An attempted cross-country trip in Ford’s electric F-150 has led to a “reality check” for the company’s CEO as he grapples with the lack of reliable charging.
According to The Epoch Times, Ford CEO Jim Farley admitted in a video posted to X (formerly known as Twitter) that taking the electric vehicle across the country was a challenge in itself.
“Charging has been pretty challenging,” said Farley.
“It was a really good reality check of the challenges of what our customers go through and the importance of fast charging and what we’re going to have to do to improve the charging experience.”
Farley said that he often had to wait up to 40 minutes for his truck’s battery to charge to only 40% at certain charging stations.
Last week, Quebec and Ottawa announced a pledge to fund a new Ford electric vehicle plant to the tune of $644 million.
The funding is part of a $1.2 billion project to create a plant in Bécancour.
“We’ve come here today to show … that we’re now capable of attracting big players like Ford. And for me, that’s a source of great pride. It confirms that Quebec is truly positioning itself as a world leader in the green economy,” claimed Quebec premier Francois Legault.
Farley isn’t the only one frustrated with the charging capacity of electric vehicles.
Winnipeger Dalbir Bala recently made the news after he abandoned his Ford F-150 Lightning EV for a gas-powered rental car while on a road trip to Chicago, Illinois.
According to Bala the promise of long-range electric vehicles was “the biggest scam of modern times.”
“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,” said Bala.
While traveling with his family, Bala had to drop the vehicle off at a Ford dealership in Elk River after consistently running out of power and failing to find nearby charging stations on his route.
“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,” said Bala.
