[Raghu M]

Really have to appreciate the guy's planning and determination. If I have to be very frank, I wouldn't like to do all that to do a simple drive down to Vizag. That is too much planning and calculation of range. Having a night halt would have not been required on regular cars. That is the problem with EVs, you need a lot of stuff running in your mind - Single pedal driving, regenerative braking, AC at 26 degrees, car not charging appropriately at times. I think this is all too much for a n average driver. I don't think my next upgrade would be an EV, not at what it is today. Let's say the range increases to 400 kms, that would still not be a great deal for me.

[RoadAtlas]

A painful reminder of the fact that it will take a lot of time before a similar road trip can be arranged in Eastern India entirely in an Electric Vehicle:



With a range of only 250 kilometers, starting from Kolkata, I cannot reach even Malda, forget Siliguri. I will have to spend a night (maybe two) in different hotels and ask them to share their electricity which I shall use to charge my vehicle overnight, which they may very well deny.

Hope this gets changed soon. I do not have any problem waiting for 3 additional hours for charging (I may relax or sleep), but the prospect of saving money on fuel is too good of an incentive.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

It isn't about his expecting or asking for any incentive, and my post wasn't to berate him in any manner. It is simply good social behaviour by a very large company like Tata, to offer a gift of some kind for his troubles. Or have such small niceties stopped mattering for TML?

Maybe it was just the local dealer who got a bit excited and wanted some publicity. The video looks very amateurish, especially the subtitles.
It clot of upto 270 kms

[FloatingCanvas]

Originally Posted by Diesel_Drives

Heck, they might use this testimonial in their court case for supporting EVs kms range. Who knows!
(https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto...430687427.html)

They very well might do just that. Maybe that is the reason they did not give him any freebies/incentives so as to claim that he is an unbiased user and not unduly influenced by them with any rewards/incentives.

If that isn't the case, they definitely should have comped his charging expenses, which would be least they could do. A free service (with interior detailing) would be more befitting, considering the amazing content he has given for TATA's marketing team.

[TorqueIndia]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

Meet my friend, Uday Kiran. We're buddies from college, and this is the story of how Uday did a 1400 KM roundtrip in a EV, and how it was.
Attachment 2156084
The Wh/ KM is cumulative

The trip took him 14 hours of driving time - this is about 5 to 6 hours more than it would have in a ICE car. As it was getting late, he halted overnight in Rajahmundry, met a few friends and chilled out. It was a no-agenda/ no-time-constraint drive, he was doing it at a leisurely pace - he maintained 80 KMPH for most part, and there were some bad roads after Vijayawada, slowing his progress a bit more.

Starting off with 100% charge from home, he paid about Rs. 785 for the fast chargers on the way - the estimate is about Rs. 1.20 to Rs. 1.30 per KM for his usual usage.

His return journey was a solo drive for 14 hours straight, tracing back the same route.

With an average speed of ~50 KMPH, driving long distances with an EV, while possible, will definitely need planning - and patience. The average KMPH will be 50% to 60% slower than an ICE car, due to the longer time to "top-up" the battery - and because you better drive at 80 KMPH or less if you want to extend the DTE by that much.

Few observations from the the table of one side data -

Total distance covered : 680KM.
Total time of driving+charging : 14 +3 hrs.
Total % of battery consumed : 270%.
Range per % on average : 2.51 KM ( 250KM average in 100% battery).
Highest range observed : Lap 1 160KM at 2.85KM per %.
Lowest range observed : Lap 2 163KM at 2.17KM per %.
Average speed of the trip including the breaks : 40KMPH, that's exactly the average we are getting while travelling along Kerala in an ICE hatchback, I have no idea on the route in the topic though.

[Raghu M]

Originally Posted by TorqueIndia

Few observations from the the table of one side data -

Total distance covered : 680KM.
Total time of driving+charging : 14 +3 hrs.
Total % of battery consumed : 270%.
Range per % on average : 2.51 KM ( 250KM average in 100% battery).
Highest range observed : Lap 1 160KM at 2.85KM per %.
Lowest range observed : Lap 2 163KM at 2.17KM per %.
Average speed of the trip including the breaks : 40KMPH, that's exactly the average we are getting while travelling along Kerala in an ICE hatchback, I have no idea on the route in the topic though.

I am not quite sure of the % calculations. If you look at pure average speeds, you wouldn't notice the difference. The point here is, he made a night halt. Now the average time to Vizag is around 12 hours. He did it in 17 hours which is 5 hours more. Not to forget the night halt. The route is fantastic, barring some patch works between Vijayawada and Rajahmundry. That is a lot of planning and time consumed for the trip.

[chandu]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

While it is interesting to read about the journey and its hiccups, I find it absolutely shocking that two Tata marketing teams had the gall to film your friend in his personal space inside his car, at a time when COVID-19 is raging across the country - that too, without offering him any kind of remuneration / freebies / incentive - just to score some brownie points with their bosses.

I dont think that any of the Tata people were inside his car, they filming seems to have been done using the gopro type cameras mounted in the car.

I have seen this type of setup in Jerry Sienfeld's "Comedians in cars" show on netflix.

[AZT]

Fantastic thread. It not only shows you that long drives are possible (if planned properly) and also the pitfalls of owning an EV (drive time increases by ~ 40%).

EV's are here to stay and once we can reach the 500 km on a single charge magic number, it could even be the only car in your garage.

[Neversaygbye]

While this road trip in the Nexon EV is really commendable and speaks volumes of Mr. Uday Kiran's can-do attitude, I think it also demonstrates the glaring shortcomings of most EVs, i.e. range and charging time. Both contributed substantially to the journey time getting stretched by almost 50% and necessitating a break at Rajahmundry. Even with a Kona the journey time would have been longer than with a conventional ICE car. From my perspective, EVs available at a decent budget in India are still pure city runabouts. There's just too much hassle involved in taking them on long trips. Hence I am not sure that EV adoption will pick up pace until range and charging time issues are sorted out. Plus right now there are fewer EVs on the road, so there may not be too much concurrent demand for charging points, but if EV sales pickup, even with more charging points, waiting to get a free charging point will become another nightmare to worry about.

Originally Posted by RoadAtlas

With a range of only 250 kilometers, starting from Kolkata, I cannot reach even Malda, forget Siliguri.

I can so relate to this. At the very least there should be charging points every 100 kms or so. Digha, Shankarpur and Mandarmani which are popular seaside destinations only about 180-200 kms from Cal are ripe for putting up charging points. Is anyone in Tata Power listening?

[eyeman]

Well, that is definitely an interesting read. Thanks for sharing. But I have to say that reading this doesn't boost my confidence about using an EV for a long distance trip, at least in the near future. But they seem to be very good options for short and intermediate distance trips, say upto 100km one way.

[ph03n!x]

Thank you for all your comments, questions, doubts, brick bats, folks! Didn't think there will as much interest in what, if the EV is removed from the equation, a boring drive

Originally Posted by TorqueIndia

Few observations from the the table of one side data -

Total distance covered : 680KM.
Total time of driving+charging : 14 +3 hrs.
Total % of battery consumed : 270%.
Range per % on average : 2.51 KM ( 250KM average in 100% battery).
Highest range observed : Lap 1 160KM at 2.85KM per %.
Lowest range observed : Lap 2 163KM at 2.17KM per %.
Average speed of the trip including the breaks : 40KMPH, that's exactly the average we are getting while travelling along Kerala in an ICE hatchback, I have no idea on the route in the topic though.

Originally Posted by Raghu M

I am not quite sure of the % calculations. If you look at pure average speeds, you wouldn't notice the difference. The point here is, he made a night halt. Now the average time to Vizag is around 12 hours. He did it in 17 hours which is 5 hours more. Not to forget the night halt. The route is fantastic, barring some patch works between Vijayawada and Rajahmundry. That is a lot of planning and time consumed for the trip.

Originally Posted by AZT

Fantastic thread. It not only shows you that long drives are possible (if planned properly) and also the pitfalls of owning an EV (drive time increases by ~ 40%).

EV's are here to stay and once we can reach the 500 km on a single charge magic number, it could even be the only car in your garage.

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

While this road trip in the Nexon EV is really commendable and speaks volumes of Mr. Uday Kiran's can-do attitude, I think it also demonstrates the glaring shortcomings of most EVs, i.e. range and charging time.
...
...

Originally Posted by eyeman

Well, that is definitely an interesting read. Thanks for sharing. But I have to say that reading this doesn't boost my confidence about using an EV for a long distance trip, at least in the near future. But they seem to be very good options for short and intermediate distance trips, say upto 100km one way.

Let me address the thoughts around driving time here. Uday was doing this for the heck - to see if he can pull it off, and if so how. He did not have any time constraint - and if you look at the table with the stops, he spent a lot more time that the actual charging time, coz he was doing other stuff too.

But now that he's done it this road trip, I foresee the next drive (hopefully, with me!) will be somewhat like this (pessimistic forecast, mind yo!) - considering the road condition from Vijayawada to Vizag now:

This is still about an hour and a half more than what an ICE car will do if driven sanely on this route. We now know how much charge, and hence DTE, the car will have at each lap - and won't hesitate to do 100 to 120 KMPH where the roads permit. Looking at the EV availability along this stretch, we will definitely be covered even if the range drops to 150 KM.

After all, this was the longest round trip that we are aware of on a Nexon EV when we were planning for it - now that we have done it, a 65 to 70KMPH overall average seems definitely doable.

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

...
...
...
Right now no company is interested in bringing such models to India as they have too much demand in other markets (Europe, US, etc...) and limited battery production. Even MG is pricing ZS EV at much higher than their home market just because they can.

Even on the 2 wheeler side despite very good tax incentives and subsidies companies are not interested in bringing mass-market EVs. High battery price complaints are just hogwash because they are interested only in milking the ICE business.

Right now, we are content with assembling EVs - cars and two wheelers - with the drive motor and batteries imported from China. Or Korea, in case of Hyundai. And with the Lithium dependency - where China has the gold mine, change ain't in the horizon either. But for what it is, cars like Nexon EV, Kona, MG eZS are honest efforts to give a good city car. As a nation, we are years away from being an EV-culture, hopefully the entry of Tesla will make things interesting here too!

Originally Posted by jithin23

This is something I can relate to. I love such drives. Kudos to you and your friend for sharing this experience with the community. For a EV, the charge times are reasonable and this thread prices that with a little bit of planning, EV's can be used for road trips.

Only thing to test is the efficiency of EV in hills /mountains.

While am sure there will be a nice hill experience with this car coming up sometime in the future, I don't see why it would be of concern - the instant torque will definitely make uphill a breeze - while downhill will end up being a "wireless recharging" run - but might need the brakes more than what engine braking would offer in an ICE car is what I suspect.

Originally Posted by thechinmay

Its great to see charging infrastructure coming up. That coupled with increasing range on the newer generation of EV's will make long journeys pretty comfortable.
However, mass adoption will need a LOT more chargers along with more charging bays per station as well. I think it'll take the better part of a decade for the infrastructure to catch up to a point where it can support a few crore EVs on Indian roads.

True - it is going to take a while before we are EV-ready across the country, as well as with EV range/ recharge times - but if there are no early adopters, it will never happen, eh?! And for that, the Nexon EV is definitely a good, VFM proposition!

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Interesting to see plugshare has a trip planner beta function. This looks like a very nice tool. You can add your vehicle, plugshare estimates the range of the vehicle and it shows the working radius based on range. You can also adjust the estimated range if you know how your speed, weather and terrain is. This can be used to determine the farthest possible charging station. Then each station enroute can be added to trip.
...
...

Thank you for this - am surprised to see they have covered India too nicely - at least the route that Uday took is! This will certainly help plan future trips.

Originally Posted by armumbai

...
...My question was, how does one reach Saputara from Mumbai given the charging infrastructure currently in place.

I was scheduled for a drive to Bandhavgarh in April ‘20 and the lockdown settled that plan for good. I since sold off my Ecosport and am in the market for a replacement. One of the contenders being the Nexon EV
...
...
I was dismayed to find that Bhopal-Bandhavgarh is ~489km one way with 0 charging points available at all. That’s far beyond the range of the Kona or the MG too.
...
...
I must mention I loved the enthusiasm of the OP and the recounting of such experiences will help all of us in Team-BHP immensely in making this EV movement grow. Thanks so much

While Bombay to Saputara seem to be possible with the EV Infra (thanks to the plugshare app), Bandhavgarh is definitely not possible - not unless you check with hotels along the way where you plan a halt - and they allow you to recharge overnight. And the stay in your destination too should allow you to charge the car there.

The EV infra is definitely not something to boast about - but these are early days... If you travel a lot, an EV cannot be the only car in your garage, at least not right now!

Originally Posted by RoadAtlas

A painful reminder of the fact that it will take a lot of time before a similar road trip can be arranged in Eastern India entirely in an Electric Vehicle:
...
...
Hope this gets changed soon. I do not have any problem waiting for 3 additional hours for charging (I may relax or sleep), but the prospect of saving money on fuel is too good of an incentive.

One thing that we found - there are hotels who allow you to use their 15 Amp socket for the portable "slow charger" - if you are determined to plan a journey with an EV where you don't find adequate coverage, it will be good to check with your planned stay-overs to see if they would! But then, an EV is best suited to be a city-use car now - can't be your highway runner.

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Maybe it was just the local dealer who got a bit excited and wanted some publicity. The video looks very amateurish, especially the subtitles.
...

Lol yeah, even I noticed this, and a couple more! But then we have original BD subtitles that have funnier gaffes than this -

Guess it is something about the speech-to-text that whoever did the video used. And didn't proof read the output

Originally Posted by chandu

I dont think that any of the Tata people were inside his car, they filming seems to have been done using the gopro type cameras mounted in the car.
...

That is correct!

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

In the second week of March this year, COVID-19 was very much thriving in India, but the risk perception was low amongst a lot of folks. Glad nothing untoward happened.

It isn't about his expecting or asking for any incentive, and my post wasn't to berate him in any manner. It is simply good social behaviour by a very large company like Tata, to offer a gift of some kind for his troubles. Or have such small niceties stopped mattering for TML?

Originally Posted by Diesel_Drives

Enthu-cutlet
...
...
...
As already pointed, even though your friend wasn't expecting anybit from Tata Motors, but they ended up using your friends personal experiences, his space, his journey for making a full blown promotion for their own product! He even thanks Tata Motors at the end of the video for making this journey possible (whether out of his own wish or a scripted dialogue)

Heck, they might use this testimonial in their court case for supporting EVs kms range. Who knows!
(https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto...430687427.html)

Originally Posted by FloatingCanvas

They very well might do just that. Maybe that is the reason they did not give him any freebies/incentives so as to claim that he is an unbiased user and not unduly influenced by them with any rewards/incentives.

If that isn't the case, they definitely should have comped his charging expenses, which would be least they could do. A free service (with interior detailing) would be more befitting, considering the amazing content he has given for TATA's marketing team.

While I totally understand that you are coming from a place of concern towards my friend's health and safety, let me assure you that we took solid precautions right from the initial planning phase. Coronavirus was not raging, things were almost BAU in this part of the world (don't take my word for it, see the trend for Telangana and AP, his source and destination) - and if at all you bump into Uday anytime in the future, check out his car. I bet it will be spic and span, clean and sanitized - this is not because of the pandemic, that how he is even before Dec 2019.

On Tata Motors not offering any freebies or goodies to him - I am sure Uday would have told them off even if they did - there are things that go beyond material offering, like goodwill. I for one value that more than a free car wash, service or goodies - so does he. I am sure he has earned some goodwill with TaMo, and who knows when he will need it?! Let's not find fault with TaMo just because Uday did not want anything of that sort, won't hear about it.

And he definitely will vouch for the Nexon EV (and so will I), for the value it offers. If you remember, I have been telling him that is a city car - and not to use it on the highway. It shines in city use (unless you travel 175+ KM in the city daily, in which case it won't), refined, powerful, a decent music system and is definitely a well put together car. And VFM too. Mind you, he has owned Hyundais, Hondas, M&M and Tata - he is not a TaMo fanboy, but someone who appreciates quality and VFM, that's it.

Originally Posted by AjayJoshuaN

Instead of maintaining the speed of 80 KM/h, is it better to reach 100 KM/h and then switch from D to N and coast till the car reaches 80 km/h, and then switch back from N to D and again accelerate to 100 KM/h, and repeat this process?
That way, the momentum is being used efficiently and the destination will also be reached faster?

I will never encourage coasting - not in an ICE car, nor in an EV. But then, considering the knowledge and experience we now have from this drive, we can actually maintain 100 - 120 KMPH without having range anxiety!

Originally Posted by GTO

Please ask your friend to register on the forum & PM me his username. Will have it activated ASAP .

Done - PMing you right after I post this!

Originally Posted by GTO

That's a lot man! It's almost 50% more driving time. Forget India, even in the USA, long road-trips in EVs aren't as fuss-free as in ICE cars. The Electrify America network is patchy; while Tesla's charging network is the best, it is far from flawless.

If the only car in my house was an EV, I would certainly borrow or rent an ICE car for road-trips.

While I am with you on taking a good ol' ICE car for highways, this trip took an unnecessarily longer time because he was not just doing a point A to B drive. Like I have replied to an earlier quote, this route will not take more than an hour or two more than an ICE car. We will do that again sometime and maybe update this thread...

Originally Posted by Raghu M

Really have to appreciate the guy's planning and determination. If I have to be very frank, I wouldn't like to do all that to do a simple drive down to Vizag. That is too much planning and calculation of range. Having a night halt would have not been required on regular cars. That is the problem with EVs, you need a lot of stuff running in your mind - Single pedal driving, regenerative braking, AC at 26 degrees, car not charging appropriately at times. I think this is all too much for a n average driver. I don't think my next upgrade would be an EV, not at what it is today. Let's say the range increases to 400 kms, that would still not be a great deal for me.

Well, someone has to do it, eh?! But then, second time is always a charm and we will definitely post a more confident update sometime in the future.

The single pedal driving, 26C for the AC, etc. is if you want to maximize your range - this route doesn't need that, Uday could have made a pedal to metal drive and still would have arrived. After all, what is the fun in mileage-conscious drive with all that horses and torque?! This trip would have given him (and me too!) the confidence on the Nexon EV's capabilities - which we will (ab)use to the fullest in the future!

[imp!]

Impressive that he pulled something like this off, somethings are just a bit too painful to do for me. A long trip in an EV is. Until I can get a real world range that matches 500-700 odd Km that VAG and most German diesels give, and a recharge time of 8 minutes or less, I just can't be bothered with EVs. I might consider the Nexon for a city or daily commuter but that is about it.

I sincerely hope that the manufacturers can overcome the shortcomings of Hydrogen Fuel Cells. Toyota at-least, hasn't given up yet.

[am1m]

Great trip, great read, kudos to the gentleman for planning and completing this trip and thanks for sharing.

Am an EV believer for sure, I'd love for EVs to replace ICE vehicles. But must say this account only reinforces my belief that EVs are not a complete replacement yet, especially for cars.

The best part of any modern car is that you can just jump in, take off on a road trip. The car being able to complete the journey is the least of your worries. But reading about this much planning, it takes me back to our family road trips of the 80s and 90s where every halt had to be meticulously planned! Nostalgia yeah, but a step back.

Am sure it's a matter of time before charging infra is better and more widespread and that will help. But more than that, faster charging, better range and yes, an electric car at a comparable ICE model cost should also happen.