Ford Motor Company (F -1.92%) investors have been hit with a flurry of not-so-great news over the past year. Investors had to deal with the angry United Auto Workers union and the increased costs associated with new contracts, the staggering $4.7 billion loss with its Model e electric vehicle (EV) unit, and a stagnant stock price.
Recently, however, Ford made a small announcement many missed that could help reduce range anxiety and boost not only EV sales but consumer satisfaction.
Range anxiety
Many studies have shown that the No. 1 barrier to EV mass adoption is range anxiety. Range anxiety is simply the fear of getting stranded during travel with no option of recharging the vehicle battery.
In fact, according to a PwC study, there's a massive need for additional public charging infrastructure in the U.S. market. The analysis believes the U.S. will need to grow EV charging infrastructure nearly tenfold to handle the demand of an estimated 27 million EVs on the road by the end of this decade.
There are a number of ways to battle range anxiety, and it's true that vehicle range has increased over the past decade and will continue to improve. Another way is simply bigger batteries that provide extra range, although that comes at a cost of a more expensive battery for a vehicle already priced much higher than standard internal combustion engine vehicles.
That's what makes Ford's recent announcement more important than investors might realize.
Image source: Getty Images.
You get a free charger, and you get a free charger!
Ford, channeling its inner Oprah giveaway mentality, said that electric vehicle customers in North America will be eligible to reserve a free fast-charging adapter this spring that will enable customers to access roughly 12,000 Tesla Superchargers.
While the partnership was announced in May, it was originally believed it would cost consumers in the "hundreds of dollars," until Ford recently announced making the charging adapter free for its consumers was a way to improve customer satisfaction and reduce range anxiety.
Why it's a big deal
Right now, we're witnessing a slowdown in EV sales growth across the U.S. market, and that's forced Ford's hand to pull back on billions of infrastructure development and plans, including reducing the production levels of its highly important F-150 Lightning.
The catch is that while Ford lost a staggering $4.7 billion from its EV unit last year, the company needs to increase production to bring overhead costs down. One way to do that cheaply is to reduce range anxiety with these free adapters, potentially luring in consumers that were on the fence about EV purchases.
It's just a little good news for Ford investors that have been hammered with not-so-great news over the past year.
