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900 km roadtrip to the hills in my Nexon EV Max: Why I was impressed

6th February 2024, 10:08 by Ananth Iyer

Coming down the hills evens out the climb up the hill. I used 83% SOC to travel 125 kms and used only 10% SOC to climb the same distance back down.

BHPian ferrarirules recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Trip Report - A trip to the Hills.

Prologue - As the 26th January long weekend was approaching, my wife, me and my daughter were discussing our weekend plans. My daughter wanted to see snow. There was a minor prediction of snow in Kufri so we made a plan to spend the long weekend in Kufri in anticipation of snow.

With the plan set, it was the time to get ready for the trip. I had never been to hills with my EV. So called up my friend for some tips and tricks for driving in the hills with an EV.

Now Faridabad to Kufri is 395 kilometers and it takes around 9 hours (without any break) to reach. We didn't want to waste one day each of the long weekend in travelling to and fro from Kufri. So decided to leave in afternoon on 25th Jan after finishing up work early and stay at a relative's place in panchkula for the night before continuing to Kufri next morning.

Charged the car overnight to 100%. Got the tyre pressure checked and made sure it was set to 35 PSI. Packed the boot with luggage (Two bags) and two more small bags. Left Faridabad at 2 PM

Leg 1 - Faridabad to Panchkula

Distance - 276 kms
Time taken - 6 hrs (including 30 mins break for coffee)
Average Speed - 50 kmph
Top speed - 90 kmph (Tried to maintain this speed as much as possible)
Stop - Karnal is midway on the route so took a coffee stop at Savoy greens, Karnal. The place has food court and Statig 60 KW charger. Used the break time to charge the car from 46% to 80%.
Charge cost - Rs. 260
Trip SOC - Start - 100% - End - 39%
Net SOC consumed - 94%

After reaching the destination, i went to charge the car for next day. As my relative's society doesn't have charging setup yet. Charged the car again at Statiq charger in Chandigarh from 34% to 100%.

Charge cost - Rs 500

Leg 2 - Panchkula to Royal Tulip, Kufri

Started at 8 AM in the morning.

Distance - 125 kms
Elevation change - 350m to 2600m
Time taken - 4 hrs 20 mins (including 1 break for breakfast )
Average Speed - 37 kmph
Top speed - 70 kmph (It is 4 lane winding highway till Kandaghat so on straights you can touch decent speed)

Stop - Solan is midway on the route so took a breakfast stop at Amolak Towers. The place has food court and Sunfuel 120 KW charger. Charged the car from 56% to 93%.

Charge cost - Rs. 308
Trip SOC - Start - 95% - End - 63%
Net SOC consumed - 83%

Leg 3 - Driving in and around Kufri

After reaching the hotel, we went back to Shimla for lunch at a cafe. The next day as chances of snow dwindled to zero, we headed out for lunch to Taj, Theog. Also, charged the car in preparation for the drive back home. Charged from 44% to 79%

Charge cost - Rs. 362
KMs covered - 64 kms
Trip SOC - Start - 63% - End - 71%
Net SOC consumed - 27%

Leg 4 - Royal Tulip, Kufri to Faridabad

This was going to be one long drive, we didn't have the luxury of overnight stop as it was school day for my daughter the next day. So we started back after breakfast at 10:30 AM. Plan was to stop for lunch and charge the car and then drive home non stop.

Distance - 395 kms
Elevation change - 2600m to 350m
Time taken - 9 hrs 20 mins (including 50 mins break for lunch )
Average Speed - 46 kmph
Top speed - 100 kmph
Stop - Decided to stop for lunch after getting down from the hills. Stopped at Aman hotel, Shahabad, Ambala. The place has a 60KW statiq charger. Charged the car from 40% to 94%.
Charge cost - Rs. 423
Trip SOC - Start - 71% - End - 18%
Net SOC consumed - 107%

Total Distance covered - 906 kms
Charging cost (including home charging) - Rs.2173
Running cost - Rs 2.4 per km

Salient points of the trip

EVs are so much fun to drive in the hills. Single pedal driving reaches a different level. You approach a corner, you lift off the braking is automatic. You just wait for the right moment to get back on the accelerator. I have driven from Shimla to Chandigarh in my Rapid Diesel DSG as well and this was huge difference.
Coming down the hills evens out the climb up the hill. I used 83% SOC to travel 125 kms and used only 10% SOC to climb the same distance back down.
No additional time needs to be spent for charging, you just need to stop at a food joint with a charger
My wife and kid vouch that travelling 9 hours in an EV was less tiring than our Rapid.

Elevation chart from Panchkula to Kufri with charging stop marked