travel without the need for fast chargers. That would increase battery life as well. So having a 500-mile battery may end up costing less than a 300-mile one over its lifetime, not even mentioning the cost of fast charging infrastructure.

Perhaps this is Ford's response to the recent "reliability work" that EA is doing and how many of their chargers are unavailable. It will help in my area.

 

[nashbrydges]

In my city, the only DCFC is at a GM dealership (24kw) so this will be welcome. Btw, I do go to that GM dealership and change my Mach-E while they're open. A fun trolling move that's resulted in a few people asking me about the car since they were in the GM dealership looking for a Bolt or to talk about the Blazer.

 

[kindofblue]

I hope there is a requirement that EV Certified, and especially EV Elite, dealers have more than one certified EV technician..

Adding DCFC to Ford dealers is great, and adds some value to the Blue Oval charge network.

What is EV Elite? This is the first I've read of this. Thanks.

 

[x19]

What is EV Elite? This is the first I've read of this. Thanks.

Ford is doing two tiers of EV dealers based on the amount of money the dealer is willing to invest. In exchange it sounds like they’ll get access to more inventory and online orders.
https://electrek.co/2022/09/14/ford...MtX85C8Y-Qql2xN8P_8#h-model-e-certified-elite

 

[Zer0t]

Saw this on the Lightning forum. I am most excited to see the charging network. I'm hopeful to see at least 4 stalls of 150 kw or faster charging ports.

 

[FLmac]

The charging would be nice even though I’d rarely use it. I’m near Tampa and the charging options are basically non existent. It would probably triple the options.

 

[rcechinel]

• To be clear, dealerships still set the pricing, that’s the law. However, Ford wants pricing to be consistent and fair for its customers and said it will be monitoring the process from entry to exit to ensure that the customer signs on the dotted line for the same price as originally promised on day one.
• Ford says it will be surveying customers post sale and monitoring the consistency of prices across different customers at each dealer

I don't believe in this part at all.

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