Ford CEO Jim Farley Targets 19 Million Electric Vehicle Buyers

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The Ford Motor Company introduced a new program today called Ford Power Promise, aimed at attracting an estimated 19 million people in the US who are interested in buying an electric vehicle. That’s a pretty tall order, but Ford CEO Jim Farley is confident that his company has found the key to unlocking a new torrent of EV-curious drivers who just need one little bit of encouragement to hoist them over the top.

Bringing The Gasmobile Experience To The Electric Vehicle Driver

The Ford Power Promise cuts right to the heart of a broad swath of consumer dissatisfaction with customer relations across a broad swath of consumer products and services. It can be an exercise in frustration to reach an actual person who can answer questions and who seems to genuinely want to help you. That’s especially frustrating when the consumer product represents a major investment in new technology, like an electric vehicle for example.

In an article posted online today, Farley notes that gasmobiles were once new technology, too. However, instead of pulling up to a public filling station with no living person in sight, drivers got their gas from an actual human being.

“In the early days of the personal auto, Americans wanted and needed the convenience, peace of mind and expert service of full-service filling stations,” Farley explains.

“After taking two long all-electric road trips — one through the Western U.S. and the other across Europe — I’m convinced that the new generation of electric vehicle owners and would-be owners are also looking for convenience, peace of mind and expert service,” Farley adds.

Putting The Focus On Home Electric Vehicle Charging

Self service has replaced pump jockeys in most US states, but filling stations are still populated by human attendants and varying degrees of support services, from convenience stores and restrooms to full mechanic-staffed garages.

That type of reassurance is not necessarily available at public EV charging stations. The idea of co-locating EV chargers at existing gas stations is good as far as it goes, but if something goes awry there’s no guarantee that anyone staffing the facility has the know-how to lend a hand with a recalcitrant EV charger.

With that in mind, the Ford Power Promise program refocuses attention on home EV charging.

“Nearly 90% of shoppers say they would be more likely to buy an electric vehicle if they knew they could charge at home,” Farley observes, but almost half of potential electric vehicle shoppers surveyed don’t know the most basic things about home EV charging, such as where to buy an EV charging station, or how to find someone to install it.

A Home EV Charging Station In Every Garage

Those numbers weren’t just pulled from a hat. Ford commissioned a report on consumer preferences from the market research firm Mercury Analytics, based on more than 2,000 responses to a survey conducted in September. The survey supports the strategy of making home EV charging as easy and reassuring as filling up with gas at your local gas station.

“It’s simple,” Farley writes. “Buy or lease a retail Ford Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning or E-Transit and take a complimentary home charger with you or have it delivered, and when you’re ready, an expert comes out to install it at no charge for a standard install.”

Non-standard installations would involve some costs, so potential buyers should be prepared to get an estimate before committing to a purchase. Fleet managers should also be aware of non-standard costs, though Farley notes that the Ford Power Promise provides a cash incentive for commercial fleets.

What About The Public Charging Stations?

Public EV charging stations are still a missing piece of the reassurance puzzle, though I’ll venture that issue is not on the radar of potential electric vehicle drivers who plan to keep using a gasmobile for long distance trips. Still, Farley notes that Ford is expanding its electric vehicle support staff to make it easier to connect with a real person, whether charging up at home or on the road.

Ford also aims to shore up customer reassurance about public EV charging with its BlueOval Charge Network service and Connected Navigation feature. The combined system enables long distance drivers to incorporate electric vehicle charging stations into their route planning, including major charging networks under the Electrify America and Tesla Supercharger umbrellas, among others.

To round out the convenience, drivers can use their FordPass account to plug in and charge up without having to go through extra payment steps or deal with connectivity issues.

More Reasons To Buy An Electric Vehicle

Farley did not mention another new Ford program relevant to home EV charging, so let’s give it a mention here. The new ChargeScape program is a partnership with BMW and Honda, enabling electric vehicle owners to coordinate their home EV charging schedule with the availability of low cost renewable energy on the grid. The general idea is to push down the total lifespan cost of owning an electric vehicle (including plug-in hybrids) by helping drivers access the lowest available utility rates.

Farley also did not coat-tail any mention about the disaster resilience utility of electric vehicles in the Ford Power Promise pitch, which was a wise decision. Promoting a commercial venture on the heels of Hurricane Helene’s mind-bending path through the Southeast would have been crass, if not downright cruel.

Still, it’s worth mentioning that Ford has already laid the groundwork for attracting potential electric vehicle buyers with disaster response capability, particularly in regards to the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. With reversible charging, an electric vehicle can serve as a mobile generator on wheels in case the power goes out, eliminating the need for noisy, polluting gas generators.

Ford’s ongoing partnership with the leading rooftop solar installer Sunrun is also beginning to bear fruit. The partnership makes it easier for an electric vehicle buyer to take advantage of solar energy and energy storage. With a home EV charging station and rooftop solar panels, the electric vehicle owner can charge up even when the grid goes down.

Another related angle is the virtual power plant movement, in which utilities provide electric vehicle owners with a financial carrot/stick motivation for charging up their batteries during off-peak hours. That helps to relieve daily strain on the grid during peak demand periods. In the latest twist, utilities are also beginning to encourage households with energy storage capacity to contribute their stored kilowatts back to the grid, to help reduce the risk of brownouts or blackouts.

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Photo (cropped): Easy, convenient home EV charging takes center stage as Ford launches new “Ford Power Promise” to attract potential electric vehicle buyers (courtesy of Ford Motor Company).