[Venky03]

Day 1:

Mumbai to Pune (143kms) - Left Mumbai at 100% and reached Pune with 24% SOC left, maintained 95kmph on the expressway. Was stuck in the weekend stop and go traffic in ghat section which resulted in higher consumption. Decided to charge up at Shell Sus Lane charging station, this did not show up on plugshare and was only visible on Shell Recharge app.



One gentleman with his dark edition Nexon EV was trying to initiate charge with 87% SOC, since he was using the connector intended for bay 2, I had to use the one from bay 1 and was unable to initiate charge due to communication error. Called up shell helpline, they asked me to hold the connector until charge session initiates and then leave it. Had breakfast while the car was charging, after 45mins the battery was at 87% SOC.

Pune to Satara (137kms) - Left Pune at 87% and reached the stay with 29% SOC left, maintained 80kmph on NH48.



Faced the earthing issue with their 16A socket, I was prepared for this with separate socket for earthing on my extension. Was yet to get the copper earthing rod, so used the screwdriver instead for the time being. Charged overnight to 100%.







Day 2:

Local spots and Satara to Sangli (204kms) - Left the stay at 100%, topped up around 8% with slow charger while having lunch. Reached Sangli with 21% charge left.




Day 3:

Local spots (180kms) - Left stay at 100% after charging overnight, visited some local spots. Faced earthing issues here as well, used the same screw-driver earthing with my extension.









Day 4:

Sangli to Wai (180kms) - Reached Wai with 16% SOC left. Charged at Hotel Sai Park Inn Chargezone FC. Topped up to 78% while we had our lunch.





Wai to Pune (77kms) - Reached Pune with 50% SOC, topped up to 88% at Jio-BP FC.



Pune To Mumbai (145kms) - Reached home with 32% SOC.



Electric cars are still quite rare in the inner parts of Maharashtra. People were surprised to learn that these cars can't run on petrol once the battery is depleted. I explained that it is similar to how petrol cars can't run once we run out of petrol. We offered to pay our hosts for the slow charge, but they kindly refused to accept any payment.
The car performed extremely well throughout the trip, and we did not encounter any issues with DC FCs. However, I did call Shell, Chargezone, and Jio-BP beforehand to confirm that their FCs were functional.

Total DC FC cost - ₹1183

[suryaj1990]

The car obviously gave a much better range In the return leg since you got a lot of downhill. You averaged 2km/% (percent) while going and 2.5km/% while returning

[Quaser]

@Venky03, how come your car's number plate has only "VENKY" on it but no registration number??

[MindFreak9874]

Originally Posted by Quaser

@Venky03, how come your car's number plate has only "VENKY" on it but no registration number??

That looks like a very nicely done edit, for privacy.

You can see a blank plate on the other car as well, in the charging photo.

[Rohitthebest]

Going by your running details on the highways, you are getting somewhere close to 200 KMs at a stretch. That too on the highways. What is the usual average you get in city after a full 100% charge?

[Cayenne-8055]

Thanks for sharing @Venky03. I'm curious to know about the Earthing issue you encountered, is it something commonly faced by EV owners? If so, whats the recommended way to fix it and what causes it. Please excuse me if its a naive question

[GreenerPlanet]

Originally Posted by Venky03

Faced the earthing issue with their 16A socket, I was prepared for this with separate socket for earthing on my extension. Was yet to get the copper earthing rod, so used the screwdriver instead for the time being. Charged overnight to 100%.

Very interesting. This deserves a new thread.

[Saanil]

Hi Venky!

Fantastic thread! I also own the MR version (same color) but have not been confident enough of taking the car out of Mumbai which happens to be my place of residence. Last weekend, an opportunity emerged for a trip to Khopoli (to-and-fro distance of 220kms). I tried my level best to plan the trip but eventually ended up taking a petrol vehicle. The fear of being stranded was stronger because I was traveling with my 3 year old son and my wife.

Could you kindly post some pictures / details of the charging extension kit you have made along with the arrangements of earthing? I still need to learn more about the concept of earthing but any quick tips from you would help! I know we can utilize fast charging but I want to be well prepared for slow charging options as well when traveling outside Mumbai.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by Cayenne-8055

Thanks for sharing @Venky03. I'm curious to know about the Earthing issue you encountered, is it something commonly faced by EV owners? If so, whats the recommended way to fix it and what causes it. Please excuse me if its a naive question

Earthing issues is not related to the car. The charger of car needs a proper earthed power point to function properly. The issue is that most of the Indian households or local commercial establishments don't have proper earthing done. This is why you need to connect external earthing for the charger to function properly.

[Venky03]

Originally Posted by Rohitthebest

What is the usual average you get in city after a full 100% charge?

In winters I was getting around 210kms with 20% SOC remaining.
In summers I'm getting around 140kms with 20% SOC remaining.

Originally Posted by Cayenne-8055

I'm curious to know about the Earthing issue you encountered, is it something commonly faced by EV owners? If so, whats the recommended way to fix it and what causes it. Please excuse me if its a naive question

+

Originally Posted by GreenerPlanet

Very interesting. This deserves a new thread.

+

Originally Posted by Saanil

Could you kindly post some pictures / details of the charging extension kit you have made along with the arrangements of earthing?

Note from Mod:
Discussion on the grounding kit has been split into it's own thread (My home-made extension & grounding/earthing kit to help with EV charging issues)

[MJdrives]

Hi Venky
Nice write-up. I also own the Empowered MR variant and have taken him for a couple of long trips, mostly to the hills(Ooty, Munnar), and am very satisfied with the overall performance of the car.
On my trip to Ooty, I encountered a small issue while fast charging. I received a pop-up from ZConnect that charging had been completed and when I started up the car, the battery icon on the instrument cluster was showing a question mark and a percentage symbol. My heart skipped a beat and I suddenly did a force restart via steering and everything was back to normal. It was a software bug I think. This issue occurred one more time about 1 month after and again was fixed by a restart. Have you ever experienced something like this?
Also one more thing, Which software did you use to edit that license plate. It looks clean

[Venky03]

Originally Posted by MJdrives

Have you ever experienced something like this?
Also one more thing, Which software did you use to edit that license plate. It looks clean

Yes, the software has been buggy :



I used GIMP to edit all the photos, it's free & opensource.

[ECD]

Originally Posted by Venky03

In winters I was getting around 210kms with 20% SOC remaining.
In summers I'm getting around 140kms with 20% SOC remaining.

That's a huge difference. Is it similar among all EV's especially recently launched ones ?

Originally Posted by Venky03

Mumbai to Pune (143kms) - Left Mumbai at 100% and reached Pune with 24% SOC left, maintained 95kmph on the expressway. Was stuck in the weekend stop and go traffic in ghat section which resulted in higher consumption...

But I understand stop & go traffic city traffic gives more mileage than highway

Were you not using regen ?

[tumordox]

Originally Posted by ECD

That's a huge difference. Is it similar among all EV's especially recently launched ones ?

I am using Nexon EV 45 from November , In November-December when AC use was low the energy consumption was 135 Wh/km , translating to 45/.135 : 333km. Now with the outside temperature around 35 degrees in Kerala with the AC blasting moderately , it returns the consumption of 155 Wh / km translating to 290 km of range, my driving happens in mornings and evenings, consumption could be higher if driven in the noon time , so AC really eats into usable range

[ECD]

Originally Posted by tumordox

I am using Nexon EV 45 from November , In November-December when AC use was low the energy consumption was 135 Wh/km , translating to 45/.135 : 333km. Now with the outside temperature around 35 degrees in Kerala with the AC blasting moderately , it returns the consumption of 155 Wh / km translating to 290 km of range, my driving happens in mornings and evenings, consumption could be higher if driven in the noon time , so AC really eats into usable range

Oh, so all those EV range test videos I saw on youtube are actually only half the story, without considering summer AC use
No one is quoting these mileage figures separately for winter and summer, including the reputed Autocar India

It seems models like Suzuki eVitara uses heat pump tech which could increase AC efficiency little bit but with more upfront cost.
I wonder if engineers could find the use of evaporative swamp cooling system on an EV. Quick googling shows early cars used them on windows but no more in modern era.