Ford wants more dealers involved in its electric vehicle (EV) sales, so it’s lowering the barrier of entry.
“What we’re finding is more dealers want to be involved in it, and we don’t want to be exclusive to just a handful. We’ll be more ubiquitous with our training and make sure essentially all of our dealers are equipped to sell them,” Lisa Drake told Automotive News.
Drake is Ford’s Vice President of EV programs and energy supply chain. Based on Drake’s interview, Ford wants to expand its EV sales to more dealers. The legacy automaker has reportedly decided to lift restrictions on dealers allowed to sell its EVs.
Recently, Ford held meetings with dealers across the United States. The legacy automaker toured nationwide and had 11 meetings with about 1,000 dealers to discuss its EV certification program. Dealers were asked to temporarily pause their EV investments in the program until mid-June.
Ford is reportedly planning to open EV sales to all its US-based dealers and change the financial requirement for selling EVs.
In 2022, Ford Motor Company limited the number of dealers allowed to sell its electric vehicles by launching an EV certification program. Dealers who wanted to be EV-certified by Ford were required to invest between $500,000 and $1.2 million in training and EV chargers. They were required to install at least two high-powered DC fast chargers and a Level 2 charging station. One of the DC fast charging stalls had to be open for public use.
Dealers have criticized Ford’s EV certification program. Some dealer associations argued that Ford’s restrictions on EV sales were not legal, resulting in a few lawsuits. By 2023, hundreds of dealers had opted out of Ford’s Model e program and decided not to avail themselves of its EV certification.
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