Even though electric cars are now becoming more efficient, there are still a lot of people who do not like them. One of the biggest reasons for not liking EVs is the long wait times at charging stations. Another very common and major issue is the unpredictable nature of the charging points’ availability. Recently, a video has become viral in which a few friends were seen trolling a Mahindra BE 6 owner after his Rs 25 lakh EV could not be charged at a public charger.
trolling of the Mahindra BE 6 EV owner has been shared on Instagram by EV Rise on their page. It starts off with the cameraman showing the owner of the Mahindra BE 6 standing in front of the vehicle at a charging station. He says that this is the man who has bought a Rs 25 lakh EV which cannot be charged.
Following this, another man shows the charging gun and says that this vehicle cannot be charged at any station. Meanwhile, another man jokes that he will buy a Maruti Suzuki Alto. He adds that he would buy that too with an LPG cylinder so that it can be refilled quickly and driven.
The owner of this particular Mahindra BE 6, in the caption of the post, has mentioned the problems that he is facing with his Rs 25 lakh SUV. He has stated that after buying an electric car, he thought that he would not have to face any trouble regarding charging the vehicle.
However, in the current scenario and reality, a lot of times, the charging gun at public fast chargers is either occupied. Or, a lot of times, the charger is not working. Additionally, sometimes the vehicle has to be driven extra to find a different charging station where everything is working, and this takes a lot more time.
The owner of the BE 6 has also stated that EV technology is growing very quickly. However, the charging infrastructure should also grow at a faster pace. He added that the charging network has to be improved presently to make sure that owners of electric cars do not have to face issues mentioned above.
It has to be mentioned that the problem highlighted by this incident is not related to the Mahindra BE 6 itself. In fact, one of the biggest challenges that currently a lot of electric vehicle owners in India face is the reliability and availability of public charging infrastructure. Now, even though the number of charging stations has increased a lot in the last few years, the overall experience at these stations is still very unpredictable, especially when travelling long distances.
For an EV owner, reaching a charging station does not always mean that the charging process will immediately begin. A lot of times, there are situations where another vehicle is already using the fast charger, which forces the owner to wait.
In some cases, the charging point could also show as available on an application. However, it could be occupied when the owner actually reaches the location. There can also be instances where the charger is temporarily out of service or does not work properly with a particular vehicle. What happens is that such situations become particularly frustrating when the vehicle has already travelled a considerable distance to reach the charging station.
Now, unlike a conventional petrol or diesel car, where another fuel station can usually be found easily, EV owners need to look for a compatible and functional charging point. If the nearest charger is unavailable, then they have to drive a lot more to find another one.
An EV owner generally has to plan his journey around charging stops. This is especially the case when travelling between cities. If one charging station is unavailable, the entire plan can get delayed. And this is one of the reasons why some buyers who are interested in electric cars still prefer hybrids or conventional petrol vehicles for long-distance use.
However, this does not mean that EVs are impractical. For people who have access to home charging, the experience is very different. Such owners can just plug the car in overnight and start the next morning with sufficient range for daily commuting. It has to be mentioned that the Mahindra BE 6 shown in the video above is a very modern EV and offers a large battery pack with a long claimed range.
However, even a car capable of travelling hundreds of kilometres on a charge cannot completely solve the problem if the next charging point is occupied or unavailable. This is why the expansion of India’s EV ecosystem is very important as we see major growth in electric car sales. Basically, more charging stations are required, but their reliability, uptime and accessibility are equally important.