Battery Replacement of Family’s EV Ford Focus Would Cost More Than Car Itself

An electric Ford Focus model is on display in front of the Berlin Congress Centre during a two-day national conference on "Electro-mobility" or electric vehicles, in Berlin, Germany, on June 15, 2015. John Macdougal/AFP via Getty Images

A Florida family who just a few months ago purchased a battery-powered vehicle learned an unforgettable lesson after their car suddenly stopped working.

The parents of Avery Siwinski, a 17-year-old of St. Petersburg, spent $11,000 on a used 2014 Ford Focus Electric that had 60,000 miles at the time it was bought, WTSP-TV reported.

“In March, it started giving an alert,” Siwinski told the network. “And then we took it to the shop and it stopped running.”

After taking the car to a local Ford dealership, the family learned that the mechanical issues were linked to the vehicle’s battery, which apparently needed to be replaced.

The repair bill for the battery was a whopping $14,000, said Siwinski’s grandfather, who stepped in to help her with the car problems because her father passed away in June due to cancer.

He also noted that the figure presented by mechanics wasn’t even the total, as it didn’t include labor costs.

However, the family found out that all the hustle they went through was in vain, as there weren’t any batteries of that type available anymore because the Ford model is discontinued.

“Then we found out the batteries aren’t even available,” Siwinski said. “So it didn’t matter. They could cost twice as much and we still couldn’t get it.”

The family shared the story to issue a warning to people who were thinking about buying an electric vehicle.

“If you’re buying a new one, you have to realize there is no second-hand market right now because the manufacturers are not supporting the cars,” Siwinski’s grandfather told WTSP-TV.

According to a recent Consumer Reports survey, the vast majority of the driving public in the United States prefers to use traditional gas-powered vehicles, citing charging logistics, driving distance, and maintenance costs as the biggest reasons why they wouldn’t want to own an electric car.

Meanwhile, a recent report from data analysis and advisory firm J.D. Power found that electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids may have more problems than internal combustion engines.

While internal combustion engine vehicles averaged 175 problems per 100 vehicles, this jumped to 239 among plug-in hybrids and 240 among electric vehicles, a June 28 press release of the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Initial Quality Study stated. Lower scores represent higher-quality vehicles.

Tesla models, which were included in the industry calculation for the first time, averaged 226 problems per 100 vehicles, according to the report.

“Automakers continue to launch vehicles that are more and more technologically complex in an era in which there have been many shortages of critical components to support them,” said David Amodeo, director of global automotive at J.D. Power, according to the press release.

Amid elevated gas prices, White House officials have continued to suggest that Americans buy an electric car as Republicans have criticized the Biden administration’s policies for the spike in gas prices.

Naveen Athrappully contributed to this report.

From NTD News