Where to charge? Often wondered

twscrap said:

A dealership can exclude anyone they want, period. A Ford Dealership refused to let us charge our FFE even though we couldn't make it home without a charge. Even though their EVSEs were out front, they require a service appointment to be able to use them. Pretty much told us to screw off. Needless to say, I don't have nice things to say about that particular dealership.

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Yes and no as to a Ford dealer excluding Ford products from charging. Yes, a Ford dealer isn't owned by FoMoCo and the dealer can decide what he or she wants to do. BUT and that's a big BUT, the dealer may be in violation of the franchise agreement when Ford products are excluded from charging. This is because, in order to be certified as an FFE or Energi dealer, the dealer had to agree to put a charging station in the customer area. That sounds a lot as if the dealer was agreeing to allow Ford owners the ability (and not just the access) to charge. If this denial of charging were to happen to me (and it probably never will), I would be on the phone to Ford corporate in 10 seconds. And I would certainly ask to speak with the owner, not the service manager and not the general manager.

If a dealer can't support Ford EV owners, knowing full well that EVs sometimes have limited fueling options, then Ford corporate needs to know there is a rogue dealer out there. Corporate has many ways of pressuring a dealer to conform. "Gee, you want THREE Shelby Mustangs next month. I show here you have an allotment of three for the entire year. On a completely different subject, too bad about the little run-in you had with the FFE owner last month..."

I had my FFE for almost two years. I've used several dealerships. The most inconvenient was in fact a ford dealership. Not the dealer that I purchased from. There an employee was parked at the charger charging his company owned Ford Fashion. After he was told by the CFO of the dealership he reluctantly moved the vehicle. I was then able to leave my vehicle there for three hours to charge. Ford Store San Leandro, CA

Also charged at a local Toyota dealership (Livermore) who was very happy to allow me to use there charger but I did get a little ribbing on how I should have purchased a Toyota. Also nearby is a Nissan dealership who has four charge stations available 24 hours to anyone who wishes to use them. Tracy, CA.

I agree with the general consensuses use the dealerships in emergency's only. Lets not wear out our welcome. LOL