Ford Cancels Model E Program, Letting All US Dealers Sell EVs

[Maquis]

EV competency needs to be minimum 5 techs certified for EV's. No excuse to wait a week cuz their ONE tech was on vacation. Sounds like the dealers control Ford, wonder what sort of back door deals where done to nix the program.

Some dealers don’t have 5 techs in total.

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[Monkey]

maybe I misunderstand but isn't this a good decision, more dealers to choose from and go to for repairs

Yeah, this is better. At least that’s my interpretation after reading more into it. Having a separate program or dealership tier doesn’t make sense. This also didn’t work for GM trying to make an exclusive program for their EV sales. Ford is scrapping this and is going to increase EV specific training for both sales and service staff to benefit all dealerships. Ford still seems committed to installing fast chargers at dealership locations and that’s probably not going to be a decision made by individual dealerships and will be funded/ installed/ maintained by Ford either at the dealership location or adjacent.

Ford is also committed to their online build and buy system they’re now doing and they want to do it with all their vehicles, not just EV.

 

[davehu]

Yeah, this is better. At least that’s my interpretation after reading more into it. Having a separate program or dealership tier doesn’t make sense. This also didn’t work for GM trying to make an exclusive program for their EV sales. Ford is scrapping this and is going to increase EV specific training for both sales and service staff to benefit all dealerships. Ford still seems committed to installing fast chargers at dealership locations and that’s probably not going to be a decision made by individual dealerships and will be funded/ installed/ maintained by Ford either at the dealership location or adjacent.

Ford is also committed to their online build and buy system they’re now doing and they want to do it with all their vehicles, not just EV.

I agree, this is better. Dealers should be deciding on their EV commitment based on their customer base. But...note that Ford isn't requiring dealers to have DCFC's, only level 2.

 

[Joe.....Montana]

Ford dealers who ship nationwide that embrace the Ford EV products will see the business.

KIA dealers are toasting this decision I bet.

The Lightning was our first EV (purchased March '24). Since purchasing the Lightning I have been shopping all sorts of EV's (previously only took a deep dive into researching Tesla's). The "American" car companies shouldn't be worried about China, they should be worried about Kia and Hyundai.

 

[Hammick]

I love our Lighting but this bad news keeps raining down. None of us can sell or trade our trucks without taking a bath. I could see Ford cancel the T3 Lighting.

If we weren't powering our house daily with our Lighting I probably would have dumped it months ago and cut our losses.

I'm more disappointed about the supercharger meltdown than the cancellation of the dealership rules.

 

[Newton]

EVs are just cars with an electric motor. I don't get why companies feel the need to reinvent everything when they produce an EV. "Oh, now we get to reimagine the car!" "Oh now we get to reimagine the sales model!" Just do what you have been doing successfully - but with electric. They didn't reimagine the car when they went lead free. EVs are the first small step to a world that possibly will be compatible with human life. We don't need nirvana, we just need to frigigng act! 12 months in a row the world has set record (for human existance) temperatures.

 

[BabyDoc1012]

EVs are just cars with an electric motor. I don't get why companies feel the need to reinvent everything when they produce an EV. "Oh, now we get to reimagine the car!" "Oh now we get to reimagine the sales model!" Just do what you have been doing successfully - but with electric. They didn't reimagine the car when they went lead free.

That is the biggest problem with the EV transition. Because of mainstream media, social media, and all the political hype around EVs everyone seems to forget that the battery is just another type of powertrain; gas, diesel, hybrid, and battery. I love my lightning but if I am being honest I think the better first truck would have been a ranger or maverick. A truck that the typical owner doesn’t do that much towing with and if they do tow it’s not very far. Then when batteries improve and the range improves and the charging network is improved and built for full size trucks towing to pull through like a gas pump, then release the full size truck and I believe the acceptance would have been much greater than it is now.

 

[meow]

While the voluntary Model e Program is being discontinued, the experiences that were part of the Program have had a highly beneficial impact on customer satisfaction.

Citation needed, because if there has been it’s certainly not had a “highly beneficial impact“ on my “customer satisfaction.”

 

[Danface]

I think opening the market to all dealerships will help the ones in places where folks want to buy EV's because the infrastructure is (or percieved to be) available and places where EV's have less support, dealerships will sell less EV's. If competition is way then open the door forall to compete and let the market forces do their thing (good or bad).

I don't worry about my truck becoming a "betamax tape player" because I think Ford is "too big to fail". Do I worry if I need service and there's no one around to fix the truck, "yes" for now anyway BUT I live in an area where that is less likely to be the case for now and even more so in the future.

 

[Bills R Electric]

I think Ford was relying on their strong brands (Mustang and F150) to get into the EV space but it may really take a true company spinoff to break this legacy dealership model.

It will take more than that.

Ford has relied on the dealership model for decades and decades.
(FYI must people don't realize dealers buy cars from Ford, hold them in inventory, and they resell them to consumers. When Ford sells a car, it is selling to the independent dealers aka Ford Dealers).

Ford sold 2 million vehicles last year to dealers. Ford Motor gross profit for the twelve months ending March 31, 2024 was $25 Billion. With a B. Ford won't blow up the dealership model this year, or next year. It is too profitable.

A separate EV brand (BlueOval?) might be needed, but IMO the Ford dealership model makes too much money for Ford to just kill it tomorrow.

 

[carys98]

That is the biggest problem with the EV transition. Because of mainstream media, social media, and all the political hype around EVs everyone seems to forget that the battery is just another type of powertrain; gas, diesel, hybrid, and battery. I love my lightning but if I am being honest I think the better first truck would have been a ranger or maverick. A truck that the typical owner doesn’t do that much towing with and if they do tow it’s not very far. Then when batteries improve and the range improves and the charging network is improved and built for full size trucks towing to pull through like a gas pump, then release the full size truck and I believe the acceptance would have been much greater than it is now.

Ranger would have also given them a Bronco EV, which is my dream vehicle.

 

[BabyDoc1012]

Ranger would have also given them a Bronco EV, which is my dream vehicle.

An EV bronco would be awesome. I really think the smaller pickup would have been a better fit. And it would have been similar size to the Rivian. But since we got the lightning, I am hoping the 3 row SUV coming is an expedition ev. If it is my wife will be first in line. She likes the idea of EV since getting our lightning but she loves the space and size of the expedition.

 

[tls]

• • Installing two Level 2 chargers & three NEMA plugs

While the voluntary Model e Program is being discontinued, the experiences that were part of the Program have had a highly beneficial impact on customer satisfaction. Ford recommends that Dealers continue to provide customers with these elevated experiences.​

If I were one of the dealers who had already made the investment for DC chargers, special tools, additional training etc. I would sure be angry right now. I wonder if Ford is doing anything to take care of them.

If they aren't, from the customer point of view it is hard to see how effectively penalizing the good dealers is going to work out well.

With only Level 2 chargers on site, there are problems that can't even easily be diagnosed. Many Tesla service centers that aren't colocated with Superchargers have hidden, low-amperage Superchargers inside the shop for exactly this reason.

 

[Pjlightning]

I love my lightning but if I am being honest I think the better first truck would have been a ranger or maverick. A truck that the typical owner doesn’t do that much towing with and if they do tow it’s not very far. Then when batteries improve and the range improves and the charging network is improved and built for full size trucks towing to pull through like a gas pump, then release the full size truck and I believe the acceptance would have been much greater than it is now.

I may be the exception, but I absolutely LOVE towing with my Lightning. Effortlessly , silently pulling a boat up steep grades today from one end of Connecticut to the other, my brother who borrowed my Lightning because his ICE F150’s engine light came on when towing the other day, and he’s now convinced this thing is the ultimate towing beast!

of course he wasn’t going cross country or anything, but all day in the truck starting at 100%, he returned it to me an hour ago with 30% left. No range anxiety…..and impressed as all get-out !

and fitting 3 kids along for the ride would not have been much fun in a Ranger or Rivian

 

[BabyDoc1012]

I may be the exception, but I absolutely LOVE towing with my Lightning. Effortlessly , silently pulling a boat up steep grades today from one end of Connecticut to the other, my brother who borrowed my Lightning because his ICE F150’s engine light came on when towing the other day, and he’s now convinced this thing is the ultimate towing beast!

of course he wasn’t going cross country or anything, but all day in the truck starting at 100%, he returned it to me an hour ago with 30% left. No range anxiety…..and impressed as all get-out !

I wasn’t saying the lightning doesn’t tow, or doesn’t tow well. It does all the truck things pretty well. But the range is an issue, and there are so many complaints about “how it doesn’t do truck things”. Which is ridiculous because if half of those saying that would get on this forum they would be proven wrong by some many of us on here. I’m considering getting a boat and towing it with mine. But it wouldn’t be a great testament because my local boat ramp is only a mile away LOL.

It also doesn’t help you have the YouTube channels like hoovies garage doing towing tests and then wildly complaining about how it’s so awful to tow with and can’t do truck stuff. Seriously the guy did it with the lightning, then sold the lightning because “it was so bad”, sold it, then went a bought a cyber truck and did a similar test with “similar” results and is selling it now.

But I just think a midsize truck or maverick would have been a better first entry into the market. But then again there will always be the haters out there just because it’s different and not what grandpa drove. LOL

What are you seeing for kWh/mile are you seeing towing the boat?