Ford Kills Key EV Program

Ford is discontinuing a controversial program that required dealers to invest between $500,000 and $1 million to sell electric vehicles (EVs).

First introduced in September 2022, the program mandated significant investment for dealers to become "EV Certified." The investment covered the cost of DC fast-chargers and staff training. However, Ford's initial optimistic EV sales forecasts did not materialize as expected. The growth in the EV market has slowed since 2022, with demand not meeting the projections.

This decision means all Ford dealers can now sell EVs without needing certification. This change aims to increase Ford's EV sales by making the Mach-E and F-150 Lightning accessible to the entire dealership network.

According to Business Insider, Dealer dissatisfaction with the high costs of the certification program was evident early on, with several dealer associations filing lawsuits against Ford. An Illinois board ruled in favor of dealers, stating that the program violated state laws. By December of last year, more than half of Ford's nearly 3,000 US dealers had opted out of the EV investment requirements, indicating the program's failure.

Although Ford dealers will still need to make some investments to support EV sales, they will no longer be required to meet the minimum $500,000 investment previously mandated. This adjustment is expected to ease the financial burden on dealers and potentially boost Ford's EV sales by making them more widely available.

This article was co-written using AI and was then heavily edited and optimized by our editorial team.

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