(The Verge) For customers still unsure whether they’re ready to make the switch to an all-electric vehicle, Ford is sweetening the pot.
Today, the company launched a new initiative called the “Ford Power Promise,” in which it will provide a suite of benefits to customers who buy or lease a new EV. And chief among them is a complimentary home charger for all new customers, as well as the costs of standard installation.
The charger that’s being offered is the company’s Ford Charge Station Pro, a $1,310 Level 2 charger that comes with a standard CCS1 connector. Ford declined to put a monetary value on the installation but said it would cover costs up to 60 amps of power and 80 feet of wire run. Customers who need to upgrade their home electrical panel before the installation, however, will need to cover those costs themselves.
Ford’s free charger and installation offer starts October 1st and extends through the end of the year. It will only be available to customers who buy or lease a new EV during that time period. For customers who buy or lease a new EV but already have a home charger installed, Ford will provide them with the cash equivalent of $2,000.
“We’re the only ones doing this,” said Becca Anderson, senior director of customer experience at Ford’s Model e division. “This means less stress and more convenience for our customers, making their home charging set-up up easy.”
Like most automakers, Ford is struggling to get more customers to consider switching to electric. Even though the company is the number two seller of EVs in the US, behind Tesla, and its EV sales continue to grow, the company is still confronting a lot of headwinds in the form of myths and misconceptions about EV ownership.
“We have a lot of customers open to electric,” said Martin Delonis, senior manager of strategy at Ford Model e, “but they’re sitting on the fence.”
