Warming Up to "Power Promise" and Stanning for Carlos Tavares

Power to the People

When Ford announced its “Power Promise” program to provide new Ford EV buyers with home installation of a charger (and the charger itself), I didn’t give it a ton of thought. It’s not the first time an automaker offered charging equipment and either a credit for a home install or the home install itself, with the purchase or lease of a new EV. Ford is even using Qmerit, which is the company everyone uses.

However, I’m warming up to it as time goes on. First off, the included EVSE as part of the program is Ford’s best one they offer; the 80-amp unit. That means you can charge a Ford Lightning at the full 19.2 kW — assuming your home electrical can handle it — and in the future, you can add on the equipment for vehicle-to-home support.

Ford states it only covers a “standard installation,” so if you need a new panel you’re probably going to have to pay at least some amount out of pocket, but still it’s a pretty solid value.

But the real reason why I’m warming up to it is something that I hadn’t really thought about until recently. Ford is marketing the program pretty heavily on its television advertising. The obvious benefit here is for people who might be on the fence and worried about home charging costs knowing they don’t have to worry about it. That gets people in the door and people buying.

It also tells people about this program so that when they walk into a dealership they can ask the dealership about it. Other automaker programs have the incentive there, but the burden lies with the dealership to tell the customer about it and help them through whatever process there is. As we all know, dealerships can be hit or miss when it comes to… well anything. This way the customer is informed when they walk in the door and forces the dealership to know what’s going on.

EV education is extremely important in getting people to switch, and dealerships are notoriously bad at EVs. While this doesn’t necessarily improve the customer’s education on the car they are buying, knowing about Power Promise before walking in the door empowers the customer to hold the dealership’s feet to the fire and makes sure that the dealership helps the customer make their first EV ownership experience a better one.

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Carlos Tavares Stan Account

With Carlos Travares gone from Stellantis, stories are starting to come out about his time at the helm. A recent story from the excellent Mike Wayland at CNBC is a damning indictment of everything Tavares was doing wrong and how he managed to piss off nearly everyone along the way.

SEE ALSO: Stellantis and Nissan and Hyprocrites, Oh My! 

That’s obviously bad, and not how you should probably run an automaker. Also, not understanding the U.S. market is not a good idea for running an automaker that relies on the United States to make money. I’m not defending any of that.

But as a believer that eventually electrification is going to be the way of the world, I find it interesting that Tavares was the only one who could see that and was pushing towards that goal.

Tavares was the one who killed the Hemi V-8, which was a very unpopular opinion.

That explains the extremely weird video launching the Charger Daytona that Tim Kuniskis — now back at Ram Trucks — and why it seemed almost mad that the V8 was going away.

Micromanaging and stuff aside, Stellantis DOES need to be greener. This year is again going to be the hottest year on record. It was nearly 60 degrees outside when I went to Ford’s holiday party on Monday. Stuffing a Hellcat in everything isn’t the way to fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

What I will say is that while Tavares might not have been the right leader, the push for electrification is the right choice. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and EREVs are paths to full BEVs that automakers can — and should — take, but we should all be working towards the goal of zero tailpipe emissions regardless of what the incoming Trump administration has to say about it.

I will laugh, though, if the Hellcat returns and they find some way to put it in the Charger. Because it has to happen now, right?

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