Ford recently announced that new owners of their upcoming electric car, the Mustang Mach E, will be given 250 kWh of complementarity charging at Electrify America charging stations.
Volkswagen’s Electrify America charging network continues to grow and will become one of the largest in North America. Electrify America’s over 400 charging stations are part of Ford’s upcoming FordPass Charging Network which incorporates several charging networks under one umbrella and currently totals over 13,500 charging stations.
Ford will be giving owners charging credits through the FordPass system for Electrify America stations.
Ford states that the 250 kWh of charge will provide “more than three fill-ups” for their extended-range battery models, and “more than five fill-ups” for their standard-range models. With an approximate 10-80% charge taking 45 minutes, Ford states that the extended-range Mach E will fill up 61 miles in just 10 minutes.
While the 250 kWh of charge is obviously not as much as the free unlimited Supercharging that they used to give with the Model S/X, the Mach E is a cheaper car than either of those were and people are starting to be more accepting of electric cars along with having more charging options than back then. Ford is using the complementary charging as a nudge to owners that shows them all the charging stations available to them if they want to go on long trips.
Matt Stover, Ford director of charging, energy services and business development, stated:
“One of the main opportunities we have is educating our potential customers about road trip readiness. The 250 kilowatt-hours of complimentary charging we’re offering through FordPass Rewards and the FordPass Charging Network with Electrify America will give our Mustang Mach-E customers confidence in their ability to plan trips, no matter their destination.”
Along with the complimentary charging, owners will also receive two years of complementary FordPass Charging Network access which still functions in a pay-as-you-go fashion with its charging networks, but owners will not have to pay the subscription fee for the service.
Lastly, Ford acknowledged that the majority of vehicle charging happens at home, and so, has released their Ford Connected Charge Station wall box which now starts at $799. The charger can be purchased ahead of the Mach E or it can be purchased along with the Mach E and financed together. To make installation as quick and easy as possible, Ford will team up with Amazon Home Services to do the installation for those who want it.
Overall it seems like Ford is doing a good job in making the transition towards electric cars as painless as possible. EVs are still not the prominent choice, so of course, there is still some apprehension towards moving forward with buying one. While it would have been nice to see maybe even a larger amount of free miles, free miles are free miles, and it should give a new owner a better understanding of the scope of some of these charging networks and possibilities they bring for long travel.
What do you guys think? Let us know down in the comments below.
