Ford wants EV buyers to feel confident about battery charging. Ford Motor Company CES and President Jim Farley announced the Fhord Power Promise, a program to give buyers peace of mind about charging electric vehicles at home and on the road. The gist of the new program is this: When you buy or lease a Ford Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, or E-Transit, Ford will give you a free home charger and pay for a standard installation.
Why Ford is giving away chargers and paying for installation
Farley announced the Ford Power Promise in a blog post. He began by recounting emotionally pleasing episodes of refueling cars at full-service gas stations with friendly windshield-washing and tire-pressure-checking attendants. He cites such stations’ convenience, confidence, and expert service, which he relegates to the good old days. The reality today, he cites, is the guy or gal behind plexiglass and your choice of lottery tickets and energy drinks.
So, even though Farley implies that full-service stations are extinct, he acknowledges the nostalgic tug and believes that owners want the same positive vibe around refueling EVs. Concerns about range and the weak charging infrastructure don’t inspire confidence.
Ford focused on public charging stations and provided an adapter for Tesla’s Superchargers, which helped, but now Farley states studies that claim almost 90% of car shoppers would be more inclined to buy an EV if they could charge at home. Home charging is cheaper, but buyers are still concerned about how it works and where and how to buy and install a home charger. Therefore, the Ford Power Promise.
What Ford’s Power Promise promises
The program includes a commitment to continue improving access to public charging networks, inspiring confidence in EV batteries with an eight-year, 100,000-mile battery warranty, and finding additional ways to help people feel as good about charging EVs as the mythical gas car driver did about filling up at a friendly gas station.
The key to the promise, however, is simple. When you buy or lease a Ford EV, Ford will provide a charger, find and schedule someone to install it and pay for it. The only catch is that Ford will pay for a standard install, which is not defined. My guess is it depends on the level of existing electrical service, the distance from your home’s electrical service entry point, and the location where you want the box installed. It sounds like a good deal to me.
When I asked for quotes two years ago for a home charging install at our home, I was told it was non-standard because of the distance, which meant instead of roughly $1,000, the installation charge would cost about $2,000. Most likely, if that’s the way Ford determines standard or non-standard installations, Ford would pay a significant part of the installation charge, and you’d pay the rest.
If your utility company had a rebate program and you could also take advantage of the 30% federal income tax credit, you still might get the whole setup for free, although you’d need to fill out one or two extra forms.
