Photo: Ford
Making EVs is far from being as straightforward as combustion-engined cars. In fact, even traditional vehicles are showing that any lack of components can harm production. When it comes to electric cars, they need new batteries, and they are not as readily available as it may sound. Ford decided to follow a Volkswagen strategy and will not allow lessees to buy their EVs at the end of the contract.
In Volkswagen’s case, the company decided it would lease used EVs more than once to allow them to be used multiple times while they remained on the German automaker’s property. When their battery packs are no longer suitable for automotive use, Volkswagen will give them a second life as stationary energy storage systems and eventually recycle them.
That is the same idea Ford is now following, with some minor differences. By refusing to sell the used EVs, the American carmaker also wants to retain ownership of their battery packs. We have no idea if it will lease the used vehicles as Volkswagen will. What Automotive News confirmed is that the lessees will be given the option to lease new electric cars.
Automotive News wrote that the new rule applies to leasing contracts from June 15 and later, and in 38 states. The contracts will be updated in the other 12 states until the end of the year. We suspect they still do not have a high sales volume for electric cars, which allows Ford to worry about them a bit later.
Besides the new policy to hold the battery packs, Ford also made a deal with Redwood Materials to recycle these cells and have enough raw materials for the 600,000 EVs it intends to sell by 2023 and the 2 million units by 2026.
Evidently, the EVs it sells nowadays will not be enough to reach these sales volumes. Ford is just trying to ensure it will have enough cells many years from now. That is why it also signed a deal with Lake Resources to buy the lithium this mining company produces in Argentina. Now it only has to worry about nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper…
That is the same idea Ford is now following, with some minor differences. By refusing to sell the used EVs, the American carmaker also wants to retain ownership of their battery packs. We have no idea if it will lease the used vehicles as Volkswagen will. What Automotive News confirmed is that the lessees will be given the option to lease new electric cars.
Automotive News wrote that the new rule applies to leasing contracts from June 15 and later, and in 38 states. The contracts will be updated in the other 12 states until the end of the year. We suspect they still do not have a high sales volume for electric cars, which allows Ford to worry about them a bit later.
Besides the new policy to hold the battery packs, Ford also made a deal with Redwood Materials to recycle these cells and have enough raw materials for the 600,000 EVs it intends to sell by 2023 and the 2 million units by 2026.
Evidently, the EVs it sells nowadays will not be enough to reach these sales volumes. Ford is just trying to ensure it will have enough cells many years from now. That is why it also signed a deal with Lake Resources to buy the lithium this mining company produces in Argentina. Now it only has to worry about nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper…
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