[W@SIM]

Hi all, Did Pune-BLR via hubli on 2nd Jan
Started from Pune Camp at 315am and reached BLR in 12 hours. Including total break of 1 hr.
Updates
315am start from pune gave a smooth zero traffic experience till kolhapur in under 3 hrs
Kolhapur to belgaum is the worst stretch with speed breakers and many diversions
Apart for Hubli bypass belgaum to Tumkur is a breeze
Tumkur to BLR was painful owing to construction activity and lot of traffic.
Breakfast halt was at New Big mishra outlet on Hubli bypass, great place with restaurant, chat counters, sweet shop with clean restrooms. the Peda's were awesome and Fresh
The location is good because a break ensures you freshness and much needed patience for the traversing thru this dreaded Hubli bypass stretch

[krishnakumar]

So after going through multiple recent posts on this thread, it has been undisputedly established that the Karad - Belgaum stretch is a pain. Furthermore, the Pune - Solapur - Bijapur route is also not viable for someone commuting from Mumbai or Western Pune Suburbs considering the time taken to cross Pune (not only that, the section between Pune to Mohol is quite bad with multiple deviations - I took this route in mid Dec'23).

Which means all that is left for us to plan is on how to manage the Karad - Belgaum section as best as possible. Requesting BHPians who frequent this route to share their thoughts:

1. What is the best time of the day to cross this section? Does afternoon transit in this section avoid some heavy vehicle and local traffic? I want to exclude late night/midnight travel as it poses its own risks.

2. Google Maps is enthusiastically suggesting some village routes to bypass some of the roadwork sections - has anyone taken them? Roads might be narrow but less traffic and smooth roads could be stress-free to cross.

3. A night halt is also preferable for sure. In the BLR -> MUM route, Belgaum seems to be a perfect stop where you can pause, refresh and start early to beat the traffic (and you stay fresh during the bad sections). However, in the MUM -> BLR route, what is the best option also considering pt.1?

Keen to hear thoughts from all. I'll be taking this route tomorrow and will update how it goes. Current plan is to halt either at Kolhapur or Belgaum.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

1. What is the best time of the day to cross this section? Does afternoon transit in this section avoid some heavy vehicle and local traffic? I want to exclude late night/midnight travel as it poses its own risks.

2. Google Maps is enthusiastically suggesting some village routes to bypass some of the roadwork sections - has anyone taken them? Roads might be narrow but less traffic and smooth roads could be stress-free to cross.

3. A night halt is also preferable for sure. In the BLR -> MUM route, Belgaum seems to be a perfect stop where you can pause, refresh and start early to beat the traffic (and you stay fresh during the bad sections). However, in the MUM -> BLR route, what is the best option also considering pt.1?

Answering your queries serially.
1. The best time to cross the stretch is early mornings. It will be good if you can cross Kolhapur before 8 am to avoid the 2 wheeler crowd between Karad and Kolhapur. But then this is the time also for the dense fog which could slow you down considering the season.
2. The stretch is fairly straight, keep to the highway only.
3. Belgaum is your best bet. Sankam Residency is the most preferred stop over for the BHPians.
Although I have mentioned in point 1 the best time to cross, take an informed decision when to start from Mumbai.

[trakesht]

Hi folks, planning to do a Pune (Baner)- Bangalore (Whitefield) trip on Sunday, open to do it in a single day or two days (preferred). There will be two drivers who can swap the driving duties.

This is what I could surmise based on discussions
Option 1) via Kolhapur
Pros: 1a) Fast access to highway from home,
1b) good infrastructure for food, sleep, fuel
1c) Shorter distance and time as per google

Cons
1d) patches with bad roads and heavy/slow traffic

Option 2) via Solapur
Pros)
2a) relatively uninterrupted highways where one can use cruise control and lane assist resulting in less fatigue
Cons
2b) need to cross pune city to reach highways
2c) less developed infrastructure along the highways
2d) slightly longer distance and time



My thoughts are that the route 2 makes sense for my driving style because having an early morning stay start- I can mitigate 2b (and I would rather have traffic at the start of the trip when I'm the freshest) and the pro of 2a would easily outweigh 2c and 2d.

Let me know if this makes sense? If yes, I'd appreciate any recommendations on places to fuel/ eat/ sleep along route 2.

If it does not make sense, I'll stick to route 1.
Thanks in advance.

[condor]

Originally Posted by trakesht

Let me know if this makes sense? If yes, I'd appreciate any recommendations on places to fuel/ eat/ sleep along route 2..

While folks who have done the routes recently can give better suggestions:

Route 1 is convenient, and if it is a weekday, a little better.
Road work for about 40 km starting from Hattargi toll towards Belgaum.
New break facility on Hubli-Dharwad by-pass (Big Mishra) will help you get a break before next break near Davangere/Chitradurga. And from there you should be able to get home.

Route 2: there are sufficient eateries between Solapur and a little before Hospet. Fuel will not be a problem, esp if diesel (Just go where there are a lot of trucks).
If going via Solapur, one member Ajay P has posted that - use the left lane between Solapur and Bijapur. He has not shared about any issues on this route.

[ghodlur]

Returned to Bangalore from Pune yesterday. Started at 4.20 am from Pune with 3 halts -7.40 am at Kognoli BP COCO for fuel, breakfast halt at 10.40 am at Kamat Veg Chabbi, 2 pm tea halt at Kamat Upachar Sira reaching Bangalore at 4.20 pm. Total 12 hrs travel 11 hrs driving time averaging 79kmph and fuel average of 17.3 kmpl covering a distance of 865 kms.

Travel from Pune to Satara was Ok and good gain some speeds. Post Satara till Belagavi there is no national highway only service roads due to diversions. Most of the diversions in MH were passed in night, slight fog encountered when approaching Kolhapur. Tavandi section after Sankeshwar is a new bottle neck due to road work and upslopes where most of the trucks breakdown/dont move quickly leading to traffic build up. From Hattargi onwards good roads start and cruise control can be used. It was a relief to see the tar roads of the second lane being built between Dharwad and Hubli to the existing 2 laned road.

Food at Kamat Veg Chabbi is very ordinary but good stop after 3 hrs from fuel stop. Atleast this time I could some crowd, maybe being a Saturday (as against last time when I drove on weekday, I was the only customer at that time).

I could see 3 new diversions added between Hubli and Tumkur increasing the travel time. Tumkur to Bangalore travel was uneventful as the number of morons driving in 4 wheelers and talking on phone, occupying the fast lane but moving at 40 speeds has increased exponentially.

Finally there was a huge traffic jam at Metro pillar#396 the spot to take a turn to the old highway NH75 to reach another jammed spot i.e Hebbal. I wonder why the BBMP is not seriously looking into the whirlpool of traffic chaos generated every day at this spot.

In short people travelling from Mumbai to Bangalore or vice versa and not conversant with the route and the diversions or with a family or not driven long routes should be taking a break at Belgavi (exact mid point) as it is exhausting to drive through the stretch now with so many diversions. In the coming days when the summer starts to kick in the temperatures will make it uncomfortable to cross the stretch and make one irritable.

[trakesht]

Originally Posted by condor

While folks who have done the routes recently can give better suggestions:

Route 1 is convenient, and if it is a weekday, a little better.
Road work for about 40 km starting from Hattargi toll towards Belgaum.
New break facility on Hubli-Dharwad by-pass (Big Mishra) will help you get a break before next break near Davangere/Chitradurga. And from there you should be able to get home.

Route 2: there are sufficient eateries between Solapur and a little before Hospet. Fuel will not be a problem, esp if diesel (Just go where there are a lot of trucks).
If going via Solapur, one member Ajay P has posted that - use the left lane between Solapur and Bijapur. He has not shared about any issues on this route.

Thanks, I decided to go ahead with route 2 and was extremely happy with the drive. There were some absolutely gorgeous roads and very few bad patches. I will be continuing with this route unless someone manages to convince me that the Kolhapur route is better.

[javageek]

Originally Posted by trakesht

Thanks, I decided to go ahead with route 2 and was extremely happy with the drive. There were some absolutely gorgeous roads and very few bad patches. I will be continuing with this route unless someone manages to convince me that the Kolhapur route is better.

Great to learn that you had a pleasant drive. Could you please share some more details like start time, stoppages etc, I am driving with family from Wakad to Koramangala on the next weekend and the chaos reported on Kolhapur route has me worried. Thanks in advance.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by javageek

Great to learn that you had a pleasant drive. Could you please share some more details like start time, stoppages etc, I am driving with family from Wakad to Koramangala on the next weekend and the chaos reported on Kolhapur route has me worried. Thanks in advance.

From Wakad to Bangalore, I would suggest stick to the usual Kolhapur route, because that is directly accessible from Wakad, and the mess reported is not as bad as it sounds. I would not recommend Solapur route for you. The reason is that you will spend a lot of time just traveling from Wakad to Hadapsar and join Solapur road (unless you do this absolutely in the dead of the night when the traffic is minimal), and the time lost in that will negate any time gains on Solapur route. You would lose lesser time due to diversions on Kolhapur-Belgaum section if you just stick to that.

So in summary, as has been mentioned several times in this thread, if you are in the western side of Pune with easy access to NH48, stick to Kolhapur-Belgaum route. And those from eastern side of Pune, with easy access to Solapur road, can probably take Solapur-Bijapur-Bangalore road.

The time savings are not worth crossing entire Pune city just to join Solpaur highway.

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by javageek

Great to learn that you had a pleasant drive. Could you please share some more details like start time, stoppages etc, I am driving with family from Wakad to Koramangala on the next weekend and the chaos reported on Kolhapur route has me worried. Thanks in advance.

I drove from Pune to Belagavi and back last week. Pune (Aundh) to Belagavi on 7-Jan-2024, and back on 8-Jan. Started from Aundh at 6 a.m. and reached Belagavi by 12:45 with two fuel stops and a breakfast stop. We did not get stuck at any place. The pace was slow because of constant diversions and speed breakers at the start and end of most diversions. If you leave Pune by 4:00 a.m. that would be great.

We did see a Police vehicle with a speed gun after Kolhapur here.

[trakesht]

Originally Posted by javageek

Great to learn that you had a pleasant drive. Could you please share some more details like start time, stoppages etc, I am driving with family from Wakad to Koramangala on the next weekend and the chaos reported on Kolhapur route has me worried. Thanks in advance.

I started at 730 am, so I faced a fair amount of traffic ( say 40-50kph) till the toll gate. After that, it was pretty free flowing in the highway with hardly any diversions. We stopped every 2-3 hours wherever we found a reasonable looking eatery. ( There are not many fancy restaurants along the route till Sira btw)

We stopped overnight near hampi ( though we could've skipped that and finished in a single day travel)

If you like calm empty highways, this route is for you. I can't comment if it's better or worse than the Kolhapur route- but I'll most likely stick to it for future trips.

[trakesht]

Originally Posted by javageek

Great to learn that you had a pleasant drive. Could you please share some more details like start time, stoppages etc, I am driving with family from Wakad to Koramangala on the next weekend and the chaos reported on Kolhapur route has me worried. Thanks in advance.

I started at 730 am, so I faced a fair amount of traffic ( say 40-50kph) till the toll gate. After that, it was pretty free flowing in the highway with hardly any diversions. We stopped every 2-3 hours wherever we found a reasonable looking eatery. ( There are not many fancy restaurants along the route till Sira btw)

We stopped overnight near hampi ( though we could've skipped that and finished in a single day travel)

I like calm empty highways where I can keep my cruise control and lane keep assist , I can't comment if it's better or worse than the Kolhapur route- but I'll most likely stick to Solapur route for future trips, despite being in western pune, 2 kms from the highway to Kolhapur

[BunnyPunia]

Drove the updated XUV400 from Bengaluru to Mumbai last week. Left the heart of BLR at 7:15am (2nd pic) and was in the heart of Mumbai (Bandra Reclamation) by 3:20am - first pic

The almost 1000km run was done in 20 hrs including one failed charging stop, three positive charging stops and 2 super quick breaks in between. The drive ended with 40% charge remaining in the batteries. This was the 39.4 kWh version.

The 180km stretch between Belgaum and Karad remains a mess. However, the responsive motor + great dynamics allowed me to close in on gaps, overtake crawling trucks by driving on the left gravel side et al.

Cruised at 75-78 mark through out. EV charging breaks were at Ranebennur, Belgaum and before Kambhatki Ghats. Thankfully no major jams at toll booths and small town traffic post Karad didn't both me as I crossed these at well past 9pm!

Loved driving into Mumbai with ZERO traffic :-D

[Motoringlover]

Originally Posted by BunnyPunia

The almost 1000km run was done in 20 hrs including one failed charging stop, three positive charging stops and 2 super quick breaks in between. The drive ended with 40% charge remaining in the batteries. This was the 39.4 kWh version.

T :-D

Thank you for posting the update, i have been on the fence when it comes to EV's and the usability on long drives. I recognize this is a route query thread - but could not resist asking a EV charging related query.

1. Failed Charging - When you drive long distances - its possible some of the chargers dont work ? Do you generally factor in incremental range or this was a rare event ?

2. When you use faster charging ? Average wait time - appreciate a steer. thanks

[BunnyPunia]

Originally Posted by Motoringlover

Thank you for posting the update, i have been a fence when it comes to EV and long drives. I recognize this is a route query thread - but could not resist asking a EV charging related query.

1. Failed Charging - When you drive long distances - its possible some of the chargers dont work ? Do you generally factor in incremental range or this was a rare event ?

2. When you use faster charging ? Average wait time - appreciate a steer. thanks

1) Usually rare. I used Plugshare to see the location of charger and then that particular company's app to see if its available / online. Plus i take a buffer battery level to reach the next charger incase this one is not working.

2) 30KW was giving me an easy 1% every 1min. 50 / 60KW were giving 3% every 2 min. Wait time is to connect cord, activate app, fill the wallet and start.

Go ahead, don't keep sitting on the fence. EV infra is really catching up.

PS: I was not on a weekend or a long holiday. Else, chargers can be busy