Ford extended its Power Promise free home charger offer on July 7, 2026, and quietly narrowed it at the same time. The window for a 2025 model year Mustang Mach-E closed July 31. What is still live, as of this writing: anyone buying or leasing a new 2026 Mach-E has until September 30, 2026 to claim it. The F-150 Lightning, which shared this offer since the program launched in September 2024, is no longer part of it. Ford stopped building the Lightning in late 2025 after concluding it could not manufacture the truck profitably, and dealer inventory has largely sold through.
For a homeowner cross-shopping a Mach-E right now, the timing lines up with something else: the federal 30C tax credit for home charger installation expired June 30, 2026. Power Promise does not replace that credit dollar for dollar, since it is Ford's own offer tied to buying a specific car rather than a tax credit available on any charger purchase, but it lands in the same gap and is worth knowing about if a Mach-E is already on your shortlist.
What you actually get
Eligible buyers choose one of two things, not both:
- A free Level 2 home charger with free standard installation, done through Qmerit Electrification, Ford's installation partner. "Standard" covers up to a 60-amp circuit and up to 80 feet of wiring from the panel to the charger location, including the tie-in at the meter.
- $2,000 in bonus cash, aimed at buyers who already own a charger or have nowhere to install one, such as many condo and apartment residents.
You have to pick at the time of purchase or lease. Once the deal is finalized with one option, you cannot switch to the other later. The charger model and brand can vary by availability rather than being a fixed, named product.
What "free" does not cover
The standard installation has real limits, and they matter for anyone whose home electrical situation is not simple:
- Panel upgrades are excluded. If your assessment shows you need more capacity, that cost is yours. Our panel capacity check walks through the math your electrician will run, so you know what to expect before the visit.
- Wiring beyond 80 feet is excluded. A charger location far from the panel, common in garages set back from the house or on detached structures, can push you past the covered distance.
- Permitting costs and fees are excluded, even though Qmerit handles the paperwork.
- Fleet and commercial buyers do not qualify. This is a retail-only offer.
None of this makes the offer worthless. A straightforward install, existing panel capacity, and a charger location near the electrical service is exactly the scenario "free" was built for, and that describes a lot of single-family homes. It just is not free for everyone, and the installer's assessment is where you find out which case you are.
Why the Lightning dropped out
The Lightning's exit is not a cut to the program's generosity so much as a reflection of what Ford has to sell. Ford ended F-150 Lightning production in December 2025, having said the truck could not be built at a profit at the volumes it was selling. New inventory has largely dried up nationwide, so there is little left for a manufacturer incentive to apply to. The Mustang Mach-E is now the only vehicle carrying Power Promise.
What to do if you're considering a Mach-E
If you can close on a new 2026 model year Mach-E before September 30, the free-charger path is worth running past your own numbers. The 2025 model year window closed July 31, so a 2025 Mach-E no longer qualifies. Get the electrician's assessment early, ideally before you finalize the purchase, so you know whether your install falls inside the 60-amp, 80-foot standard scope or whether you would be paying out of pocket for a panel upgrade regardless of which option you pick.
If you already have a Level 2 charger, or you live somewhere a home charger is not realistic, the $2,000 bonus cash is the more useful of the two paths and does not require you to use Qmerit at all.
Either way, do not count on the federal 30C credit as a backstop. It ended June 30, 2026, for any charger placed in service after that date, and no extension has passed. See our full rundown of what the credit covered and who could still claim it for a charger placed in service before the deadline. Check whether your state or utility runs its own charger rebate on top of whichever Ford option you pick. Our incentive stack estimator pulls together what is currently documented for your state and utility, and a program like New Jersey's FY27 renewal is a reminder that those do not depend on what Ford or Washington is doing.
The caveat
Automaker charger promotions are marketing offers, not entitlements, and Ford has changed this program's terms and eligible vehicles more than once since 2024. Treat the September 30 date as real, since it is the term currently published, but confirm the offer is still live and unchanged at ford.com/powerpromise before you factor it into a purchase decision, and get the installation scope in writing rather than assuming "free" covers whatever your home needs.
Last factually verified: August 2, 2026, against Ford's Power Promise program page (ford.com/powerpromise) and its support documentation, cross-checked against InsideEVs' July 2026 coverage of the extension and the Lightning's exit from the program, Ford Authority's July 2026 reporting on the same extension and its "one big omission," CarsDirect's and Cars.com's summaries of the current terms confirmed still live in early August 2026, and Electrek's April 2026 reporting on Ford's EV discounting and charger offers for program history and the 60-amp/80-foot installation scope. Web access to ford.com could not be independently re-fetched at publish time; the figures above reflect search-indexed excerpts of Ford's own program page cross-checked against multiple independent secondary sources rather than a direct page load. Ford's F-150 Lightning production wind-down per Ford Authority's December 2025 reporting. Promotional program terms change; confirm current eligibility and dates at ford.com/powerpromise before relying on this for a purchase decision.
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