A Winnipeg man is expressing buyer’s remorse for his purchase of an electric vehicle (EV) truck after a disastrous family vacation.
Dalbir Bala bought a Ford- F-150 Lightning EV earlier this year for $115,000 because he wanted a vehicle that was environmentally friendly. Bala said the choice to go with an electric vehicle was “responsible citizenship these days.”
Bala incurred several major expenses shortly thereafter, including the installment of two chargers for $10,000, one at his workplace and one at his home. He also had to upgrade his home electric panel to accommodate the EV charger, which cost him another $6,000.
Shortly after Bala’s initial expenses, he got into a minor accident which required some light work on the front bumper. Bala said that it took Ford’s body shop six months to make the repairs.
Once repaired, Bala took his family on a road trip to Chicago, about 1,400 kilometres away from his home. On the trip, Bala discovered that fast charging stations were actually costing him more than the gas prices would for the same mileage. In addition to the expense, fast charging stations can only charge EV batteries up to 90%.
The family first stopped to charge in Fargo, North Dakota, which cost $56, took two hours and charged the truck’s battery from 10% to 90%. The fresh charge brought them another 346 kilometres on their journey.
Bala’s family then stopped in Albertville, Minnesota at a free charging station however, the charger was out of service and the phone number provided on the charging station led to no avail. They then drove to another charging station in Elk River, Minnesota, only to find it was out of service as well.
“This sheer helplessness was mind-boggling,” Bala posted on social media. “My kids and wife were really worried and stressed at this point.”
By that point in the trip, Bala’s truck battery was only good for another 19 kilometers with no other fast charging stations nearby.
“By now it was late afternoon. We were really stuck, hungry, and heartbroken,” said Bala.
Their only option was to have the truck towed to a Ford dealership in Elk River where Bala rented a gas-powered truck and continued back en route to Chicago. The family stopped back into the Elk River dealership upon their return from Chicago to pick up the F-150 Lightning EV to drive back to Winnipeg.
“It was in [the] shop for 6 months. I can’t take it to my lake cabin. I cannot take it for off–grid camping. I cannot take for even a road trip,” wrote Bala. “I can only drive in city – biggest scam of modern times.”
In an interview with Fox Business, Bala said the government should do more to “provide consumers with the right information.”
“People have to make the right choices. I want to tell everybody to read my story,” said Bala. “Do your research before even thinking about it and make a wiser choice.”
“The actual thing they promised is not even close. Not even 50%. And once you buy it, you’re stuck with it and you have to carry huge losses to get rid of that. And nobody is there to help you.”
Ford issued a statement in response to Bala’s story, writing, “This customer’s experience highlights the urgent need to rapidly improve access to public charging across the US and Canada. Ford’s EV-certified dealers will install public-facing DC fast chargers at their dealerships by early 2024, providing alternative charging options to those available today. Ford was also the first in the industry to gain access to over 12,000 Tesla Superchargers for Ford drivers.”
