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Review: Used the Nuego EV Bus for my Bangalore to Chennai travel

8th May 2024, 09:05 by Ananth Iyer

A comparable trip by a KSRTC Airavat would have taken 6.5 - 7 hrs.

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I had to go to Chennai last week to attend to a family matter. When it was time to come back, I vaguely recalled reading a news article that NueGo had introduced an electric bus service on this route. So took the opportunity to see what it is all about.

I booked using the Paytm app. Weekday (Thursday) AC seater fare was just Rs 524, including GST; To compare, a KSRTC Airavat AC starting at same time was around Rs 780.

Pickup was from Koyambedu, opposite Sangeeta hotel, marked as "Sharma Transports" in Google maps. Paytm app had the link to the right pickup spot, but no contact details of the operator. I did a dumb mistake of not trusting the app but asked the auto driver for the pickup point for private buses. He dropped me about 500m ahead, and I had to walk back in the hot sun .

Pick up spot:

The bus was scheduled to start at 3PM. When I reached at ~2.10, the bus was already there, AC was switched on and the cool air inside the bus was so welcome after that 10-minute walk.

I felt the seats were thinner compared to the Volvo busses. But the recline was excellent and it was comfortable. Less than 50% of the seats were occupied, so I could use both the seats throughout the journey .

The bus started on dot 3 pm from Koyambedu. But in the next two pickup points there was a cumulative delay of around 40 mins for the pickups: unhappy. Operators (including KSRTC) have to do something to curb this nuisance of passengers taking their own sweet time to reach pickup spots. By the time the bus left Poonamallee road KFC, it was 4.20 pm.

There were a lot of squeaking noises and one particular flapping noise inside which somewhat negated the lack of engine noise. (The bus was new, and these noises may probably settle down eventually). It definitely was not 'noiseless' as they advertise. Ride quality was comparable to a Volvo ICE bus, nothing superior.

At around ~6.30 pm, between Vellore and Ambur, the bus took a U-turn under a flyover, came back a couple of kms towards Vellore and stopped at a newly setup NueGo charging station cum rest stop. I wasn't expecting this, as I had assumed it will reach Bengaluru on a single charge.

2 NeuGo buses towards Chennai were getting charged, one left just as our bus entered.

The bus stopped for almost an hour (55 minutes, to be precise) here. The driver initially told 30 minutes. This board is kind of hidden.

Yes, technically 55 is '30+ minutes' but it could have been better informed . The rest rooms are also in the back of the restaurant. I wonder how they are going to manage when it rains? (Is it safe to charge outdoors during rains?)

Ironically, there was a power cut at the charging station, and the DG sets were running on full steam. So much for 'sustainable clean energy' .

The bus eventually left at 8pm and reached Silk board at 11pm (~8 hours) where I got down. A comparable trip by a KSRTC Airavat would have taken 6.5 - 7 hrs.

In summary, on the plus side, the fare was cheaper (introductory pricing??), busses are new, seats are comfortable, and the AC was super effective. On the minus, the duration is long. The novelty would soon wear of and they would be compared with other ICE operators. They need to pull up their socks.