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-   -   Drive 'EV'erywhere | Electric-friendly routes from Bangalore (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/290205-drive-everywhere-electric-friendly-routes-bangalore.html)

For the driving enthusiast in me, the ability to go anywhere on a whim is one of the perks of owning a good ICE car like my Skoda Yeti. So when I bought a MG Windsor, I assumed that this is not a car to satisfy my wanderlust, but one that makes my city rides less stressful.

However, I have lately discovered that there are plenty of routes from Bangalore that are friendly for EVs like Windsor with a limited 300kms range, and some planning can open up electrifying experiences beyond the confines of the city. This thread is to share details from my experiences on such routes to help more EV owners plan their weekend drives from Bangalore.

So here goes the first of the many to follow:

The Sahyadri Run

Bangalore - Mysore [140kms]

Starting with the SOC at 100% in Namma Bengaluru, it is a smooth ride on the expressway all the way to the first pitstop at Mysore. The Zeon fast charger on Hunsur Road is a perfect place to top up the car while you can enjoy a sumptuous breakfast at the restaurant across the street.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/fnoCabifP1bgHEXh6

Mysore - Subramanya [163kms]



Get set for a scenic drive all the way till Subramanya. Don't miss the gourmet cafes enroute (like Coffee District in Somwarpet) and the spectacular Bisile viewpoint.



Stay at the Aurum Subramanya to benefit from the Rebolt charger on site.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/4P3smWztpBTdZ1Dg8

Subramanya - Dharmasthala [52kms]



Take the route via Gundya to reach Dharmasthala with a stop at the Soutadka Ganapati temple. Following your visit to the Manjunatha Swami Temple, you can plan a pitstop at the Hotel Aditya view to combine your lunch and car charging at the Zeon unit on site.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/oRmJCtNGzFBPdPHp7

Dharmasthala - Sakaleshpura [70kms]



Drive through Shiradi ghats hills to reach the unique star shaped fort at Manjarabad (pic credit: wikipedia). You can head out from here to the Skybirds Hotel in Hassan/Shantigrama for a coffee break. You can charge your car at the Zeon charger onsite.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/AHEui2fzPRbUgaGC7

Hassan - Bangalore [180kms]

Zip through the highway all the way till Bangalore.

Most of the tourist places within 500Kms of Bangalore are well electrified.
Even with a 300Kms range, one stop at a charging station is good enough for 450-500Kms drive in a day.

As the owner of a MG Electric car and an Electric scooter I have nothing against EVs per se but am skeptical about long distance drives in EV in India. I understand that there are charging stations here and there but the state of the infrastructure does not inspire confidence. What is the guarantee that when you do reach an EV charging point on the highway it is in working condition? And that it is not already occupied by another vehicle? In my view, venturing on a highway trip in EV is still a risky business in India.

A charger being occupied when you arrive is not a showstopper so I'd be a little less worried about that.

But in the hills(like subramanya , Dharmasthala etc)the power supply is still erratic especially in bad weather. An area having no power supply for a day or two is still a probable scenario. Fuel supply affects ICE cars too however EVs might be more susceptible. Not very high risk but one may perhaps need to be mentally prepared for the worst case scenario which might be to get the car towed/flat bedded to the nearest working charger.

"Charger being occupied" I would not dismiss this risk lightly. Most charging stations are 3.3kwh or at most 7kwh. These take hours to charge a car! So imagine waiting for the previous car to charge up (2 hours at least?) and then waiting for your own car to charge up for another few hours! Your entire travel plan can go for a toss. And the price? Most stations charge Rs. 20/unit at least which is just usurious pricing!

"car towed/flat bedded" in such remote places where even power supply is not guaranteed what is the likelihood of finding towing services? And at what cost?

Sorry to sound so pessimistic but IMO highways and EVs are oil and water in India today: they just don't mix:)

Where are you getting info that most chargers are 3.3 kW? That's the amount of a power a household 15A plug point can deliver. Surely a charging station can deliver more?

Unlike ICE, EV infra is completely digitised so it takes some unlearning.

For example: You don't have to visit a charging station to know it's being used or if there is a power outage. You can open the app on your phone and find this info.

I have been road tripping on my ZS EV for the past two years and the EV infra in and around Bangalore has become extremely good with lots of options.

The real stress test for this was on the Sunday during the end of the long weekend for Diwali. I was bracing for pile ups at charging stations and I preemptively charged up to 100% at Sankari on my Coimbatore to Bangalore drive. During peak hours I noticed so many vacant chargers on my way back.

We do a lot more road trips now with an EV than on ICE vehicles because it's just more fun driving it.

Only AC charging will take hours. DC fast charging for 1 hour will do for the next 250+ km.Tata Nexon and Punch take maximum time, and with a 30 kWh DC charger, they charge to 80% in 1 hour. New EVs with fast charging features and more and more superfast DC chargers will take less than 1 hour to charge up to 80%.

Completely agreed with your view. On one of my recent trip from Gorakhpur to Pune I was not able to locate a good place to have food, makes me wonder how on earth someone is going to get working set of DC fast charger on such routes, which is not occupied by other vehicle :Frustrati

Some of my drives during my last road trip streached as long as 1000KM a day like from Jabalpur to Pune. Such a drive need atleast 3 charging sessions if not more, and thats what keeps fence sitters like me out of the scenario for now.

Although, on the otherhand such drives are limited to one or max two days in a year while rest is purely home to office type trips which will be super fun on an EV :Cheering:

"most charging stations being 3.3kwh...." I would like to be proved wrong but every time I browse through the websites showing charging stations majority that I see are of this type. Yes... they all display 15/16A socket to boot:)

"app to check the status of the charging station" Agree but what option would one have if the station is busy and the charge in the EV is for 50km and the next available station is 75km away? With an ICE car one can always hitchhike to the next petrol bunk and carry petrol in a can; with EV one can't carry charge back to the stranded carlol:

Availability of charging stations in and around Bangalore or Mumbai or such metros is not much solace when you have to drive through Anakapalle or Yavatmal. And EVs may have DC charge capability but try finding reasonably priced, DC charger on any highway! IMHO the manufacturers are pulling a fast one on gullible customers by selling these features at inflated prices. Like selling 8K TVs when there is very little content available of that resolution.

ICE vehicles breakdown too, sometimes in remote places. Either the OEM or the insurer should be able to arrange a tow from most places. The cost will depend on your RSA or insurance terms. For certain use cases where one has to travel extensively in rural/remote areas, an EV may not work out but that doesn't mean EVs are totally unsuitable for the highways. It requires a little bit of planning though. There are plenty of threads here on the forum where people have completed multi day road trips over thousands of KMS hassle free in an EV. It's only a matter of time before EVs become mainstream, batteries will have more endurance soon.

I too used to be skeptical about EV’s as I can sense many people here are, from the tone and manner of the posts on the thread. I used to say (in a jocular vein) that EV’s are the work of the Devil. I used to constantly banter in a sarcastic manner with good friends like @cooldube and all, about EV’s.
And so on.

But then, as I have described a year ago in various EV test drive threads, I was very impressed and happy with all the electric vehicles that I test drove last year.

These experiences caused me, after three months of consideration and testing and thinking, to put my cash down and buy a Hyundai Kona EV which I love for various reasons, all described on multiple threads, especially the 1000kms thread owned by my other friend @GKR9900.

It is perfectly easy to drive an EV for a medium-long distance. And I have done it a few times in the last one year of EV ownership - Bangalore-Mysore, Bangalore-Ooty via Mysore, Bandipur and the Sigur Ghat and back via Gudalur and Mysore, Bangalore- Mysore-Wayanaad and back, etc.

It works well for me on the specific routes that I regularly use.

One has to change one’s thinking and recalibrate one’s driving behaviour to factor in a charging stop ir two, depending on the distance planned to be covered, combined with rest breaks. And that is not a bad thing.

An EV, because of its silent yet explosive power delivery can be very very enjoyable. More importantly, the silence allows one to enjoy music and conversation more than say in a growly petrol car.

In my case, my growly petrol car automatically causes me to focus on the growl and (in my head at least) makes me make brrm brrm noises and pretend to be an reincarnation of Paddy Hopkirk.

My tiny off roader causes me (in my head) to think I am Indiana Jones.

But the smoothness and comfort of my EV changes everything. One is seized with a certain, rather wonderful sense of calm and a warm glow of contentment. My head becomes bathed in a halo of peace. And I lose myself in my Spotify lists.

It is perfectly ok to drive more sedately. No longer is it necessary to keep on at the frenetic pace of life, on the road too, in order to rush madly from point to point. It is ok to stop and charge now and then and sip some coffee or eat some food and generally look around. It induces an earlier start which allows one to experience less traffic on the highways.

And, considering Southern India, there is plenty of charging infrastructure available.

As another positive side effect, one also learns the virtue of patience, which in turn keeps the blood pressure under control.

I am now firmly one of those oddballs who loves both Petrol / ICE vehicles as well as EV’s. There is nothing wrong with that, so no apologies. Life does not have to be a 0-1 game in these matters.

And for all those experiencing range anxiety, I too used to. But it is easy to get rid of that fear with just a little planning and by being sensible.

And now, one year later after I bought my EV, the sheer choices that are available to the consumer, which promise absolute miles of range, can only make things better.

Forget all the virtue signalling and green talk and touting those ‘environmentalist’ cues. Just enjoy the feel, the cost savings and the silence.

EV’s are simply here to stay, because they are of their own merit, extremely viable ‘alternate fuelled’ vehicles.

I have driven over 60K kms combined on both my EVs. And more than 45K kms of these are on the highways. I have driven from Bangalore to Gujarat, Kanyakumari, Hyderabad, Goa, and many places. Never had issues with charging. There are many apps to help in planning the drives. I have driven over 900+kms in a single day thrice, even then this required charging for about 2hrs coinciding with food and rest room breaks.

Most of the earlier chargers are getting upgraded to 60KW or more and with multiple chargers. The number of fast chargers on the highways are also increasing.

If you are not convinced of the charging infra, take a drive within the comfortable distance of your car's range, this will change your opinion.

Thanks for sharing your experience with long distance drives. My long distance drives are blr-hyd++, blr-udupi+ and blr-south tamilnadu, kerala. So the single day distance can range from 450 km to 750km for me. Assuming my EV doesn't support DC charging would you say I can cover such distances with a single 2 hour recharge in between? Would appreciate your feedback.

@sankar.balan and @ike ... Sorry if I sounded sarcastic or flippant. That was not my intent. I was merely trying to put across my views in a humorous vein. Like I said at the beginning I do use two EVs myself but have so far confined myself to the city. I appreciate the quietness and power of EVs that you point out but even EVs do whine/drone a little. ICE or EV there is the risk of dozing off on long highway drives particularly after lunch break if it gets too silent inside the car:)

On a philosophical note about the non-polluting nature of EVs IMO the jury is still out. I feel we are only shifting the point and nature of pollution even with EVs. But that is a matter for discussion on a different thread.

This might be the scene in or around Bangalore. In the NCR and to Ajmer (done this route twice), finding a 3.3Kwhr or 7.4 Kwhr public charger was a challenge as my Comet only supports AC charging. DC chargers where avalable in plenty. During my recent trip to Ajmer, I had to restore to charging my car at a resort and a petrol pumps 15A socket.

Not sure which EV you drive. If it is Comet, this is a city car and cannot be compared to Cars like Nexon, ZS EV or others. Comet will struggle on the long drive as it does not come with DC fast charging.
If you have the ZS EV, then it's a good highway car. I have taken my earlier ZS on many long drives.