[praruaaa4]

Introduction:
My dad had been wanting to go on a few road trips to relive his past, but the plans kept getting postponed for various reasons. With the new Volvo XC40 Recharge in our garage, his enthusiasm for long drives just got stronger.


Our initial plan was to drive to Mangalore for some business-related work via Bangalore as I wanted to get my bike serviced at JSP Motorrad. I would ride my bike till Bangalore and then join with dad in the car for the rest of the journey. Specifically, we had in mind to visit The Krishna Temple in Udipi and the Chamundeshwari Temple in Mysore. Confident in the Volvo XC40 Recharge for the trip as there were numerous chargers along the route plus we were also excited to try the 120 kW charging at a Shell outlet in Mysore before returning home. Our initial route plan was


While preparing for the trip Kolhapur Mahalakshmi temple was added to the itinerary so I decide to visit one of our clients in Kalyan near Mumbai so the plan kept evolving as the planned date was getting finalized. By this time mom and my wife also joined the trip plan as it primarily became a pilgrimage trip. So final count was 4 members.
Our Second Plan


Third Plan


Day 1:
The first charging stop was at Hotel SARAVANA BHAVAN CLASSIC (H53Q+F7 Bayanapalli) which had Dual gun 60KW DC fast charger from Statiq. By the time we finished breakfast the car

The car was charged from 53% SOC to 85% SOC.
Total charge time: 32 minutes
Units Consumed: 28.42 kWh
Charging cost Rs.0/- (Statiq free charge offer).
Distance covered: 160 Kilometres

After leaving the bike for service in Bangalore, I joined with family in the car and drove till Hiriyur for lunch (RPQQ+MP Javagondnahalli, Karnataka) this place also had a Statiq Dual gun 60KW charger.


Arrival SOC was 25% and was charged till 81%.
Total charge time: 1 hour and 29 minutes
Units Consumed: 47.21 kWh
Charging cost Rs.0/- (Statiq free charge offer)
Distance covered: 235 Kilometres
This charging session was limited to 30KW speed as another EV was also charging.

Our next charging stop was Jio-BP EV Charging station at Kamadod 60KW dual gun (HMCR+R4 Kamadod, Karnataka).

The arrival SOC was 26% and we left with 71% SOC.
Total charge time was 53 minutes
Units Consumed: 31.39 kWh
Distance covered: 158 Kilometres
Charging cost Rs.593/-
This charging session was very inefficient as another Tata vehicle with 82% SOC started charging right after we stated charging and our charging speed got limited to 30KW. The Tata car was only pulling in less than 5KW speed from beginning and was pulling in less than 2KW speed after 95% SOC but the car owner did not want to disconnect as he was simply passing time (he also mentioned he did not need the charge but still wants to charge as he was waiting for someone). Imagine a 60KW charger limiting output to 30KW as the other gun was taking only 1.5KW. THROTTLE GATE.
There is also another issue here as the car owner was potentially blocking access for other EV users who might need to charge their vehicles more urgently and the app would show the charging station as busy and occupied.
Right after the car reached 100% SOC and our charging speed picked up the charger faulted and stopped charging so decided to head to next charging station instead of wasting daylight
Hope all Charge point operators give option to disconnect the session directly from charger after 80% SOC. Right now the sessions can only be stopped either from car or from the mobile application.
Also if the loads can be dynamically shared like (47+13=60KW) based on the demand instead of fixed 30KW output irrespective of what the other vehicle is demanding.

Next charging stop with Tea break was at Ganesh Hotel, Hubli which had Zeon 50KW charger for a tea break (549R+37 Tirumalakoppa, Karnataka).
The arrival SOC was 45% and charged to 67% SOC.
Total Units Consumed: 19.84 kWh
Total charge time 30 minutes.
Distance covered: 98 Kilometres
Charging cost Rs.550/-

Our next charging stop was at Jio-BP 60KW dual gun charger (5GV9+55F, Belagavi, Karnataka 590001)

Total charging time 25 minutes
Units Consumed: 24.55 kWh
Distance covered: 120 Kilometres
Charging cost Rs.463/-

Final charge and stop for the night was in Nipani (G8Q9+3P2 Koganoli, Karnataka)

we arrived late in the night with
45% SOC and charged till 90% SOC
Total charge time was 46 minutes
Units consumed: 37.34 kWh
Distance covered: 107 Kilometres
Charging cost: Rs.0/- (Statiq free charge offer)

We retired for the night in Hotel Park Tree (J7HR+HW Kaneriwadi, Maharashtra) and it was a much needed break as it started raining and the security guard offered to wash the car for a small fee as the car was very dirty due to the rain.
Till evening the temperature was very hot and become cool only after the evening shower.


Total distance covered on Day 1: approx. 878 kilometres.


Day 2:
We visited Kolhapur Mahalakshmi temple and proceeded towards Kalyan
Since the distance to destination was only around 400kms only one charging stop was needed. So we decided to charge in 120KW Shell recharge station. Love the Shell snack outlet as it is airconditioned and the availability of snacks and coffee shop in the premises.
I was expecting charging speed of 120KW as the car supports 150KW charging speed but was only getting 82KW. It could be due to the heat and the charger station has only a small shade. May be thermal throttle? And beyond a point we moved to the shell café to relax rather than waiting in the car. So no idea what was the maximum charging rate we achieved during the session.
Location: 8V69+62 Varve Bk, Maharashtra

Distance covered: 212 Kilometres
Units Consumed: 49.93 kWh
Charging cost: Rs.1414/-

Enroute to Kalyan we experienced rain showers after Pune and due to an accident on road we had to reroute from Khandala and navigate via Khopoli and Neral to reach Kalyan.
I think we arrived at our hotel with 63% SOC. Since Kalyan did not have much charging station and because of the traffic decided not to charge in Kalyan.

Total distance covered on Day 2: approx. 390 kilometres.

By now the plan evolved and there was a discussion if we should visit Somnath in Gujarat which would add another 2 days to the trip but the queens of the house objected to time extension. Then came the topic of visiting Shirdi and then the plan further evolved to visiting Shri Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Mandir in Nashik and further adding Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga in Ujjain and Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga temples.
Now since the plan was evolving beyond the original route, I decided to skip Udipi and Mysore from the return route plan as the trip will further add more days. Now the new plan was to return via Hyderabad.

Things flashing on my mind:
Charging point for the new route have to be planned?
Temperature along the new route will be in the high 40s?
Language barrier as I’m not very fluent in Hindi and the new route had lot of rural areas?
Plug share was the only source for planning further stops from Indore as there were no known charging stations from any of the popular apps. Till now my reference apps for charging stations are in the order below
1. Statiq (multiple Charge point operators are integrated in the app)
2. Jio-bp
3. Zeon (mainly for South Zones)
4. Google maps is of no use when planning or searching for charge stations
Never used Tata Power as the speeds were mostly 30KW and BPCL – Ionage app had too many offline chargers plus majority are 30KW chargers.

Before going to bed I was shifting between Plugshare and Tata Power literally memorising the charger locations and reading through all the check-ins and the date of last check-in to understand the reliability of the charging station. Ignored all the IOCL and HP charging stations in Plugshare as I know all of them are offline (more on this later). There are a lot of ghost charging points in Plugshare so have to cross check with the charge point provider application before deciding on the location.

[praruaaa4]

Day 3:
Morning session was reserved for the client meet. After our meeting we headed to Shri Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga Mandir near Nasik. Our first charging stop and Lunch stop for the day was at Hotel Vrindavan (JCGX+X6 Kasara, Maharashtra) which had a 180KW charging station from Hyundai.


Arrived with 35% SOC and charged till 93% SOC
Distance travelled: 249 Kilometres
Charging time: 1 hour and 2 minutes
Units Consumed: 49.09 kWh
Cost: Rs.1390/-

Next stop was a quick darshan in Trimbakeshwar temple


we decided to stay in Shirdi for the night.

The route from Trimbakeshwar to Shirdi was routed via the newly opened Samruddhi Expressway. This is where the lack of charging infrastructure started showing its signs.
The Samruddhi Expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur (701kms) had no EV chargers and have to exit the highway to charge in one of the nearby cities and then enter the Expressway again to continue the journey.
This pic is from one of the fuel stop stations on the highway. Though it had a 25kw charger it was offline for more than a month as per HP eCharge mobile app.


The speed limit on the Expressway for cars is 120kmph so multiple DC fast charging stations every 100kms is a must. Hope the concerned officials take note of this and add chargers on every Expressway.


We reached Shirdi by 7:30PM and was able to complete the darshan by 8:00PM as it was not crowded and booked our stay in the nearby hotel. There was a Jio-bp charging station a kilometre away from the hotel. Dropped the family in the hotel and the charged car to 90%.

Total distance travelled: 232 Kilometres
Units Consumed: 51.34 kWh
Charging time: 61 minutes
Charging cost: Rs.969/-

Total distance covered on Day 3: approx. 297 Kilometres

[praruaaa4]

Day 4:
This day had its own challenges as the temperature was getting really hot with 47 degrees centigrade was the maximum we noticed and the air conditioner was consuming a lot of power to keep the cabin cool. So, the battery range was only close to 300 kilometres. Charging stops every 200 kilometres became priority. Any and every fast charger along the route was used to charge the vehicle. Even restroom breaks were planned with chargers in mind.



Another issue was that 450kms had to be covered for next location and there were only 2 Chargezone chargers in between stops and the distance between then were more than 150kms apart.
Started early and the first stop was Hotel Topline Resort (RQP4+H7 Tikhi, Maharashtra) which had a 60KW dual gun charger.

Distance covered: 140 Kilometres
Units Consumed: 16.32 kWh
Total charge time: 18 minutes
Total cost: Rs.405/-
This was a short restroom break so did not wait to top up the battery to 80% SOC

Second Stop was for lunch was at Hotel Maheswar Retreat (7F6P+X3 Lodhipura, Madhya Pradesh) and this was planned with Jio-bp charger location. The Temperature was hovering between 45 to 47 degree Celsius so had to cover the charging gun with a towel to prevent it from heating up too much and thermal throttle the charging speed (no idea if this works but did it for my internal satisfaction)



Distance covered: 198 Kilometres
Units Consumed: 51.84 kWh
Total charge time: 54 minutes
Total cost: Rs.978/-


Next stop was in Meghdoot Resort, Ujjain (4Q9X+2M Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh) where the battery was topped up to 90% SOC as the next leg of the journey had very few to no chargers.

Distance covered: 145 Kilometres
Units Consumed: 40.7 kWh
Total charge time: 51 minutes
Total cost: Rs.768/-
Finished our darshan in Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga and decided to drive till Omkareshwar and stay for the night.
We reached Omkareshwar with 54% SOC at 11:45PM and the original plan was to complete the Darshan and use the 30KW BPCL charger in Sanawad that was 10kms away and start the journey home (I contacted the customer care of Ionage who put me in touch with the BPCL outlet owner to make sure that the charger was online and had no issues a there were no chargers anywhere within 100km radius). Since it was really late, we decided to stay in the first resort or accommodation that we saw and we stayed in Vanasthali Camp and Resort (64H9+75, Kothi, Madhya Pradesh 450554) that was close to the temple and was a newly opened resort.

The front desk was kind enough to let me use one of the 15A plug point to slow charge the car. By the time we checkout in the morning the car was charged to 94% SOC and was able to skip the Sanawad 30KW charging stop the next day saving time and making the family members wait in the car during charging session as the place is very remote and no shops nearby even for tea. A big thumps up to the front desk and management for this help as the route plan was such that no errors could be made else we would be stranded on road with no charge.
The return journey charge plan had to be followed to letter till outer Hyderabad else we would be stranded on the road with no range left. Another alternate I had in mind if any of the chargers did not work was to book an accommodation with 15A Plug point and stay for a day slow charging the car and continue the trip home. Volvo Charges 10% every 2.5 hours with supplied travel charger.


Total Distance covered on 4: approx. 660 Kilometres

[praruaaa4]

Day 5:

While having breakfast a new 60KW Tata charger showed up along the route and this was not there the previous night. This new charger was about 10kms away from the planned 30KW Tata charging point. Visiting all the temple really had the luck in our favour.
For the first stop for the day was at Hotel Heritage (JGFR+W6 Antraj, Maharashtra) which had a newly installed 60KW Tata charger


Arrived with 21% SOC and left with 90% SOC
Distance covered: 245 Kilometres
Units Consumed: 56.91 kWh
Total charge time: 69 minutes (open charger coupled with high temperatures impacted the charging speed)
Total cost: Rs.1612/-


The second charging stop and only available charging station enroute was in Nanded which was a 30KW charger and no alternate charging plan was possible. We reached Nanded around 8:30PM checked the family into a hotel and by the time formalities were completed it was 9:30PM and headed to Tata car Showroom (58QP+GF Sangvi, Maharashtra) to charge the car. Due to some error or another the charger was either disconnecting many times and was only supplying 20KW speed on average.



I think I arrived with 19% SOC and Charged to 92% SOC
Distance covered: 278 Kilometres
Units Consumed: 56.91 kWh
Total charge time: 142 minutes
Total cost: Rs.1455/-

Total distance covered on Day 5: approx. 525 Kilometres

Day 6:

The only plan for the morning session was to reach outskirts of Hyderabad as beyond this point there were lots of fast chargers.
The route was set to a 30KW Tata charger in Sadashivpet which was 225kms away and had a deviation of close to 10kms one way. While nearing Sadashivpet I had one BPCL 30KW charger as backup plan as this charger would remove the 20kms deviation. Called Ionage customer care who in turn put me in touch with the outlet Incharge. The person said he had turned off the charger due to voltage fluctuation and said he would turn it on when I arrive but he cannot give any assurance. Congrats to the Ionage team for the dedicated support and service. Did not note down the arrival and departure SOC as the plan was to reach the next Statiq charger with 15% SOC. Volvo’s inbuilt Google maps is very accurate in this prediction and very rarely I have noticed +/- 1% difference.


Distance covered: 272 Kilometres
Units Consumed: 14.24 kWh
Total charge time: 37 minutes
Total cost: Rs.370/-

The next Charging session was at Hotel Sindhura, Jadcherla (Q49G+MQ Jadcherla, Telangana) which was also our lunch stop

The arrival SOC was 13% and charged to 87% SOC.
Total Units Consumed: 61.64 kWh
Total charge time 67 minutes.
Distance covered: 115 Kilometres
Charging cost Rs.872/-

The next stop was planned at Blue Moon Hampi Delight Hotel (2JGC+M9 Ramarajupalle, Andhra Pradesh) which had a 180KW Hyundai charger but due to rain one phase out of 3 phase supply was not working so wasted about 45 minutes trying to start the charging session.
The had to visit a near by Chargezone 60KW dual gun charger in Hotel Ravi Teja (3J3H+7G Ramarajupalle, Andhra Pradesh). When we arrived one MG EV charger was already charging so had to charge with 30KW charging speed

Total Units Consumed: 20.73 kWh
Total charge time 53 minutes.
Distance covered: 248 Kilometres
Charging cost Rs.491/-

After this the strategy was to reach the next charging stops with 20% SOC so the inbuilt Google map was used to guess the arrival SOC.
The next charging stop was at Hotel Vyshali Family Restaurant (3JC3+8W Penukonda, Andhra Pradesh) which had 60KW charger from GLIDA which could be accessed with Statiq mobile application.

The arrival SOC was 14% and charged to 64% SOC. (Had to leave early due to power cut in the area)
Total Units Consumed: 33.32 kWh
Total charge time 46 minutes.
Distance covered: 120 Kilometres
Charging cost Rs.330/-

Following Stop was in Hotel VV Srini (PQXQ+V8 Matteddaladinne, Karnataka) which had 2 60KW Statiq chargers.
The arrival SOC was 49% and charged to 68% SOC.
Total Units Consumed: 17.72 kWh
Total charge time 26 minutes.
Distance covered: 46 Kilometres
Charging cost Rs.251/-

The final charging stop was in Saravana Bhavan Classic (H4QW+99 Sikkarimedu, Tamil Nadu) with Statiq 60KW charger. When we arrived at the charger location there was pouring rain and there was no cover for shade yet the session went without any hiccup. Myth busted – EV can be charged during rain.



The arrival SOC was 29% and charged to 68% SOC.
Total Units Consumed: 34.77 kWh
Total charge time 25 minutes.
Distance covered: 164 Kilometres
Charging cost Rs.492/-


Reached home with 37% SOC covering 163kms.


Total distance covered on Day 6: 1053 Kilometres.

Total Trip was 3692 Kilometres

Our final Route map


Conclusion:

• • Electric vehicles can be taken on long road trips without any range anxiety
  • 1000+ kilometres can easily be covered with an Electric vehicle
  • Both the East and West side routes have ample EV chargers but the central area had limited chargers with most offline. The Golden Quadrilateral Route is fully covered with EV chargers while the side Highways still lack EV infrastructure.
  • Lots of BPCL, IOCL and HP outlets have 25KW or 30KW DC chargers but there are always offline (may be installed to boost charger target and numbers but not maintained)
  • BPCL – Ionage customer care is very helpful in getting the charger online if you contact then
  • Statiq charger network is the best with lowest rate per kWh and has cross tie-ups with lot of CPO’s. Slowly getting to single app and single payment wallet.
  • Jio-bp electric charging stations also have the second lowest rate per kWh
  • If the rate per kWh is brought below Rs.20/- then the cost saving is justified else only home charging is the only justifiable solution for cost saving.
  • The speed limit on the Expressway for cars is 120kmph. So, fast multiple charging stations every 100kms is a must. Hope the concerned officials take note of this and add chargers on every Expressway.
  • The issue with the dual gun charger is that when both connectors are in use, the charging speed is equally divided, with a 60kW charger providing 30kW to each vehicle. Ideally, this should be dynamic, allowing for load sharing. For instance, if one car is charging at 10 kW, the other should be able to receive 50 kW if it needs it. Currently, the system only provides 10 kW and 30 kW, leaving 20 kW unused. This inefficiency could likely be resolved with a firmware update, without requiring any hardware changes. Hopefully, this improvement will be implemented.
  • ICE vehicles blocking the EV charger space is another issue and needs to be educated. Mostly happens in Hotel Parking areas

If IOCL, BPCL and HP enable all the chargers and get them online then there is no question as to if a roaad trip can be done with an Electric Vehicle. Also instead of 25KW and 30KW if all the chargers are upgraded to minimum 60KW then the travel time will be comparable to ICE vehicles.

Note to moderators: If possible could you merge all the posts into a single post as I was getting an error so I had to split the posts.

[mug:mush]

Dear praruaaa4, this is an absolutely delightful read, thank you very much for putting this up. I own a Nexon EV Max and have recently completed 16K KMS in the first year and most of these were driven on long road trips. Contrary to social media discussion, I have never had a breakdown, error or any unsavoury incidents happen to me till date. Still the so called intellectual folks question me if my car stops moving in rain, if it suddenly stops in BLR traffic, if it can climb the steep roads of western ghats etc. etc. Initially I used to be very patient and explain them in detail. These days, I simply smile and start planning my next drive in my mind

[TokyoDrifter]

Excellent thread. Thank you for sharing. Looks like you spent roughly 4. Rs/km on this trip. Phenomenal planning indeed.

[ninjatalli]

Thanks for sharing this.

I must say - you have more enthusiasm than I do for EVs. I just counted the number of stops you had to take to charge your vehicle over the ~3700 kms trip. Nearly 20 halts over 6 days! I can see that you clubbed your meal sessions with the charging sessions, but that's way too much of planning and alignment. And I'm out of words for the late night session where you had to stay up till 12:30 am to get your car charged.

Day 1 - ~900 kms
- Breakfast (charging) session
- Lunch session
- Additional stop Kamadod
- Tea break
- Additional stop Belgavi
- Overnight charging

Day 2 - ~400 kms
- Snacking session

Day 3 - ~300 kms
- Lunch session
- Additional stop Shirdi

Day 4 - 660 kms
- Restroom break session
- Lunch session
- Snacks session
- Overnight charging

Day 5 - 525 kms
- Breakfast session
- Late night session (charging till 12:30 am!!!)

Day 6 - 1053 kms
- Morning session
- Lunch session
- Snacks session
- Additional stop - Vyshali Family Restaurant
- Additional stop - VV Srini
- Dinner session


Kudos to you and your patience.

[praruaaa4]

Originally Posted by mug:mush

the so called intellectual folks question me if my car stops moving in rain, if it suddenly stops in BLR traffic, if it can climb the steep roads of western ghats etc. etc. Initially I used to be very patient and explain them in detail. These days, I simply smile and start planning my next drive in my mind

Yep, it's better to move on rather than justify it I still get questions about battery costs and replacements after the warranty period. My response is that most engines come with a 3-year warranty, but does the engine stop working immediately after the warranty expires?

Originally Posted by TokyoDrifter

Excellent thread. Thank you for sharing. Looks like you spent roughly 4. Rs/km on this trip. Phenomenal planning indeed.

With Statiq offering Rs.11.99 per kWh and Jio offering Rs.15.99 per kWh, the cost is set to decrease further as other CPOs charge between Rs.21 and Rs.26 per kWh. These rates are before tax.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Thanks for sharing this.

I must say - you have more enthusiasm than I do for EVs. I just counted the number of stops you had to take to charge your vehicle over the ~3700 kms trip. Nearly 20 halts over 6 days! I can see that you clubbed your meal sessions with the charging sessions, but that's way too much of planning and alignment. And I'm out of words for the late night session where you had to stay up till 12:30 am to get your car charged.

Day 1 - ~900 kms
- Breakfast (charging) session
- Lunch session
- Additional stop Kamadod
- Tea break
- Additional stop Belgavi
- Overnight charging

Day 2 - ~400 kms
- Snacking session

Day 3 - ~300 kms
- Lunch session
- Additional stop Shirdi

Day 4 - 660 kms
- Restroom break session
- Lunch session
- Snacks session
- Overnight charging

Day 5 - 525 kms
- Breakfast session
- Late night session (charging till 12:30 am!!!)

Day 6 - 1053 kms
- Morning session
- Lunch session
- Snacks session
- Additional stop - Vyshali Family Restaurant
- Additional stop - VV Srini
- Dinner session


Kudos to you and your patience.

Thanks for the summary! Unfortunately, the late-night stand was unavoidable due to a wiring issue at the hotel, which caused the slow charger to show an error. This situation underscores the importance of all hotels adopting the concept of destination chargers. I had to plan my meal breaks around restaurants with DC fast chargers, which meant I had to skip a few good ones. Similarly, stays would be planned at hotels equipped with AC chargers.

[speedmiester]

Thanks for sharing.

Yes, EVs can be comfortably used for long drives. I did a 3000KM+ road trip last year to Statue of Unity and back.

In my personal opinion, you could have saved a few charging stops if you had planned properly.
XC40 can do 350-400Kms with AC at decent speeds of 100KMPH, that means charging every 275-300KMs is ideal.
Also on such long road trips, optimise for average speeds of 60-70KMPH, this will help in better range and lesser anxiety and in turn lesser charging stops.


I did the same during my road trip and I ensured that I stayed in hotels which has AC chargers which helped in topping the battery overnight and also broke the continuous fast charging cycles. Starting every day with a topped up battery offers peace of mind.

Yes, high temperatures affect charging speeds. But this is dependent on the charger as well. During my last trip to Udupi, the Xobolt 30KW charger was charging my car at just 14KW in peak afternoon, so I stopped and went ahead to the Zeon charger, this 60KW charger helped in topping up to 85% from 9% in 38mins at same peak temperatures. Car was charging at 58KW till about 78%.

[akhil_007]

Beautiful travelogue and a beautiful car. Congratulations!

While I enjoyed reading your experience, I would not do it simply because
1. Range Anxiety (ex: if AC is on, range goes down)
2. Too much time spent at charging station
3. Need to club breaks with charging times
4. Current charging points are not sufficient to handle multiple concurrent cars. Leads to L-O-N-G wait times
5. Trip/Destination needs to be planned enroute charging stations and not other way round
6. Dependency on hotels who "allow" you to charge overnight

I hope things will improve across
1. Range
2. Charging infra(charge time and multiple docks)
both of which can lead to
3. Change in mindset of people to adapt to EV

[Chrome6Boy]

Great write up! You are indeed a brave man. Three to four charging sessions in a day is amazing!

We have completed 39,000 kms in our MG ZS in a year and a half and have taken a few road trips but none as epic as yours.

I am like you, I prefer not to take risks and push the car to the last km if possible and I also do multiple charging stops in a day. I detest having to switch off the AC or use eco mode unless I have severe range anxiety.

Your family is extremely patient and cooperative! This in my opinion is one of the main ingredients for a good EV road trip. Lucky man, wish you many more successful road trips.

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by praruaaa4

[*]• Electric vehicles can be taken on long road trips without any range anxiety
• 1000+ kilometres can easily be covered with an Electric vehicle

My understanding is that you spent about 17 hours (rough math) fast charging (not including the overnight charges) during a drive of 63 hours. I guess you might want to add 3-4 hours in the diversions caused in getting to the chargers and starting the charging as well, which makes it a nice round 20 hours of additional time.

Your conclusion is that 1000+ KM can be covered easily without range anxiety, but I'm sorry, spending 1/3rd of my time charging on the road, planning every single meal stop and hotel according to my EV is absolutely not my idea of an easy trip.

I'm the master of my car, not the other way around!!

[UD17]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Thanks for sharing this.

I must say - you have more enthusiasm than I do for EVs.

I was noticing the same. Hats off to OP, looking for more informative travelogues from OP in future. The car looks quite smashing in white.

I can not imagine myself doing this planning for my trips. During our family trip, we usually have fixed place where we eat. I could not risk the food quality if the chargers are not available at my preferred place.

I recently completed a 590Kms trip to Pune- Guhagar beach- Pune in my Hycross (separate post in Hycross thread). The onward journey was 268 Kms which i covered with just one breakfast break. I also could not notice enough charging infrastructure on the route (Pune- Tamhini-Mangaon- Karad- Chiplun-Guhagar). In my Hycross, this complete trip don't even required any re-fueling.

[ALTIMAed]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Thanks for sharing this.

Kudos to you and your patience.

I too drive an EV, a MG Comet to be precise. Having done a Gurgaon - Ajmer - Gurgaon trip in January this year, what I have realized, 'its all in the head' - the stoppages I mean. The driving pleasure / economy / acceleration are are mundane compared to the 'stoppages to charge'. As written, if well planned (understanding the car's range / for every 1 hour of charging by how many kms the range increases), taking an EV for long distance trips is really simple and easy. As a matter of fact, on the Gurgaon - Ajmer - Gurgaon route, I spotted more DC fast chargers than CNG filling stations.

[GoBabyGo]

Originally Posted by praruaaa4

[*]• Electric vehicles can be taken on long road trips without any range anxiety
• 1000+ kilometres can easily be covered with an Electric vehicle
• Both the East and West side routes have ample EV chargers but the central area had limited chargers with most offline. The Golden Quadrilateral Route is fully covered with EV chargers while the side Highways still lack EV infrastructure.
• Lots of BPCL, IOCL and HP outlets have 25KW or 30KW DC chargers but there are always offline (may be installed to boost charger target and numbers but not maintained)
• BPCL – Ionage customer care is very helpful in getting the charger online if you contact then
• Statiq charger network is the best with lowest rate per kWh and has cross tie-ups with lot of CPO’s. Slowly getting to single app and single payment wallet.
• Jio-bp electric charging stations also have the second lowest rate per kWh
• If the rate per kWh is brought below Rs.20/- then the cost saving is justified else only home charging is the only justifiable solution for cost saving.
• The speed limit on the Expressway for cars is 120kmph. So, fast multiple charging stations every 100kms is a must. Hope the concerned officials take note of this and add chargers on every Expressway.
.

Hi, if possible could you please share the cost incurred by you which includes fast charging cost, meal / snacks you have to take due to your car is charging, extra stay, if any and any other incidental charges, which otherwise would not have occurred if you were in ICE Car.

If possible make an excel sheet comparing the EV cost vs ICE (Petrol) car for same route and distance.

How uncomfortable it is for the family members (ladies & kids) to wait while car is charging (other than mandatory stop for breakfast-Lunch-Dinner). Is it not inconvenient to cover a distance in almost 2x time compared to ICE car because of extra charging breaks.