When Ford announced that it would be offering dealers a choice between two EV certification programs – Model e Certified and Model e Certified Elite – it also noted that those opting in to these programs would need to invest between $500,000 and $1.2 million – or perhaps even more, for Ford and Lincoln dealers – with the bulk of that expense going toward the installation of public fast chargers. However, with the deadline to opt into these programs now gone, Ford dealers are finding that the actual expenses they’re having to dole out are far smaller than expected, according to Automotive News.
A handful of Ford dealers – including Greg Balasco, owner of Lakeland Automall in Florida, are revealing that the cost of purchasing and installing chargers is less than FoMoCo’s previous estimates. “It’s nowhere near the numbers Ford put out there,” Balasco said after his dealership spent around $350,000 all-in to obtain the top-tier Model e Certified Elite status. Eddie Stivers, the dealer principal of two Ford stores in Alabama, added that his costs will come in at “significantly less than half” of the $1.2 million The Blue Oval originally quoted.
This is good new for Ford dealers that have opted in for the program, which consists of 1,920 U.S.-based dealers, or around 65 percent of the 3,000 currently in operation. Of that group, the vast majority – 1,659 chose Model e Certified Elite, while just 261 opted to go with the lower-tier, Certified status. The Certified tier places a cap on how many EVs dealers can sell in a year – in this case, 25 – while also invoking certain restrictions on advertising.
Regardless, these new certification programs remain highly controversial among some dealers, who even filed a lawsuit against the automaker earlier this month that calls into question its legality in certain states. However, Ford maintains that the program remains within the letter of the law, and it appears that its core requirements – such as fixed pricing and zero inventory – will remain intact. Looking forward, those that didn’t opt in to one of the two tiers will get a second chance to do so in the coming years, while the details surrounding similar programs for Lincoln dealers will also be revealed in the coming months.
We’ll have more on the Model e Certified program soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for continuous Ford news coverage.
Comments
Dealers are making a huge leap of faith with these investments. Ford has made a weak case for their dealership principles with dependence on the ‘truck’ segment only. Statistics are for losers and numbers can say whatever you want with the right amount of spin. Living in a large metropolitan city, I do not see ‘trucks’, Ford or any one else’s, dominating the streets. They are too big for many parking spots, and have to stay clear of underground and parkade structures. I wish Ford would break out product ownership against geography. I suspect Ford no longer has a meaningful footprint in some of our largest cities that buy a lot of ‘cars’. This has to change if Ford is going to move from ‘being a big fish in a little pond’ to a global leader. Ford has abandoned too many market niches that Toyota, Honda, Kia, VW and others are bringing transportation offerings to/for metropolitan areas. Numbers and awards are nice, but they do not tell the whole story. It would be no surprise to see Ford gobbled up by one of their competition as a builder of the just one product segment… p/u trucks, ICE or BEV. Ford maybe profitable for now, they are not positioned to ever be a global leader in the industry. Have to wonder if this is actually Mr. Farley’s plan all along??? Spin up and spin off.
As an old college teacher, I can’t help but strongly suggest you do just a weee bit of research before spending so much time criticizing the supposed “weak case” and “huge leap of faith.” The ford website (and multiple other news sources) explain in detail the Ford strategy which involves a $22 Billion investment through 2025 on EV transportation. Turns out, Ford dealers are pretty smart to decide that their future with Ford is with EV transportation, wouldn’t you agree?
Fair point.. however Ford’s plan to move from ICE to BEV is very complicated when compared to competitors in the industry. You graze over the fact that this whole evolution is being driven by government, not industry or consumers or the market place. If you accept that, Ford is being rather arbitrary with all concerned. 22 billion is peanuts and it ignores that huge portions of the world are still decades away from abandoning ICE for lack of infrastructure. You appear to like everything Ford is doing while taking a wee bit of a shallow dive yourself on how dirty BEV production is. I agree we need to goto BEV…. its not what, rather it is how. Most metro apartments have but a few chargers and as I said, Ford F150’s are not dominating the city streets.