A Canadian man recently learned the hard way that electric vehicles have significant disadvantages compared to gas-powered vehicles. On Ju...
A Canadian man recently learned the hard way that electric vehicles have significant disadvantages compared to gas-powered vehicles.
On July 27, Dalbir Bala packed his wife and three children in his truck — a 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat that he purchased for $85,000 (or $115,000 in Canadian currency) in January — for a business trip to Chicago, the CBC reported.
Along the 1,400 mile trip from his home near Winnipeg to the Chicagoland area, Bala planned to stop at three charging stations. The truck's range, when fully charged, is about 320 miles.
Bala's stop at the first station in Fargo, North Dakota, was successful — albeit inconvenient because it took more than two hours to recharge the battery to 90%. But at the second station in Albertville, Minnesota, Bala discovered a charging station that did not work. After unsuccessfully calling for help, Bala drove to a nearby charging station in Elk River, Minnesota — but that one didn't work either.
With just 12 miles remaining on his battery, Bala made the decision to have his truck towed to a nearby Ford dealership, where he also rented a gas-powered Toyota 4Runner to complete his trip to Chicago. He picked up his electric truck on the return trip.
Now, Bala is telling his story and warning other consumers about the problems with electric vehicles.
"People have to make the right choices. I want to tell everybody to read my story," he told Fox Business. "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."
The nightmare trip is not Bala's only problem with the truck.
He explained in a social media post that not long after purchasing it, he was involved in a "minor fender bender" with a small amount of damage. Shockingly, it took six months for the damage to be repaired because of a parts shortage.
"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 [it] for even a road trip," Bala wrote on Facebook. "I can only drive in city — biggest scam of modern times."
In a statement, Ford Motor Corp. said Bala's story demonstrates the need for more charging stations:
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.
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