Toronto, Ontario — It appears that most Canadian Ford dealers have finally gotten on board with the OEM’s Model e electric vehicle certification, following several months of negotiations surrounding this pricy piece of accreditation.
Ford Canada says that 80 percent of its 440 Canadian dealers have now signed up for the certification, which has been made a requirement for dealers in order to be able to continue to sell Ford EVs.
Dealers in smaller markets and rural areas took issue with the hefty price tag attached to Ford’s two-tiered EV certification, as many felt that the relatively small population of EVs they get in for repairs makes it hard to justify the $1.3 million price to become Model e Certified Elite, or even the baseline price of $560,000 for a smaller allotment of vehicles, for that matter.
Controversy surrounding the new mandate from Ford caused the initial deadline of Dec. 16, 2022 to be pushed ahead to Feb. 24, and according to reporting from Automotive News Canada, an undisclosed number of dealers allegedly retained a lawyer amid tense negotiations with their OEM.
Ford says “338 dealers have enrolled in the voluntary Model e program during its initial enrollment window,” with 226 now signed on as full elite level certificate-holders.
The automaker says the remaining 102 dealers “may enroll in subsequent enrollment periods.” Ford has said the next chance to enroll in the Model e certified program will be in 2027.
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