We must give EV owners the most rewarding customer experience possible!

Our commitment to electric vehicles underpins our belief that freedom of movement goes hand-in-hand with looking after the planet.

We’re already well on the way. Our electric Mustang Mach-E, Explorer, E‑Tourneo Courier and F‑150 Lightning are revealed or on the road.

Electric versions of Puma – our top-selling car in Europe – and a new sports crossover are also on the way.

But my vision is for more than just the delivery of connected electric vehicles (EVs). It also encompasses an infrastructure and ecosystem to give Ford EV owners the most engaging, most convenient and most rewarding customer experience possible.

A substantial part of the ecosystem around EVs is the growing importance of energy management and sustainability. By leveraging our expertise in vehicle technology and connectivity, Ford is well-positioned to offer a range of smart energy services that go beyond manufacturing and selling vehicles.

Relying on strong partnerships, our strategy clearly focuses on supporting our customers in the energy area, making it easy for them to understand how, when and where they can charge their car in the most economical way. By empowering our customers with the right tools, we can help them to become active participants in the energy ecosystem, and fully exploit the benefits of EV ownership.

Not only can we help customers maximise the cost and carbon savings of owning an EV, we can help turn their vehicle into a valuable and potentially profitable component within energy grids of the future focussed on renewable sources.

The Ford Model e team and I have a clear vision of the benefits of smart energy management for EVs.

The sophisticated batteries and software within our EVs – connected to intelligent energy networks –  could store electricity when there is a surplus of renewable energy in the grid. This could be energy generated by wind-turbines at night, when demand is low – or solar power generated on long summer days. Conveniently, these are times when energy costs are at their lowest – enabling  customers to charge their vehicles more economically.

In the future our connected EVs could help balance the peaks and troughs of energy supply by returning that renewable energy to the grid when it’s need most – a benefit based on Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. This could earn EV owners money as they effortlessly become energy traders – buying low and selling high.

This is the future we are actively working towards.

We’ve taken our first steps already – teaming up with energy industry disruptors Octopus Energy in Great Britain, as well as Tibber, in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, to support new charging initiatives.

These new energy experiences will mean Mustang Mach-E drivers can soon make use of their electric vehicle’s clever new Dynamic Charging feature, as will our new electric Ford Explorer customers, next year. Dynamic Charging communicates with the energy providers’ intelligent supply networks to automatically charge using energy tariffs designed to maximise the cost savings of driving an EV, and optimise the use of renewable energy.

All by simply plugging their vehicle into the charging station at home, and while able to easily and remotely let the intelligent network know when they will need their car, so the ideal charge level is ready and waiting when it’s time to get moving.

This is just one step on our journey to delivering integrated charging experiences for as many Ford EV customers as possible, in as many markets as possible.

Our commitment to delivering a leading ecosystem for EVs is an exciting example of how Ford is constantly innovating with services to help people connect, communities grow and businesses thrive.