Today I completed my first ever roadtrip in an Electric Vehicle. A solo drive in my parents’ Tata Punch EV from Kalpetta, Wayanad to Hassan, Karnataka.
- Distance: 212 Kms
- Time: 5h 30mins (including 35 mins for charging)
This route had three distinct sections
- Kalpetta to Gonikoppa: windy ghat sections
- Forest section post Gonikoppa
- Then flat lands all the way to Hassan
The car did phenomenally well in all three sections. The instant torque from the electric motors is the defining factor.
It climbs the ghat sections like a sports car. Zooms through the forests in eerie silence. And it makes quick overtakes a breeze on the flats.
The tradeoff is the charging stops. It’s more evident when traveling on a new route in an EV.
Punch EV claims a 421km range. In reality, if you can cross 300km, thats great.
So the 212km on this trip should be easy given I am leaving Kalpetta with 100% charge. But this is a route my parents might travel again in a few weeks and what if they don’t leave with 100%, or run into some potential issues on the way back? I wanted to scout and survey the chargers on the route and experience the process firsthand.
Being somewhat midway, Gonikoppa was the natural choice. There were 2 chargers listed and I picked the Zeon charger in Tata Motors showroom which had the best Plugscore on PlugShare app. Went to the spot, downloaded the zeon app, topped up the wallet with ₹100 and plugged in the charger and hit the start button.
Charging didn’t start. Tried three times, same issue. No clear error reason.
Frustration. Confusion.
Its a Sunday. There are no staff or security around to help.
Should I ditch this and go find another charger? Then I remembered someone on youtube complaining that these apps need a minimum balance. The app didn’t mention that as the error, so its going to be a long shot. So I topped up the balance to 300 and voila, 4th time lucky, charging starts.
I charged up to 85% and set off. I’ve heard that usually in EVs charging speed drops off at 80%, but in Punch EV I was surprised that charging was good all the way to 85%, so that was great.
Overall, that took about 15 mins (and some emotional swings) for me to figure out how to start charging. Many others might have just given up.
The whole fast charing experience felt like the how smartphones were pre-iPhone. Clunky and complicated. Definitely not mass market.
Would be cool if it was just plug and forget. Charging networks detect which car and then auto deduct money from a central shared wallet (could be fastag balance). This removes the friction of apps, wallets and pre charge authorizations.
My takeway: EVs are clearly superior to petrol/diesel cars in every way. Today on-road pricing has also become at par and overtime as the charging experience improves, this will become a no brainer. Exciting times.
PS: Thanks Gemini Nano Banana for creating the trip infographic. Please forgive the spelling errors.