There is one question that still comes up whenever we talk about taking an electric car on a long road trip. What happens when the battery gets low and there is no charger nearby? We wanted to find out for ourselves, so we took the Tata Harrier.ev on a roughly 2,000km drive between Mumbai and Bengaluru. The trip gave us a good look at how easy long distance EV travel has become and where you still need to plan ahead.
Driving an EV on highways is quite different from using one around town. Traffic, speed, weather and road conditions all affect the battery.
During our drive, we noticed that highway speeds can use more energy than city driving. In city traffic, regenerative braking helps the car recover some energy. Hot weather can also affect the range, with high temperatures having the potential to reduce it by around 10 to 15 per cent.
The Harrier.ev handled the long drive well. The bigger question was not the car itself but the charging stops.
This is where the Chargezone network became important for us. The Chargezone app helped us check chargers along the route and plan where to stop.
Having a restaurant or hotel close to a charger also makes a big difference. Instead of sitting inside the car and waiting, we could use the charging break for food or rest.
One thing we noticed is that there is little reason to wait for the battery to reach 100 per cent at every stop. Keeping the battery roughly between 20 and 80 per cent can make road trips easier because the car can charge faster in that range.
This also makes it easier to plan shorter stops instead of spending a long time at one charger.
We also tried the Chargezone RFID system. It can be useful when mobile connectivity is not perfect and gives another way to start a charging session.
The Auto Charge feature was another interesting part of the experience. Once it is set up, the charging process becomes much simpler. You plug in and the system can recognise the vehicle without needing to use the app every time.
We also checked out the Chargezone Mega Charging Hub, which can offer charging speeds of up to 120kW.
Running costs were another big part of this road trip. Charging an EV can be much cheaper than filling a diesel or petrol vehicle, especially over a distance of around 2,000km.
During the journey, we also looked at the savings on a Mumbai Goa section. The difference was quite noticeable, with the EV costing less than half of what a diesel vehicle would cost for the same distance in the example we discussed.
Maharashtra also offers toll benefits for electric vehicles on certain routes, which can further reduce the cost of travelling by EV.
There is also one basic rule that every EV owner needs to follow at public chargers. Once the car has finished charging, move it.
