For most people, the biggest reason which is a deal breaker for buying an electric vehicle is the public charging infrastructure. Now, there are also people who, despite this drawback, opt to buy an EV. Unfortunately, these owners have to face another huge issue, and that is from other EV owners. We are talking about the crowding at the EV charging stations. Recently, showing how some people need to learn EV charging etiquette, a video has become viral online.
This particular video, highlighting a huge problem which many EV owners have to face, has been shared on Instagram by Mahindra Fanboi on their page. In this video, he highlights that the public charging infrastructure has given rise to a problem of public EV charging etiquettes. He explains that he is at the newly installed Mahindra Charge.IN ultra fast charger, which has fast chargers with 180 kW capacity.
However, there is this particular Tata Nexon.ev which is currently charged up to 93 percent. But despite it, the owner is insisting on charging his vehicle to almost 100 percent. Meanwhile, a Mahindra XEV 9S and his XEV 9E are waiting in line. He adds that the owners of other cars are trying to explain to the Nexon.ev owner that an EV should ideally be charged to 80 percent, as after that the charging speed gets reduced.
Unfortunately, despite this explanation, the owner of the Nexon.ev did not move it. The man also points out that the same is the case with the BYD eMax7 parked next to it, which has also been charged above 80 percent, but it is still not being moved. He added that it has now also entered the slow charging phase, and it is charging at 30 kW.
He adds that the MG Windsor EV owner next to the BYD has locked the vehicle and has left the spot, which is another common thing which a lot of EV owners do at a public charging spot. The person then emphasizes that this is one of the problems of the evolving EV adoption in India, where people have to be educated about the charging etiquettes.
As mentioned, even though the number of electric vehicles on public roads has increased, there is still a significant gap between ICE and EVs on the road. A major reason for this is the lack of fast public chargers, especially on national highways. Many people avoid taking their EVs on highways due to this very reason. Firstly, they have to plan their route ahead of time and mark out the EV chargers that they will be using during their journey.
However, when they arrive at those chargers, either they are out of service or they find someone who has left their vehicle at the spot and is nowhere near it. Due to this, the time at any given EV charger increases, which directly affects the duration of any journey. Presently, a lot of people have to face this problem on small weekend trips as well, and this is also a reason why EVs are not becoming as popular as they should.
If you are an EV owner, then you should learn this one thing about charging at a public charger. Each EV gets charged at a high speed up to 80 percent. However, after 80 percent, the speed of charging reduces. Now, if there are no other people in line and you have a lot of time at your disposal, then you can wait for your vehicle to reach 100 percent charge (still not recommended, as charging should only be done up to 90 to 95 percent to increase battery longevity).
However, if you note that there are other people who are waiting for the charger, you should ideally stop charging your vehicle and let others charge. EV owners will have to become more considerate about others so that no one has to wait any longer than they should have to.
Today, electric cars are still only for those people who either can charge their EVs at home, or they have a lot of time. Generally, people who have to frequently travel on highways and do not have a lot of spare time or are not patient enough still opt for ICE vehicles. Now, this is something which will only change once the EV charging infrastructure in India gets developed a lot more than it is at the moment.
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