Family ditches electric truck on drive from Winnipeg to Chicago after charging troubleshttps://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/electric-vehicle-trip-charging-infrastructure-1.6932074The owner of a 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat with an extended-range battery regrets buying the electric truck after attempting a road trip, only to abandon it and finish the drive with a gas-powered rental vehicle.
Dalbir Bala of La Salle, Man., left the truck in Minnesota last month after he said he tried unsuccessfully to charge the battery at two different charging stations.
"It was really a nightmare frustration for us," Bala said.
He bought the truck — which is advertised as having a range of 515 kilometres — for $115,000 in January. He spent an additional $16,000 installing chargers at his home and his trucking business, and upgrading his residential electrical panel.
Bala, his wife and three kids left on a trip to visit Wisconsin Dells, Wis., and Chicago for business, on July 27. The truck was fully charged when they left their home just south of Winnipeg, and Bala had plans to stop at level 3 charging stations, which provide faster charges, located along the planned route.
...
He headed to another charging station in nearby Elk River, Minn., but a charger there wouldn't work either, he said.
With only 15 kilometres remaining on his battery and no fast charger within that range, he decided to ditch his Lightning. Bala got it towed to a Ford dealership and the family rented a gas-powered Toyota 4Runner to finish their trip to Chicago.
As the article makes clear, Bala planned out his 750-800 mile trip to Wisconsin Dells - charging stations in particular - properly. A conventional vehicle would not require as much planning, gas stations being plentiful. But Bala did the planning and his Ford did not cause his problem. What did cause his problem was unreliable charging stations and charging stations NOT being plentiful. Unfortunately, being
C$131,000 into his EV adventure, he's kind of stuck between a money rock and a charger-reliability hard place.
