Ford Dealership Mustang Mach E test shows they are not ready, full of Tesla and EV misinformation

A test of 15 Ford dealerships about their new Mustang Mach E electric car shows that they are not ready to sell the new electric crossover, and they still have a problem with electric vehicle misinformation.

In the US, a study found that the electric vehicle shopping experience at car dealers is quite poor and a problem for EV adoption.

Another study determined that electric car adoption is being slowed down by “dismissive and deceptive car dealerships.”

It’s going to be an issue for any automaker who relies on a third-party dealership and is looking to get into electric vehicles in a serious way.

Ford is planning to get into electric vehicles starting with the Mustang Mach E, which was unveiled last month.

Now, three weeks after the unveiling, EV Bite decided to call up Ford dealerships to see what they are saying about the Mach E.

They weren’t impressed:

The calls took place three weeks after the unveiling, giving Ford ample time to get their ducks in a row. Of the 15 dealerships called, a single sales rep was informed enough to actually hold a conversation. Each initial rep transferred us to someone who was ‘more informed.’ In some cases, the ‘more informed’ rep transferred us for a second time or even a third. It was transfer limbo until some poor, relatively uninformed fella decided to take a crack at giving us the time of day. In other calls, the ‘more informed’ staff member was not available, and as such, they couldn’t even attempt to answer any of our questions.

Here’s a video with excerpts of some of those 15 calls:

While some tried their best to help with very little information at hand, most of them seemed uninterested, and some went as far as sharing some misinformation.

For example, one dealer said that the Mach E wouldn’t be able to charge at home, which is not true, since we already reported on the more than decent home charger that will come with the car.

When trying to sell the Mach E, another dealer even said that Tesla vehicles are better but also more expensive at $100,000, even though they start at $40,000.

Electrek’s Take

I am not completely on board with how these calls were conducted and edited, but there definitely were some comments by dealer employees that were inexcusable, and it clearly shows that they are not yet ready for the Mach-E.

To be fair, we are still months away from the first deliveries of the Mach-E, but they should still be more informed.

At the end of the day, dealers just sell and service cars. They want to do that with vehicles already on their lots.

It means that if Ford wants its dealers to move the Mustang Mach-E, it needs to have a lot of them onsite.

Hopefully, that’s the plan, but in the meantime, it’s clear why Tesla decided to own their own store and control the entire buying experience.