Ford will give EV buyers free home chargers, in a bold move to catch up with Tesla
.jpg)
If you can a-Ford it… Ford is balling out with pricey incentives to fuel electric-car sales. Yesterday the OG automaker said it would give out free home chargers to folks who buy or lease its EVs. Ford will also pay for the installation of the Level 2 chargers in customers’ garages and driveways. It’s a generous move as getting an EV charger installed at home can cost thousands of $$.
Free of charge: The offer, which runs from today through the end of the year, is good for any purchase or lease of a Ford F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E, or E-Transit van.
Going for Tesla’s crown… Ford is America’s No. 2 EV seller after Tesla, but it has a lot of road to cover before catching up. While Tesla controls over half of the US’s EV market share, Ford has about 8%. The free-charger incentive could be a play to catch up faster, as many car shoppers continue to steer clear of EVs. GM, Ford, and even Tesla have put billions in EV investments on ice as electric growth cools. In July, Tesla reported that its car deliveries fell for a second straight quarter (FYI: it’s set to share fresh #s tomorrow).
One key blocker to EV adoption is range anxiety (the fear you’ll run out of juice while driving). Ford thinks its charging incentive could ignite demand.
“Nearly 90% of shoppers say they would be more likely to buy an electric vehicle if they knew they could charge at home,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said.
Lay the road first… US automakers have said in recent years that they’d spend billions on EV production, but they’ve scaled that way back as growth slows. Now, instead of focusing on churning out EVs, Ford is trying to lay the charging infrastructure that will make consumers feel comfy enough to switch over. A lot of prospective buyers are on the EV sidelines because they don’t want to spend “extra” to get a home charger installed, and Ford’s incentive could ease the financial (and mental) burden.