{"id":49969,"date":"2023-09-06T11:50:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T11:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myroadnews.com\/?p=49969"},"modified":"2023-09-06T11:50:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T11:50:01","slug":"did-a-2000-km-roadtrp-in-my-tiago-ev-heres-the-overall-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myroadnews.com\/news-features\/did-a-2000-km-roadtrp-in-my-tiago-ev-heres-the-overall-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"Did a 2000 km roadtrp in my Tiago EV: Here’s the overall cost"},"content":{"rendered":"

I managed to achieve an average of 93Wh\/km, factoring the average cost of electricity across all charging sessions, cost per km was 1.95 rupee.<\/h2>\n

BHPian thilak29 <\/strong>recently shared this with other enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

Preface – In July, MD (When 17 cars get drenched in the rains | 2000 km journey to the Konkan coast | Monsoon Drive 2023) helped me explore some beautiful stretches in the Konkan region, however the itch to travel was not satisfied completely. I was looking for an opportunity and that neatly landed on my lap. I work remotely on most days of the month and visit the office for some days for in person interactions, so there came the need to be in office around the 21st of Aug. The previous week also happened to be a long one. So, I decided to take a long drive from Puttur (a small town on the coastal belt of KA) to Bangalore. Instead of taking a routine route via Hassan, the idea was to take a longer one, really long!<\/p>\n

Vehicle<\/strong> – Back in April, I did a Puttur – Hyderabad drive in Compass, this car is a good highway rider, munches miles well and feels comfortable onboard. I took delivery of Tiago EV around mid-March. Since then, I have done multiple trips to Bangalore in this and even been to Pondicherry recently. This car has its fair share of positives and limitations of its own. I felt a long drive in an EV could be an enjoyable experience to have, mostly seen as an experiment with potentially uncertain outcomes. Finally, the choice was the Tigao EV. The day before the journey the car was washed, minor DIY detailing and charged to the brim at home.<\/p>\n

Intent<\/strong> – Old things charm me, things stuck in time or ones that act as time capsules\/vehicles to take us back to a time when realities were different.
I have been planning a visit to Thanjavur for many months, for various reasons it just did not materialise despite best efforts. After watching the Ponniyin Selvan series of movies, this urge only became stronger. The other place which caught my attention is Karaikudi\/Chettinad belt. The business adventure stories (stretching to far regions like Burma) of people from this part have engaged me in the past.<\/p>\n

So, Thanjavur and Chettinad were central to travel, and any other interesting place around them were considered too.<\/p>\n

Route –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plugshare is that tool which EV owners rely on to plan their travel by meeting charging requirements. It’s a simple app\/web interface offering enough inputs to have fairly reliable route planning. I spent couple of hours and finalised this route –<\/p>\n

Home – Palakkad (via Kozhikode) – Madurai(via Palani) – Chettinad – Thanjavur – Trichy – Mahabalipuram – Kanchi – Bangalore (via Krishnagiri) <few days in Bangalore > – Hassan – Home<\/p>\n

Here is the route map:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Itinerary –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I started early (just before 5AM) as I had a longer distance to cover. The first stop for charging was at Kannur (GO EC), a marked site on the premise of a mall. I initiated charging and headed for a place to have breakfast, Indian Coffee House about half a km away. Tasty food, decent coffee. When I reached the car, it had charged to 90% and I decided not to wait further (the last 10% usually takes longer as charging rate significantly reduces to enable thermal and cell balancing activities). I had marked another charger at Perintalmanna (from GO EC), as I reached closer, I noticed the charger was occupied (app shows the status) and this town had a couple of other chargers to choose from, based on proximity I set destination to an EESL (Govt. entity) run charger. The site of this charger left me surprised – in the middle (literally) of a busy private bus stand (see pic). I initiated charging and started scouting for a good place that serves a good Avil Milk. After finding one and relishing it, I noticed the car was about to reach 85% and I made it back to the charging station to see curious peepers around the car. I disconnected the charger and set Palakkad as my lunch venue (with a charger, Go EC again). The drive to Palakkad was nicer than what I had experienced since entering Kerala. I reached the lunch venue (closer to 3PM, rather late for lunch, I know! But Avil Milk was heavy with all the rich fillings!). At this place, my aim was to get the car fully charged as the road ahead involves inclined elevation and there is going to be higher charge consumption. Restaurant had only North Indian curries and Kerala Parotta to offer that late (BTW- never understood the logic of not offering local curries with local breads!), lunch and a mocktail in and I was out of the restaurant. This location was like ones you notice in western countries where a stopover place has stores, restaurants, kids play areas, restrooms within a compound (of course this had EV chargers too). We need more of this! After some strolling, answering a few questions on charging from strangers, and helping a fellow EV owner figure out the charging process using the second gun, Tiago reached 100% levels. Next planned stop for a quick top up was Palani. There were two chargers in this holy town (run by Relux and Zeon individually). Zeon showed offline, tried calling their customer care, calls were not connecting at all despite repeated tries. I sent them a Whatsapp to know if there is any issue at their Palani site. I kept driving towards Pollachi and that evening drive was one of the best I have experienced recently. Top class roads, coconut groves on both sides, minimal traffic to encounter. This joy of driving was interrupted by a call from Zeon who informed me that the site will be under maintenance for the next two days. I knew at that moment; this wasn’t a good sign. I exited Pollachi town and parked on the kerbside to look at options at hand.<\/p>\n