Man forced to ditch $115K Ford EV truck during family road trip to Chicago: ‘biggest scam of modern times’

A Canadian man is calling electric vehicles the "biggest scam of modern times" after his frustrating experience with an electric truck.

Dalbir Bala, who lives in the Winnipeg area, bought a Ford F150 Lightning EV in January for $115,000, plus tax. He told FOX Business he needed the vehicle for his work, but also wanted something suitable for recreational activities such as driving to his cabin or going fishing. He also wanted an environmentally friendly vehicle as owning one is "responsible citizenship these days."

But Bala was quickly hit with the reality of owning and operating an EV soon after the purchase. The vehicle compelled him to install two charges – one at work and one at home – for $10,000. To accommodate the charger, he had to upgrade his home’s electric panel for $6,000.

In all, Bala spent more than $130,000 – plus tax.

Not long after the purchase, Bala got into a minor accident which, he said, required "light assembly" on the front bumper. Bala took the vehicle to the body shop and did not get it back for six months. He said no one from Ford answered his email or phone calls for help.

The limitations of the EV truck became even more apparent when Bala embarked on a chaotic 1,400-mile road trip to Chicago.

Fast charging stations – which only charge EV’s up to 90% – cost more than gas for the same mileage. On the family’s first stop in Fargo, North Dakota, it took two hours and $56 to charge his vehicle from 10% to 90%. The charge was good for another 215 miles.

On the second stop, in Albertville, Minnesota, the free charger was faulty and the phone number on the charging station was of no help, he said. The family drove to another charging station in Elk River, Minnesota, but the charger was faulty there as well.

"This sheer helplessness was mind-boggling," Bala wrote in an online post. "My kids and wife were really worried and stressed at this point."

There were no other fast charging stations within range of Elk River and his vehicle only had 12 miles left.

"By now it was late afternoon. We were really stuck, hungry, and heartbroken," Bala said.

Bala ultimately had the vehicle towed to a Ford dealership in Elk River and rented a regular gas vehicle to complete the family’s trip to Chicago. The family picked up the F150 on their way 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," Bala wrote. "I can only drive in city – biggest scam of modern times."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news...-ford-234104336.html

What I'm tripping on, is: Was all of this a Red Pill for Mr. Bala?

One of the guys at my wifes work bought the Lightning EV, waited like 2 years to get it.

Let me drive it, it's well made, cool tech, and in sport mode it will slam your head back into the headrest, it's super quick.

But, $89K makes it unaffordable for most of the car buyers, and the total range it has makes it ok for short trips around town.

Don't think I'd take it on a trip more than 100 miles away from home.

And there you have it....

Facts

Don't confuse this issue with facts. Heavens no.

I've owned 2 Ford F-150 trucks and found them perfect for my needs. The thought of an electric F-150 is so far from reality, it seems like a joke. Wait it is a joke - a $100,000 joke.

I think it is more that he is an idiot.

He didn't check to see what he would need to do to charge the truck at home and work.

He tried to take it on a cross country trip, which I think most people know is going to present problems. Even if you didn't know, you should have checked that out.

Requiring 6 months for repairs is the part of this story that isn't really at his feet. The rest may show why electrics aren't suitable for many people, but that is his fault for not understanding the tech and its limitations at this time.

I wouldn't buy an electric car - I drive far enough often enough that it wouldn't work.

And yet every time we turn around they are pushing EV’s

Meanwhile, limited charge options, grid failures that can’t support current demand and the fact most electricity in this country still comes from coal or natural gas.

The infrastructure needs to be there first. Personally, I don’t think it will be there in my lifetime. A conspiracy theorist might think it is really about limiting people’s ability to travel freely and be independent. All comes down to control, we decide where and how you go about your life.

My neighbor got a Rivian pickup and took it cross country almost immediately. He had no serious issues, chronicled the trip on FB. The biggest issue came on his way home, a different route that took him through NM, AZ and back to UT. Chargers that were slow or didn't work. He had no complaint about cost or range, just trusted the software that came with it.

I'll probably never own an EV but as time goes by they'll improve.

quote:

Originally posted by Jelly:
He also wanted an environmentally friendly vehicle as owning one is "responsible citizenship these days."

Yeah, well we see where that got you. Apparently not far.

I believe that EV's have a use case. But that use case is far more limited than proponents let on and it is actually going to hurt EV adoption in the long run.

What does seem to work as Toyota has shown for at least the past decade is hybrids. However, the push to EV's is driving the component price up for hybrids as well which is making them less attainable.

He should have bought a gas generator for road trips. But then it sort of shines a bright light on how hybrids are superior to EV’s for long distance driving.

EV’s are fine for short commutes and city driving but the tech isn’t good enough yet to compete with hybrids or ICE vehicles when it comes to road trips.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I think it is more that he is an idiot.

He didn't check to see what he would need to do to charge the truck at home and work.

This ^^^^^

Plus, he didn't take the EV's limitations into account, knowing he wanted a truck for taking to his cabin or going off-grid camping.

How stupid does one have to be not to be able to figure this out ahead of time?

EV's for travel or towing are shit and yes, he is a moron

The 6 P's come to mind

Mr. Bala’s big mistake was not purchasing a little trailer / camper combo to bring along his Unicorn and Fairy, whereby he would have easily been able to keep his truck running on their endless supply of free and environmentally friendly Unicorn Farts and Fairy Dust.

His big mistake was getting this story on the internet displaying his short comings as a man for the entire world to see.

LOL to rolling lithium ion fires.

quote:

Originally posted by Cookster:
Mr. Bala’s big mistake was not purchasing a little trailer / camper combo to bring along his Unicorn and Fairy, whereby he would have easily been able to keep his truck running on their endless supply of free and environmentally friendly Unicorn Farts and Fairy Dust.

Introducing...... The Fart Car!

He's not a smart man.

Blaming the government for not better informing him is stupid.

Taking a trip like that without thoroughly researching the route is just dumb.

I just bought a Mustang Mach E. I don't drive much so it works for me.

I had to buy a new car as my Escape died on me down in SoCal just past the grape vine.

On my maiden voyage to get home to the SF Bay Area I had to do 3 charge stops. On the second stop I had a 2 hour start to finish experience. 2 of the 4 chargers were out of order and when I pulled in I was 3rd in line. The charge takes 30-40 minutes. His 2 hour charging experience was obviously not at a Fast Charge station.

EV's are not a work horse vehicle period.

The infastructer is is not nearly what it needs to be for widespread use. I live in California where there are more chargers than probably anywhere else and it needs to be increased 100 fold.

The guy is a dumb ass for buying the truck that was not a proper fit for his life style.

program to take screenshots

EV's are around town and very short work commute vehicles. In that roll they are pretty good, but when the numbers are run, there's no savings over a well tuned gas engine. I wouldn't trust driving any EV further than a round trip could comfortably be done on no more that 75% if the charge.

This push by the Biden administration is not well thought out.

Another article on this
https://www.louderwithcrowder....tches-electric-truck

Saw the article this morning

How does installing a 60A circuit and lvl 2 charger cost $6000

Electrician did mine and all labor, materials and the charger was $700

Dude is an idiot and didn’t do his due diligence and researching