Man Abandons New EV During Family Vacation, Has to Get Gas-Powered Car to Finish the Trip
A man and his family ditched their new $115,000 electric vehicle during a family road trip in July, switching to a gas-powered rental vehicle after being unable to charge the truck, according to a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. report.
Dalbir Bala left his 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat in Minnesota after being unable to charge the EV at two separate charging stations along the way on his family road trip from La Selle, Manitoba, to Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, according to the CBC.
Bala had planned his route to stop at charging stations to accommodate the 320-mile range limit that the vehicle has for its battery.
“That’s when we decided we don’t want any more distraction or any frustration,” he said, according to the report.
“Electric vehicle, new technology … I was impressed with it,” Bala said. “That made me buy this thing.”
When he tried to charge his F-150 Lightning at his stop in Albertville, Minnesota, he was met with a faulty connection message when he plugged it into the charging station, according to the CBC.
He said he called the number on the charger following the error message, but no one responded.
Following his inability to charge at his previous stop, Bala drove to a charging station in Elk River, Minnesota, but was unable to charge there either, the report said.
He was then left with only nine miles of remaining battery, which was not enough to reach another charging station, promoting him to have the vehicle towed to a nearby Ford dealership.
Bala rented a gas-powered Toyota 4Runner to finish the drive.
Oh, but it saves the planet!
— Juju🇨🇦 (@juju_canadian) August 11, 2023
Robbin Nesbit, sales manager for the Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association, checked the usage records for the charger on the day of the visit and noted that other people were able to successfully charge their cars that day, according to the CBC.
Ford pushed back its production target for its EVs in July, now estimating that the company will produce the vehicles at a rate of 600,000 per year by the end of 2024 instead of the end of 2023.
Through legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration has given large tax credits for EVs and the production of the batteries used in the cars.
Ford Motor Co. did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
However, Megan Joakim with Ford of Canada told the CBC in an email that the company “is working to improve access to charging for our customers.”
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