As part of its EV certification program, Lincoln is removing the requirement that dealers provide 24-hour electric vehicle charging to the public.
Executives, including the brand’s new president, Diane Craig, announced the changes at a make-up meeting on Saturday.
Instead of offering 24/7 charging (prohibited by some state laws and requiring staff to be present when the public is on the premises), Lincoln now has dealers open Monday through Saturday at 7am. It states that it requires the station to operate only from 12:00 to 8:00 pm or basically only. during business hours.
“We’ve been flexible with the feedback we’ve gotten from dealers,” said Craig. car news.
The opt-in period for the program, which requires dealers to invest as much as $900,000 to sell future EVs, has already ended, and Craig has no plans to restart it after the change, Lincoln said. . The next opportunity to register he is due in 2026. Lincoln says 356 of its approximately 600 dealers have agreed to the program’s standards.
“We’re going to have to make more significant changes before we consider reopening,” Craig said, adding that brands are open to further dialogue and additional adjustments to the program if needed.
Chris Poulos, chairman of the Lincoln National Dealer Council, said the meeting was a positive one and he was pleased that the brands agreed to the program change.
“It’s a fair compromise,” he said.
Craig and other executives discussed Lincoln’s desire to improve its customer service experience and regain two-tenths of the market share it lost last year through increased production.
“The dealers have all done a great job adapting to this environment we’ve been in with such limited production. I’m sure it will be better in 2023.” Lincoln dealers are very profitable.”