Ford CEO struggles to charge electric vehicle during road trip

Biden has spent billions to push Americans to adopt electric vehicles despite charging challenges

Ford CEO Jim Farley said he faced a “reality check” while trying to charge his electric truck during a road trip through the American West, an admission that comes as President Joe Biden spends billions to stimulate the adoption of the electric vehicle.

Farley embarked on the ride in Ford’s new electric F-150 Lightning last week to try to “see the EV transition in action.” It started in Silicon Valley, made a stop in Los Angeles, and then ended up in Las Vegas. Farley documented much of the ride on social media, including his late-night charging sessions and the “difficult” nature of getting enough power to cover long distances.

“The charge has been pretty tough,” Farley said said, adding that at one stop it took him 40 minutes to charge his truck’s battery to just 40 percent. “It was a good reality check: the challenges our customers go through.”

The lack of reliable charging stations is a common concern for electric vehicle drivers. That concern, however, hasn’t stopped the Biden administration from proposing rules that would do just that effectively require automakers to ensure that two-thirds of the vehicles they sell are electric by 2032. President Joe Biden is also using his so-called Inflation Reduction Act to spend billions of dollars in an attempt to boost American consumers to adopt electric vehicles.

Farley’s social media posts gave insight into the obstacles associated with long-distance electric vehicle driving. In a post, Farley he asked their followers on social networks to share their experiences with cargo on the road. “I also loaded up and drove from Houston to Phoenix 1100 miles,” said one user answered. “Not the greatest, many slow, many broken,” the user said of the charging stations he found on the drive. Farley recognized in other posts that finding a charging station was not always easy, saying a user had to go to several stations just to find one that was available.

However, Farley praised other aspects of Ford’s new F-150 Lightning, including its front trunk that he called a “frunk” and the “EV driver community” he met while waiting at charging stations . The Ford CEO also showed off the truck’s ability to power non-travel-related tasks, such as helping jump a disabled person’s electric scooter and powering the inflation of a playpen.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration discovered a new rule to limit tailpipe emissions, which aims to ensure that two-thirds of new vehicles are electric by 2032. That benchmark far exceeded Biden’s 2021 executive order that sought that half of all vehicles sold in 2030 would be zero emissions. Still, getting drivers on board with the EV transition has been difficult. Last year, only 6 percent of vehicles sold were electric.