After 20 days and more than 2200 kilometres on the MG ZS EV Electric car, Sushil Reddy's e-mobility awareness journey has reached Bongaigaon, Assam.
Under the SunPedal Ride initiative, this time, he is travelling across 20+ cities, starting from Mumbai and going to Kaziranga, the northeasternmost point of the journey. Sharing his ongoing journey, Reddy writes:
Driving the EV on the Siliguri-Rangpo-Ranipool-Gangtok NH10 route was a learning experience. The total Google distance from Siliguri to Gangtok is around 90 kilometres. However, the elevation gain is significant, from 400ft in Siliguri to 5000ft in Gangtok. Most of the elevation gain occurs after Ranipool, the final 20 kilometres.
We started from Siliguri with a 90 per cent battery and dashboard range of 340 kilometres. The temperatures gradually dropped from 20°C to 10°C as we gained elevation. A/C was switched off for the entire journey while we drove the MG ZS EV in the "Eco" mode for this route. There are no DC Fast Chargers yet between Siliguri and Gangtok.
Once we reached Gangtok, the dashboard range on the MG ZS EV showed 150 kilometres. The battery consumption was equivalent to almost double the actual map distance covered due to the elevation gain. This is a good lesson to understand how it can be challenging to predict the exact range of an EV in hilly regions, especially going uphill. As an EV driver, one should know the battery capacity and usage patterns that could affect the range. We were stationed at Summit Norling Hotel and Resort in East Sikkim, nestled in the heart of nature.
Sikkim has a huge potential to push EVs in Gangtok, especially considering that Sikkim stays true to its clean and green state narrative. The natural landscape of Sikkim demands clean air, and EVs make the right solution to preserve the air quality. We were also impressed by the no-honking zones in the city, which are aggressively enforced by the local traffic police.
In the second week of our journey on the MG ZS EV, we met a lot of students in universities such as IIT ISM Dhanbad, IIIT Bhagalpur, Inspiria Knowledge Centre Siliguri, SMIT and SRM University Sikkim. Students are always curious to know more about automobiles, and a new technology like electric mobility opens doors for them to learn more about it.
Question (from a student): What is the running cost of the electric car considering DC fast charging?
If you take your electric car to a GLIDA DC Fast Charger today, you will be paying INR 19/- (+tax) per unit of electricity consumed for charging. So, for example, the MG ZS EV electric car has a battery capacity of 50.3 units (kWh). For the sake of calculation, a 0-100 per cent charge in the MG ZS EV electric car will cost you INR 1000/- at a GLIDA DC Fast Charger. The MG ZS EV gives a real-world range of 300 kilometres on a single charge. Hence, you are paying ~INR 3.5 per kilometre to run the electric car. For comparison, you would pay a minimum of INR 10/- per kilometre in an equivalent ICE vehicle.
More updates to follow from this journey. Click here for part 2.