[rajarajacola]

I found EVs like the EV6 to be very compelling products.

One requirement in my mind is that it should be able to travel from Bangalore to Ooty on a single charge. This would be ~350km and include around 50km of a steep mountain climb.

Based on what I have read, these cars can do ~400km at 100km. From another thread:

Originally Posted by Kevinrevvz

I had done a real world range test of the following cars at 100Kmph. The city range will be higher. Hope it provides a perspective.

Hyundai IONIQ5 RWD- 430Km
Kia EV6 AWD- 420Km
Volvo C40 Recharge Twin - 400Km
BYD Atto 3 - 400Km
Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin - 350Km
Mercedes Benz EQB350 4Matic - 350Km

What if we were driving in an even more spirited manner (hypothetically hitting higher speeds when the roads are clear), and zipping up the mountain?

Is there any performance EV that can make the trip without getting into range anxiety?

[GTO]

Not happening at higher speeds with the current generation of EVs. Even Teslas - which offer the best EV drivetrains in the world - have owners complaining on Reddit if they cruise at 90 mph on freeways in the USA instead of 70-75 mph.

The sweet spot for range is 80 - 100 kmph for most EVs. At 120 kmph and up, the range drops drastically. Climbing up mountains also significantly reduces range.

If this is what you want:

- Wait for the 700 - 800 km range EVs. They are coming.

- Wait for EVs with a second gear ratio for highway cruising, like the Porsche Taycan whose 2nd taller gear kicks in at 80 kmph. This makes a big difference to highway range.

[Shreyans_Jain]

The best real world range is provided by the Kia EV6, which realistically does 400-450km at speeds of around 120kmph. Any faster, and this figure drops drastically. Conversely, if you drive at around 80-110, like it is on most Indian highways, you are looking at 500km.

Hill climbing also kills range. On my recent trip to Shimla, my Nexon EV LR did Solan to Theog, approx 75km, using over 50% of the battery. Consumption was twice what it was in the plains. On the way back, between gravity, regen and sparse traffic this took about than 15%.

Net net, the current crop is EVs is not suited to high speed expressway driving over long distances. It will take a major breakthrough in vehicle or battery technology to breach this limitation. Diesel is king for this particular requirement.

[mally2]

Originally Posted by rajarajacola

I found EVs like the EV6 to be very compelling products.

One requirement in my mind is that it should be able to travel from Bangalore to Ooty on a single charge. This would be ~350km and include around 50km of a steep mountain climb.

Based on what I have read, these cars can do ~400km at 100km. From another thread:



What if we were driving in an even more spirited manner (hypothetically hitting higher speeds when the roads are clear), and zipping up the mountain?

Is there any performance EV that can make the trip without getting into range anxiety?

just to put things in perspective, I have done Bangalore to Ooty in my Tiago EV albeit not in a single charge but one stop at Mysore while having breakfast for 45 mins, speeds across Blr Mysore Express way was 85-90 on cruise control and inside the Bandipur reserve along the forest area one cannot do more than 50 average, and once you ascend the main Ghat of Ooty one would be safer doing 30-50kmph. I did this whole trip in 6 hours including my 45 min charge break.

I have done similar trips to Chennai and Mangalore all needing just 1 stop onwards and 2 returning ( elevation to Bangalore is a )

One does not need a 400+km range EV unless the plan is to do cross country trip like Bangalore - Delhi may be

Note - the Tiago does 180-190km for 100-15% on highways @85-90kmph @100-105 whkm

[yosbert]

I did a Bangalore - Melukote - Bangalore last weekend with my Byd Atto3. Door to door, it was 350 kms, I started with 100% and reached home with 17% left. Most of the Mysore highway was done at speeds of 110-125 kmph. There was a bit of uphill driving at Melukote but I regard it negligible. To be fair, the return journey was at much lower speeds due to Sunday evening traffic which might have helped range. Initially when my wife drove till Mysore highway via Nice Road (a distance of say 35-40 kms) at < 100 kmph speeds, the efficiency was insanely high (around 6% for this stretch).
So to answer your question, yes you will have range anxiety while doing Bangalore -Ooty on single charge especially with the uphill sections towards the end.

[privin]

More than range, I will bat for faster charging times. 15min charging to full will more than compensate for lesser range.

KPIT recently announced their production version of cheaper sodium batteries with 15min charging time. Let us hope for best!

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by GTO

- Wait for EVs with a second gear ratio for highway cruising, like the Porsche Taycan whose 2nd taller gear kicks in at 80 kmph. This makes a big difference to highway range.

Actually the biggest range killer is aero dynamics of the car.

As I have said before, ICE are so inefficient aerodynamics does not matter. It's like, say you have a 1 litre bottle which leaks, if a person has to run until no water left in the bottle, the only way to maximize the distance is to run fast.

EVs are very efficient, 5L(44kwh energy) equivalent petrol takes you 300km, so efficient having 2nd gear or even 5 gears does not matter for increasing range. Porsche taycan has 2nd gear to increase max speed.

Yes, future EVs will have more range by having lighter, denser batteries. The bottom line is to get say 1000km we probably need 150kwh battery.

[Thilak29]

Originally Posted by mally2

I have done similar trips to Chennai and Mangalore all needing just 1 stop onwards

This is unreal to me, could you please explain how ? I have driven Chennai Bangalore and Bangalore Mangalore stretches separately and both needs two stopovers. I am curious how did you manage Chennai to Mangalore with just one stop ! Total distance is 700km and car at best will offer 200km range.

[mally2]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

This is unreal to me, could you please explain how ? I have driven Chennai Bangalore and Bangalore Mangalore stretches separately and both needs two stopovers. I am curious how did you manage Chennai to Mangalore with just one stop ! Total distance is 700km and car at best will offer 200km range.

Sorry i mean Bangalore Chennai and Bangalore mangalore. Bangalore is my home

[mally2]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

This is unreal to me, could you please explain how ? I have driven Chennai Bangalore and Bangalore Mangalore stretches separately and both needs two stopovers. I am curious how did you manage Chennai to Mangalore with just one stop ! Total distance is 700km and car at best will offer 200km range.

Bangalore to Chennai and Bangalore to mangalore is a downward elevation and need just one charge. Returning to Bangalore needs one extra top up.

Here is an example of my trip from Bangalore to mangalore I am able to do 125km with 50% battery @ 94whkm so 235km easily with 5% remaining

[zandot]

Either of the Korean siblings should be able to do this run. The ev6 is a lot quicker than the Ioniq5 so there is a small chance that you will be going at a higher speed causing the battery drain to be a little quicker.

I have been doing 300kms daily for the past week in the Ioniq at 80% highway driving at the speeds mentioned by you and usually have 100-120km range left at the end of my journey.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by GTO

- Wait for EVs with a second gear ratio for highway cruising, like the Porsche Taycan whose 2nd taller gear kicks in at 80 kmph. This makes a big difference to highway range.

Are you sure about that? I am not sure how a second gear would make an EV more efficient? Porsche uses synchronous motors. Which means they loose torque at higher RPM. Although Porsche may claim it improves efficiency, I think it needs the 2nd gear to be able to still accelerate more at those higher speeds. Calling that efficiency is in my opinion more a PR phenomena than a technical fact.

But maybe we have EV technical experts who can explain better. And of course, ze Germans are very clever! So who knows.
Would love to see this explained in some more detail.

In general it always surprises me how much effort hill climbing takes. Be it in a car or on a say a bicycle. Even a long very modest slope can kill your fuel efficiency (or make your legs feel like lead when you are cycling).

Jeroen

[siren373]

Pretty much similar requirements since i do chandigarh shimla frequently. Waiting for the AWD version of the ioniq or the EV6 to get localized. Whatever happens earlier

[antz.bin]

Shouldn't the BYD Atto3 and E6 also be able to manage that kind of range? If not 400 then definitely 350 ought to be possible on either of those.

The battery capacity of the E6 is roughly the same as the Ioniq 5.

If that is the primary requirement, you could save a pretty penny if you go for one of those BYDs instead of the Koreans.

[IshaanIan]

Ideally you would need to wait for an EV that offers 700km range as you will not have to contend with battery degradation doing the same trip the next year.