Ford is lowering the barrier for dealers to sell its electric vehicles (EVs), aiming to involve more dealerships in its EV sales strategy.
Lisa Drake, Ford’s Vice President of EV programs and energy supply chain, stated, “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,” in an interview with Automotive News.
Based on Drake’s comments, Ford intends to broaden its EV sales reach by removing restrictions on dealers allowed to sell its EVs. The company recently conducted meetings with dealers nationwide, discussing its EV certification program with approximately 1,000 dealers and asking them to pause their EV investments in the program until mid-June.
Ford plans to open EV sales to all its U.S.-based dealers and revise the financial requirements for selling EVs. In 2022, Ford limited the number of dealers permitted to sell its electric vehicles through an EV certification program, which required investments between $500,000 and $1.2 million in training and EV chargers. Dealers had to install at least two high-powered DC fast chargers and a Level 2 charging station, with one DC fast charging stall open for public use.
The EV certification program faced criticism from dealers, with some dealer associations questioning its legality, leading to a few lawsuits. By 2023, hundreds of dealers had opted out of Ford’s Model e program and chose not to pursue EV certification.
