Family ditches electric truck on drive from Winnipeg to Chicago after charging troubles

The 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.

Bala’s first stop was about 350 kilometres south of Winnipeg in Fargo, N.D. He paid $56 to charge his vehicle’s battery from 10 per cent up to 90 per cent.

Charging trouble

The trouble started at his next stop in Albertville, Minn., where Bala said the only fast charger brought up a faulty connection message in his truck when he plugged in. He called the number on the charger for help but never got a response.

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.

“That’s when we decided we don’t want any more distraction or any frustration,” Bala said.

It’s unclear why Bala’s truck couldn’t get a charge in Albertville. Robbin Nesbit, sales manager for the Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association, said the fast charger was working on July 27, the day Bala visited, with usage records showing other people were able to successfully charge their EVs.

AJ Gosselin with ChargePoint said the company has two level 2 chargers, which don’t charge as fast as level 3, in Elk River. One station was offline due to maintenance, but there was another one which was working within Bala’s remaining range, he said.

Clean energy, fuel costs prompted purchase

Bala wanted a vehicle that used clean energy and hoped to save some of the $1,000-$1,500 per month he’d been spending on fuel for his gas-powered truck. He uses pickup trucks for recreational purposes such as hunting, fishing, quadding and visiting his cottage.

“Electric vehicle, new technology … I was impressed with it,” he said. “That made me buy this thing.”

WATCH | Why a Manitoba family gave up on trying to get to Chicago with their EV:

A Manitoba man is feeling buyer’s remorse after attempting a family road trip to Chicago with his brand new electric truck. When he wasn’t able to find working chargers, he ended up leaving the vehicle in Minnesota.

Megan Joakim with Ford of Canada said in an email the truck’s range of 515 kilometres is estimated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“Whether gas or electric, actual driving range varies with conditions such as external environment, vehicle use and vehicle maintenance,” Joakim said.

Public charging in the U.S. and Canada continues to develop as EV sales grow, she said.

The company “is working to improve access to charging for our customers,” Joakim said, by adding to a network that Ford says already includes 10,000 fast chargers as part of its BlueOval charging network, along with 12,000 Tesla superchargers and around 4,000 fast chargers at Ford dealers.

But James Hart, president of the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association, said more focus is needed on charging station maintenance and technical support.

“I’ve heard of situations like … [Bala’s], where they’ve had to go to the point of calling whatever company it is that’s running the charger and getting them almost to do a reset of the charger,” Hart said.

He’d also like to see more fast chargers located in the same location in case one isn’t working.

WATCH | What to know about the push for electric vehicles: 

Canada and the U.S. are investing billions of dollars to make our vehicles zero-emission in the next decade. It’ll mean more jobs and less pollution … but supply is already a big problem.

Cross-country EV success

Another EV owner is more enthusiastic than Bala, although he has a different make and model.

Winnipegger Ross Redman, a member of the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association, owns two EVs, including a 2014 Tesla Model S that he bought used. That car has an estimated range of 434 kilometres.

He drove it over two days from Vancouver to Winnipeg this past December, stopping to power up at Tesla supercharger stations during bathroom breaks, lunches and suppers.

Redman also uses it to get to and from his cottage in Kenora, Ont., a roughly 200-kilometre drive.

“In the last 10 years, things have come a long way,” Redman said. “You can travel the full length of the Trans-Canada Highway and charge up many places along the way.”

Bala, who picked up his truck on his way home, is now using the Lightning for daily commuting between his home and work — about a 100-kilometre round trip each day. 

“To have a more than $100,000 car to just drive in the city … that was not expected,” Bala said.