Ford has killed the opportunity for customers to buy their leased EV vehicles at the end of the lease contract. This applies to any Ford EV lease after June 15, 2022.

Ford’s decision to kill EV lease buy-outs…

Makes it a little more clear that the automotive industry is becoming a model of the cell phone industry. IE: Sign a couple-year contract, turn it in for the new one, recycle the old one, and the customer stays tied into a monthly plan.

Ford is quickly realizing…

That they are not in control of their EV battery pricing. On the contrary, they’re at the mercy. Because with EV battery production, it’s happening overseas (China)… and China’s holding all the cards. When the world chants “EV is the future” and makes abrupt market shifts, China quickly begins to capitalize on the value of their cards. Therefore the cost of EV batteries is skyrocketing ON TOP of already skyrocketing inflation.

S3’s humble opinion….

China wants to use this mass-scale EV-pivot to enter & ultimately control the next chapter of the automotive industry. Can’t blame ’em. They’re not too concerned with the needs of Ford, GM, or others at this point. Why should they be? That’s of secondary importance at best. And Ford is realizing that a mass-scale switch to EVs cannot be viable, unless there are mandatory trade-ins & existing batteries stay in Ford’s possession.

After a few years use, the minerals in the Mach-E battery are essentially worth more than the Mach-E itself. And if the battery in a Mach-E costs Ford $18,000 per vehicle (and climbing)… Ford needs to find a way to get that battery back & recycle it. If not, the cost of EVs is going to keep soaring out of reach for many. As it looks now, Ford (and other manufacturers) are inevitably going to have to create a whole new sector of the company that recycles batteries. And it could be a situation where auto manufacturers’ future success… may hinge on which ones figure out the recycling aspect first & most efficiently.