Man Looks Around For Charger With 0% EV Battery (Video)
Another video has surfaced online showing the dark side of EV ownership in India. It shows a Mahindra BE6 owner searching for a charger with the vehicle’s battery completely drained out. Interestingly, the blame here goes to the charging network. Even after visiting five charging stations, this owner was unable to top up the e-SUV.
In this video, we see Asif Belim, an Instagrammer, driving his Mahindra BE6 electric SUV on what looks like a highway. It seems to be doing a speed of 35kph, and is apparently in the ‘power saving mode’. Asif says that the indicated battery percentage has reached. He then talks about how he ended up in such a miserable situation. Asif was travelling on the highway when the charge levels reached 14%. It then showed an indicated range of 59km. They took it to the nearest charging station.
Things took a wild turn when they found out that the charger they went to was not working. Asif had some of his friends with him. Without waiting any longer, they headed for the next closest charger. Even after visiting five different chargers, they could not find any luck.
All of them were either non-operational or dysfunctional. Since these were placed at different locations, it cost BE6 range to get to them. Soon, the battery levels hit 0, and the (indicated) range dropped to 1 km.
In the video, we see the electric SUV moving at 35 kph even with 0 state of charge. The vehicle is using its battery reserve in this case. Called the ‘Revive mode’ this allows the BE6 to drive for a certain distance even when it has completely drained out its battery. This mode can be used only five times in the lifespan of the battery pack. Accessing this will, however, void the battery warranty.
In this video, Asif explains how unreliable DC fast chargers in many Indian cities are. He describes his own distressing experience with the five chargers that he had already visited on this journey, and asks followers to think well before getting on the EV bandwagon. Just the products improving may not make ownership hassle-free.
The ecosystem has to evolve as well. He says that the charging network needs to develop faster than electric vehicles. Many cities now have slow and faulty chargers, bothering many EV owners.
Asif has shared another video showing how this anxiety-inducing journey ended. They were able to finally locate a functional charger. Ironically, it was an ‘HP charger’, something which he had criticized in the previous video. In this clip, we can see that they were both relieved and surprised to find out that they were finally at a functional DC charger. They plugged the EV in.
Asif then explains that it was a 60 kW charger. The range-topping BE6 supports DC charging speeds of up to 180 kW. This was much lower, but would be of use in replenishing the battery to healthy levels. However, something was off with the charger. It delivered a much lower charging speed, making the Instagrammer and his friends wait for several hours.
The actual experience of EV ownership varies between cities. In some places, the charger network and related infrastructure are decent, and most of them are functional. However, there are places where the experience can be harrowing. Long charging times and possible queues at the charger continue to bother many EV owners. Faulty or non-functional chargers can add to the pain and can ruin the day for many.