5 Surprising Truths About EV Road Trips: Lessons from a 1120km Journey

The Open Road vs. The Charging Cable

For many people considering an electric vehicle, one question looms larger than any other: "Can it handle a real road trip?" The fear of being stranded with a dead battery, miles from the nearest compatible charger—often called "range anxiety"—is the single biggest hesitation for potential EV owners. It's easy to see an EV's benefits for city commuting, but the open road feels like a different challenge entirely.

To put this to the test, we're diving into the data from a real-world, 1120-kilometer round trip from Gurugram to Lucknow in a Mahindra XEV 9e Pack 3 by Anuj Purohit. This wasn't a hyper-controlled experiment, but a practical journey with a fully packed boot and the AC running.

The detailed log from this trip reveals some fascinating and counter-intuitive truths about long-distance EV travel. It shows that many common fears are misplaced and that the reality of an electric road trip is more practical, affordable, and efficient than you might believe. Here are the five most surprising lessons from the journey.

1. The Fuel Savings Are Even Bigger Than You Think

Total Trip Cost: ₹1,836

The most direct and staggering takeaway from this 1120 km journey is the incredibly low cost of "fuel." The total expense for all four charging stops came to just ₹1,836.

This works out to an astonishing ₹1.64 per kilometer.

To put that in perspective, a petrol car averaging 15 km/l, with petrol at ₹100/litre, would have cost over ₹7,400 for the same 1120 km trip—more than four times the EV's cost. While EV owners expect to save money on city driving, this trip proves that the economic advantages become even more pronounced on long-haul routes. The savings aren't just marginal; they are significant enough to be a primary motivator for taking an EV on your next vacation.

2. "Range Anxiety" is Really "Planning Anxiety"

The entire 1120 km trip was completed without a single moment of panic or a close call with an empty battery. Anuj maintained a comfortable buffer of charge at every leg of the journey, proving that the fear isn't about the car's physical range, but about the travel plan.

Consider these data points for the margin of safety:

• Anuj arrived at the destination of Lucknow with 48% State of Charge (SoC) remaining.
• After the full round trip, the car arrived back home in Gurugram with 20% SoC still in the battery.

This wasn't a slow, hypermiling journey; it was a real-world drive with the AC on, cruising at highway speeds averaging over 78 km/h on some legs. The success wasn't about pushing the battery to its absolute limit. It was about strategically planning stops along a known route with available chargers. The anxiety disappears when you have a solid plan, transforming the fear of the unknown into a simple, predictable logistical exercise.

3. You Don't "Wait" for Your Car to Charge—It Waits for You

A common misconception is that EV road trips involve long, boring hours spent waiting at a charger. This journey's log tells a very different story. While the total driving time was 17 hours and 16 minutes, the total time spent actively charging was just 1 hour and 40 minutes.

The key was integrating these charging sessions into necessary travel breaks:

• The first 30-minute charge at the ADA Toll Plaza was paired with a stop at a tea shop.
• The second 20-minute charge at the Rest Area on the Agra Expressway happened during a quick lunch.
• A quick 25-minute charge prepared the car for the return journey while Anuj rested. No time was wasted.

This re-frames the entire concept of refueling. Instead of standing by the car, you plug it in and use the time for meals, stretching, or resting. The charging time doesn't interrupt the trip; it becomes part of the trip's natural rhythm.

4. Welcome to the Wild West of Charging Prices

One of the most surprising discoveries was the dramatic inconsistency in charging costs. Unlike gasoline, where prices vary by a few percentage points, the cost per unit of electricity for this trip varied by more than double depending on the station.

Here is the breakdown of the per-unit costs encountered:

• Adani Charger (Rest Area Agra Express Way): ₹9.74 per unit
• Adani Charger (Agra - Toll Plaza): ₹9.74 per unit
• Adani Charger (ADA Toll Plaza): ₹22 per unit
• Glida Charger (Lohiya Park Lucknow): ₹24 per unit

This highlights a critical new skill for the EV road-tripper: charger price awareness. As seen here, two stops were inexpensive while two were more than double the price. Knowing which networks/stations offer better rates and planning stops accordingly can have a major impact on the total cost of a journey. The freedom from gasoline comes with the new responsibility of navigating a varied and unpredictable charging market.

5. The 20-80% Rule Is Your Superpower

A close look at the charging log reveals a pro-level strategy: Anuj rarely charged the battery to a full 100%. Instead, they focused on quick, efficient top-ups to get just enough range to comfortably reach the next stop. This principle is often called the "20-80% rule," and it's about avoiding the slow final trickle charge to 100%.

This strategy is based on the fact that EV batteries charge much faster at a lower state of charge. The final 20% (from 80% to 100%) can take a disproportionately long time. By avoiding it, Anuj saved significant time.

• Stop 1: Charged from 58% to 80% in 30 minutes, drawing 40 kW from a 60 kW charger.
• Stop 2: Charged from 62% to 90% in just 20 minutes. The charger was rated at 240 kW and delivered a powerful 88 kW output, dramatically speeding up the process.
• Stop 3: Charged from 48% to 80% in 25 minutes drawing the full 60kW output from the charger.
• Stop 4: Charged from a low of 20% up to 70% in only 25 minutes.

This counter-intuitive approach—not always filling the "tank" to full—is a superpower for long-distance travel. It minimizes time spent at charging stations and maximizes time spent on the road, making the entire journey more efficient.

Conclusion: The Road Ahead is Electric

This 1120 km journey does more than just prove an electric road trip is possible. It demonstrates that it is practical, remarkably affordable, and, with a bit of planning, surprisingly convenient. The narrative of range anxiety and wasted time is quickly being replaced by a new reality of smart, efficient, and cost-effective travel. Read the detailed log here.

This data shows the journey is more than possible—it's practical. What's the first electric road trip you'd plan?