On Feb. 22, 2022, hundreds of electric vehicles gathered in subzero temperatures in Clear Lake, Iowa, a town with little charging infrastructure. Winnebago Industries opened its Rally Grounds Activity Complex for the event, providing space to park and plug in more than 1,300 vehicles, while ChargePoint supplied two portable DC fast chargers. “Together, these organizations demonstrated the importance of collaboration between companies and resources as the singular way to accelerate our adoption of electrification,” Pritchard EV wrote in the press release.
The gathering capped Pritchard EV’s Purpose-Built Tour, which began in 2021 and took the company to 28 markets across the country to showcase products from Polestar, Workhorse, Ford, Audi, ChargePoint, and others, and to donate to a nonprofit in every community it visited. In each disadvantaged community, the team also says it “conversed with community leaders to educate on why electrification can change everything at the macro and micro level.” Those conversations coincided with a notable shift: by the end of 2021, the company noted, new electric vehicle registrations doubled those of internal combustion vehicles in Clear Lake.
Pritchard EV was the electric vehicle division of Pritchard Companies, a family business founded by Walter Pritchard, who began selling automobiles in 1913 and built the business in North Iowa with his wife, Jennie. The company describes its history as one “of five generations who have loved family, community, and the automotive industry.” The company says it began as “a humble Ford dealership in Garner, Iowa,” and now operates nine dealerships in North Iowa, along with a national commercial fleet business based in Clear Lake, through which it continues “to serve the communities we’ve called home for over 100 years.” Joe Pritchard, a fourth-generation family member, serves as president and chief executive officer.
The family’s electric vehicle efforts centered on its commercial fleet business. In 2016, the family sold its Clear Lake Ford dealership to focus on commercial customers, although it retained other new-car dealerships in North Iowa. “We are not abandoning our retail base in Iowa, but we are focused on growing our commercial base across the country,” Joe Pritchard told Automotive Buy Sell Report at the time.
Electric vehicles became part of that commercial push. “Our family has been a leader within the automotive industry for decades. Seven years ago, we turned our efforts to electrification, working with customers both domestically and globally to build best practices,” Ryan Pritchard, then the company’s chief revenue officer, said in 2022. Work Truck reported that Ryan had personally driven 54 different electric vehicle models for more than 15,000 miles.
Clear Lake became the family’s proving ground. In 2022, the Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce described the town as a charging “brown spot,” noting that no charging stations existed between Albert Lea, Minnesota, and Dows, Iowa. The Chamber also reported that Pritchard purchased the former TeamQuest building off Interstate 35, with plans to add charging stations, and had worked with North Iowa emergency responders on how to approach electric vehicle crashes and safely shut down high-voltage batteries.
Charging infrastructure followed. A public ChargePoint station operates around the clock at Pritchard’s downtown rental lot. Other businesses added chargers, too. Kum & Go received a $160,000 grant in 2021 through Iowa’s Volkswagen settlement program to install a fast charger in Clear Lake.
Photo Courtesy Pritchard Family Auto Stores
The rental lot put into practice an idea the Chamber described in 2022: offering electric golf carts and bikes so drivers could explore downtown while their vehicles charged. Lake Life Rentals, another Pritchard Companies business, opened that year and runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day. During the 2026 season, its fleet included the electric Moke America available for $125 a day, along with golf cars from Streetrod and Evolution.
Streetrod, which Pritchard also owns, has built custom luxury golf cars by hand in the United States since 1995. The company’s operations manager described the company’s Montezuma, Iowa, plant in an interview with Golf Today: “The attention to detail given to the cars throughout their entire build is unparalleled. From multiple rounds of hand sanding the in-house formed fiberglass bodies, to show car quality paint schemes, and the selection of specific parts to match the model year of the car being built, Streetrod clearly stands out from other manufacturers.”
Photo Courtesy Streetrod Golf Cars
Pritchard also placed bets well beyond Iowa, though not all paid off. In November 2020, Workhorse Group announced that Pritchard had ordered 500 of its C-1000 electric delivery trucks for sale through Pritchard dealerships nationwide. Workhorse later suspended C-1000 deliveries and recalled 41 trucks that had already been delivered, and ultimately discontinued the model.
Workhorse trucks remained part of the lineup. Pritchard EV’s Workhorse website still lists three electric commercial trucks: the W4 CC cab chassis and the W750 and W56 step vans. All three are listed with a nominal range of 150 miles, but their payload capacities differ: up to 5,000 pounds for the W750, up to 7,000 for the W4 CC, and up to 10,000 for the W56. Of the three, Workhorse still offers only the W56. In March 2026, Workhorse launched a 140-kWh W56 version priced at $169,000, with an estimated range of 100 miles at full payload.
Photo Courtesy Workhorse Group
The company continued to adapt. In 2023, Pritchard Commercial signed a deal to sell ZEVX battery-electric powertrains designed to convert existing Class 2-5 commercial trucks. In 2024, Pritchard EV and Pritchard Commercial added the Chevrolet BrightDrop electric vans to their lineup. “As more commercial customers start to explore EVs for their fleets, we want to be sure Pritchard Commercial and Pritchard EV are positioned at the forefront of the market for product offerings and after-sales service,” said Scott Sasser, vice president of commercial and global sales at Pritchard Commercial. General Motors ended BrightDrop production in October 2025.
Today, Pritchard Commercial sells electric trucks and vans from Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Workhorse, Mullen, and Tropos to fleets across Iowa and the country. The company highlights the advantages of commercial electric vehicles, including saving money on fuel and maintenance, reduced carbon emissions, and opportunities for businesses to demonstrate a commitment to environmental sustainability.
The family has also returned to retail in Clear Lake. In December 2024, Pritchard reacquired Harrison Ford of Clear Lake and purchased Schukei Chevrolet & Volkswagen in Mason City. “It was in 2014 that our family first built a state-of-the-art Ford dealership in Clear Lake, and we’re incredibly proud to announce the acquisition of Harrison Ford by the Pritchard Companies,” Joe Pritchard said. Pritchard’s Lake Chevrolet in Clear Lake now lists the Equinox EV and Silverado EV among its models.
Photo Courtesy Pritchard’s Lake Chevrolet
The family is also training the people who will keep the next generation of vehicles running. In April 2026, the Mason City Community School District announced a grant to launch an Electric Vehicle Technician Paid Summer Training Program in partnership with Pritchard and North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC). Selected students are paid while they train on the job at Pritchard and take classes at NIACC, and they complete the program with an Electric Vehicle Service Technician Certificate. In September, Pritchard Family Auto Stores congratulated Brayden Smed and Aiden Stull, two students who earned their electric vehicle credentials and joined the company. “This is exactly the kind of talent pipeline that strengthens our industry and our communities,” Pritchard wrote.
The program echoes the message the company shared at the conclusion of its Purpose-Built Tour: “Through collaboration, we can accelerate a transition to electrified mobility and reduce the climate impact on our communities.”
Photo Courtesy Mason City Community School District
