[Voltzzzzz]

A long trip is just what is needed to get understand a car. And what better than a drive to Goa. Even better via the long beautiful coast of Karnataka.

So since we got home our new green ride, The MG Windsor in October, we were itching to go on a long ride. The car by design is made for comfortable family rides albeit the smaller battery pack which restricts its true potential. It was supposed to be our easy city ride but excitement made us take it on a 550 km trip to Bekal the second day we got it for our anniversary celebrations. Boy did the kids and the lady love it??!! Later it became our go to option for our frequent trips to Bangalore (~140km) and even Hassan (~120km). Our beloved Ecosport, which was supposed to be the default car for intercity travel, has now been assigned the second car duties.

The Planning:
On a lazy day in January, one of our close friends invited us to his brother's wedding in Goa. Me and my wife didn't want to miss it but it needed a lot of planning as the wedding was on a Sunday with reception running late into the Sunday night. That meant we had to take leave on Monday too!!!. At the same time it occurred to both of us - This is it!!! This is our EV adventure trip.

Planning the route, I kept looking at the chargers available along the way, Mysore - Sira (Charge at Paakashala) - Davangere (Charge at Kahaani) - Hubli ( Charge at Shell) - Charge at Static charger after Dharwad if needed or just drive down to the destination in Margao anyway we are going down the ghat. I was considering a range of 200 to be on safer side unless it is the last leg of the trip. Basic planning was done with respect to charging the car and reaching the destination but I had to make it more specific to match our food breaks.
There were plenty of chargers along the way except for the drive from Hubli/Dharwad to Madgaon. Still ~20 days was left for the trip but we were confident of doing the trip.

One day while checking out the route on Google Maps to plan the food breaks I wondered why not give the boring 4/6 lane highway a miss and take a more exciting route along Mangalore and coastal Karnataka. Wow!!!!. We also had a long pending wish to visit the Kateel and other temples along the coast. Now there was lot more excitement and meaning to this trip but it also added a different level of challenge with respect to limited charging options, hilly terrain, more driving time and distance. Looking for chargers there was no issue in Mangalore. Kundapura and Honnavar had JioBP chargers. There was a Chargezone also in Honnavar. But the 2-3days before the trip while checking out the chargers I found both the JioBP and Chargezone in Honnavar down that whole evening. I figured out probably it was due to power outage. The challenge was from Kundapura to Madgaon the distance was 240-250km. That was too close for comfort but doable. It also meant that we would have no charge left to roam in Goa without charging again first All the time i was worried not to push the car beyond 200km between two chargers. I told myself we will charge at Kundapura to 100% and then proceed. If the charger at Honnavar is functional then good or else we will take chance on driving along depending on the range the car would have given till then. If in doubt anytime then cancel everything and return back from Honnavara happy with just the trip to the coast.

Itinerary:
Leave Mysore at 4pm on 7th feb (Friday) reach Mangalore by 11pm. Distance of 256km. So top up at Purple resorts in Kushalnagar for 15 min to be on safer side.
Mangalore (Charge to 100% at Nexus mall) to Kateel and then Udupi for breakfast. Reach Kundapur and charge to 100%. Go to Kolluru and Idugunji and reach Honnavara to charge. If charger is functional, charge, have lunch and proceed to Goa or else return to Kundapur, Charge to 100% again and proceed to Goa. (We had to keep a track on the charger at Honnavar all along the way via JioBp app for any signs of outages and modify the trip). Return trip would be a single day dash from Goa to Mysore on 10th Feb (Monday), charging along the way.

The Trip:
With butterflies in the stomach we did the packing. I left for work on 7th morning promising my wife that i will come back on time to start our journey at 4pm. Kids would stay back in Mysore with my parents. As luck would have it that day was particularly busy and i reached home at 5pm!! Plans going awry before the trip itself?. With spirits high we finally left home at 5.30pm on our small wild ride, ready to face any challenges that come up along the way.

Day 1, Friday Feb 7th 2025:
We left Mysore with 96% SOC (Odo 4464 km) and reached Purple resorts in Kushalnagara at 7.45pm with SOC 70% (Odo 4555km). Zeon charger with 25kwh capacity. Had hiccups in initiating the charge for ~15-20min!!. Called the customer service and the charger connected. Ate the dinner we had bought along sitting inside while the car charged and we finally left towards Mangalore at 8.40pm with 99%SOC. We were well behind our schedule and expected to reach Mangalore well past 12am.
By the time we reached Madikeri the SOC had dropped to 89%. 23km covered for 10% of charge, 230km of range. Not great. But we shouldnt have issues to reach Mangalore.
After Madikeri we start going down the Ghat and lo behold the superpower of Regen kicked in. By the time we reached Sulia the car had got charged to 93%!!!!. We reached Mangalore at 12.30am with 58% SOC!!!! 162 km covered from Kushalnagar to Mangalore using 41% of charge!!. We went straight to bed not worrying about SOC.
The road all along was very good except for the last stretch near Mangalore. The drive till Madikeri was irritating due to heavy traffic and glaring lights from oncoming vehicles. Once past Madikeri it was a bliss to drive.

Day 2, Saturday Feb 8th 2025:
We checked out of the room at 7am and proceeded towards Kateel. With SOC of 58% (Odo 4717km) we didn't bother charging in Mangalore.
Reached Kateel at 7.40 am had darshan and now change of plans. We proceeded to Moodbidri to visit Alvas, my wife's college and also met her niece who is studying there now. Finally left Moodbidri at 9.30am to reach Hotel K1 at Bhramari, ~15-20km before Udupi to have breakfast and charge the car (JioBP).
It was a paid charging session there costing me Rs 539 for 22.8 Kw. SOC from 30% to 82% (Odo 4801) completed at 11.05am.
We quickly proceeded to Kundapura reaching there at 11.05am. With us still being vary of charging station at Honnavar, we topped up from 60 to 91% (Odo at 4852km) at Kundapura ( Shreyas inn, JioBP, cost Rs. 267) and proceeded to Kolluru.
Ideally i wanted to charge to 100% but due to time constraint charged just enough to return to Kundapur from Honnavar if things didnt work out. From here we had to still cover Kolluru and Idugunji. We were racing against time now since temple at Kolluru closes at 1.30pm.
Reached Kolluru in time at 1.15pm!!! Finished darshan and proceeded to Honnavar for lunch.



Decided to skip Idugunji and cover it while returning so that we can reach Goa early. Had lunch at Sagar Residency in Honnavara while the car was juiced up to 100% from 49% (Odo 4974). Again JioBp charger and it cost me Rs 526 for 22.3Kwh. Had amazing Prawn Ghee roast with Kulcha.
Left Honnavara at 4.20pm and come across some very scenic roads, bridges and tunnels while passing across Ankola and Karwar. We were in time to witness the sunset along the way with the highway going close to the sea at many places.

An enjoyable drive till we reached the narrow roads of Goa after Canacona from where we proceeded at snails pace in bumper to bumper traffic till Madgaon. We reached Nanutel hotel at 7.45pm with SOC of 55%!! and 5128km on Odo.
It was an amazing experience getting this beauty of a car on the highway and through the ghats. No signs of exhaution or body pain after travelling ~411 km in the day visiting places along the way. We immediately proceeded to Benaulim beach to catch up with our friends. It was only once we had dinner at Johncy's that we realised how sleepy we were. Reached back to hotel, had a Cup of coffee and we were done.



Day 3, Sunday Feb 9th 2025:
Lazy morning. Had breakfast at the hotel and left for Madgaon market. Not satisfied we then went to Colva beach for some shopping in the hot sun. The Wedding was at 5pm and Reception would start from 7.30pm. So we still had almost 5hrs and hence decided to go for a Spa at the Tattva in Courtyard by Marriot close to Colva beach. We got an appointment at 2.30pm and then proceeded to Martin's corner for lunch.



The food and ambience at Martin's was just amazing. By the time we finished lunch and Spa it was almost 4pm. Now remember we have not the charged the car since we last did it at Honnavara. So decided to go to ITC Grand where there is a Static charger. The surprising thing about this charger is that it doesn't show up on eHub by Mg or on Plugshare. We charged the car to 100% from 37% (Odo 5171km) free of cost while we walked around the property.
The surroundings at the charger were bad with no sense of concern for cars coming in to charge.




In our quest for free charging we ended up wasting ~40min here. Instead there was a private 30Kw charger at our hotel itself but they were charging 25rs /Kw!!. We had to miss the actual church wedding as we were tired roaming in the sun. Freshened up and showed up to the wonderful reception where all the fun was at 8pm. Close to 12am we decided to call it a day, reached back to hotel, had a cup of coffee and hit the bed.

Day 4, Monday Feb 10th 2025:
Slowly we pushed ourselves out of the bed and left the hotel at 7am with 85% SOC, Odo 5213km. We had a long day ahead of us where we were going to cover ~600km. Wifey took the first turn at the wheels till we reached Honnavara for breakfast and the charging. We reached there at 9.52am with 32% SoC, ODo 5365km. We juiced up to 98% here at the cost of Rs 672 (28.5Kwh). Took about 40 min for the charge, enough time to have breakfast and a small photo session.




With sun beating down heavily we proceeded to Idugunji and had darshan of Lord Ganesha. Picked the memento for the trip here. A small figurine of the divine diety Lord Ganesha, who will accompany us in all our future road trips.



We hadn't planned much for this return trip. Idugunji was missed during the onward journey. Also how can we miss the beautiful Marvanthe beach.!!! So that was our next stop for another photo session. All the while the sun was shining in all its glory. Thank god for the Sun films I had got installed just before the trip. Without them we would have got roasted inside the Windsor with all its glass area.




Now to complete the trip we had to have lunch in Mangalore while the car was getting charged. But we would reach there only at 3.30pm when all famous restaurants closed. So instead we made the stop at the 'Shetty's Lunch Home' in Kundapura. Supposedly the place where Chicken Ghee roast was invented. Feasted on amazing Prawn Ghee Roast and Fish meals with parboiled rice.


We slowly realised we will again be driving upto Midnight to reach our destination. Nonstop drive would have taken 12hrs. But we had already taken a detour to Idugunji, stopped at Marvanthe Beach and for Lunch at Kundapura. Still a final charging session was pending in Mangalore. We reached Mangalore by 4.30pm. Hooked the car unto the Static charger in Nexus mall and went up for coffee. We expected to leave Mangalore by 5.30pm and reach Mysore by 11.30pm. Plans are meant to fail right. The Static charger had a mind of its own. It kept getting disconnected. Atleast 3 times. By 5.30pm the car had just charged to 80%. Not enough to reach Mysore. I finally bit the bullet and shifted the car to JioBP charger that was just next to it. 100% done and we left by 6pm.

The last leg of 256km Mangalore to Mysore was a drive up the ghats. Would the juice in the car be enough?? Once up the ghats there were options in Madikeri and Kushalnagara for charging in case we fall short. Till I reached the climb, the car was returning an expected range of 300km. But the 16km of ghat road consumed ~1km/1% of charge. Can we reach Mysore without stopping for a short top up charge?. We reached Kushalnagara with still 43% charge left. Another distance of 91 km to be covered. we decided to take chance and drove straight to Mysore and reached home with 8% SOC (Odo 5818km) at 12.15am!!!. Doing Mangalore to Mysore in a single charge was a challenge in itself and surprisingly we did it !!!.

This brought our crazy road trip to an end. The trip ended with a sense of satisfaction about our decision to go green with Windsor.
On the last day we covered a distance of ~605km. The entire trip covering 1375km with an average range of 305km per full charge.
More EV trips loading.....

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[SRISRI_90]

Originally Posted by Voltzzzzz

The last leg of 256km Mangalore to Mysore was a drive up the ghats. Would the juice in the car be enough?? Doing Mangalore to Mysore in a single charge was a challenge in itself and surprisingly we did it !!!.

Hi Doc,

In 2024, I did about 30 trips up and down from Mangalore to Mysore, as My wife was in her Hometown of Mysore during her entire pregnancy.

I really wanted to buy an EV to do these trips, but then my question was the same as yours, will an EV go from Mangalore to Mysore, while climbing the Madikeri ghat, in one charge?
I wasn't too sure, so I picked up the Citroen C3 Turbo and enjoyed every single trip to Mysore, as most of my trips were in the early morning, devoid of any traffic and it was just me, those beautiful roads and lovely weather in the Madikeri ghats!

Now, after seeing your pic and confirming with my wife, we realised that you were the Radiologist we used to visit in Mysore during every check-up at the hospital on Vivekananda Road

Nice to see you on the Forum!

[avchrono]

Nice trip documented. One question, are the films on the windows now approved? I am seeing options from the MG dealer they put the films on the large Windsor windows, but was not too sure of the transparency that is legal and would not be a headache with some traffic police or RTO even if it is legal, and they are just trying to harass.

[Voltzzzzz]

Originally Posted by SRISRI_90

Now, after seeing your pic and confirming with my wife, we realised that you were the Radiologist we used to visit in Mysore during every check-up at the hospital on Vivekananda Road

Hi Srisri. Hope you all are doing good. Pleasantly surprised and happy seeing your msg.

Originally Posted by SRISRI_90

Hi Doc,
I wasn't too sure, so I picked up the Citroen C3 Turbo and enjoyed every single trip to Mysore, as most of my trips were in the early morning, devoid of any traffic and it was just me, those beautiful roads and lovely weather in the Madikeri ghats!

Trust me, Madikeri to Mangalore stretch was the best drive we had in the entire trip. Driving in ghats is therapeutic. Should do this journey in daylight soon. I think there are lot more places to explore along the coast.

EV market has got interesting off late and should mature in next 2-3 years. I myself was on look out for a second hand small automatic and got lured by Windsor. Considering my car has 38kw battery, Imagine what we can do with 60-80 kw EVs.

Originally Posted by avchrono

Nice trip documented. One question, are the films on the windows now approved?

Thank you avchrono. I think any film applied on the glass is illegal. I did not put them on my Ecosport. But with Windsor I decided to take risk. Especially seeing so many cars around me with even darker films.

[Jazzybala]

Hi Doc Voltzzzz,

Thank you for sharing your beautiful travelogue. Give me confidence that i can do the Bangalore-Mangalore-Goa route with relative ease.

Originally Posted by Voltzzzzz

l Driving in ghats is therapeutic. Should do this journey in daylight soon.

I have driven on this section in both day and night multiple times while travelling from Gonnikoppal to Puttur and have always found the night drive to be the most exciting and relaxing at the same time, especially on a full moon cloudleas day which happened during my last time. I ended up pulling over for a good ten minutes and taking in the serenity of the place, the lumbering lorries not withstanding.