As it turns out, Ford dealers are going to have to pay up if they want to be a part of the company’s electric future. The Blue Oval confirmed with us that some dealers may be paying up to $1.2 million if they would like to sell EVs after 2027. However, it won’t be the same price for everyone. Oh, and no-haggle pricing is on the way, too!
Basically, as Ford explained it to us, there are two levels and two entry points (2024 and 2027) dealerships can choose from if they want to become a “Model e dealer.”
The first is “Certified.” That means dealers will focus on ownership and charging with no inventory and can only order vehicles. Most of what they sell will be built to order sales. They will still maintain repair and maintenance capabilities. Each “Certified” dealer will also have one public DC fast charger that’ll be available on the Blue Oval Charge Network. They also won’t be featured on Ford’s Model e page online. To get “Certified” status, a dealer has to fork up around $500,000 up front. About 90 percent of that will cover the charging infrastructure, according to Ford.
“Certified Elite” is where things really start getting going. At that point, dealers are meant to focus on ownership, charging and sales with stock and demo vehicles on site, according to Ford. Dealers who get this status will also be featured on the Ford website. Like “Certified”, “Certified Elite” dealers will also work on repair and maintenance. These dealers will also have two DC fast chargers on site rather than one. Both levels dealers will also have no-haggle pricing. All in all, the investment to get this certification is a lot more pricey. Ford estimates it’ll cost between $1 and $1.2 million. That’ll cover 90 percent of the charging infrastructure needed.
“It is ultimately up to our dealers to decide if they want to participate in Model e, as they can also choose to specialize in Blue and Ford Pro,” a Ford spokesperson told Jalopnik. “As with all our standards, there will be controls in place to ensure standards are adhered to.”
So, what does this all mean? Basically, if a Ford dealer wants to sell EVs from January 1st, 2024 onward, they better get certified. If they don’t get it done at that point they’ll have to wait to enroll in 2027. Ford is obviously a company that is pushing EVs hard (sans new Mustang), so dealers who don’t participate may be looking at some real issues down the road.