Over 500 Days & 50000 Kms, This Mumbai Engineer Discovered What EVs Can Really Do in India

A decade ago, when Sushil Reddy embarked on his first trip by EV (electric vehicle), his mind was a maze of questions. Today, he recalls that trip as one that set the precedent for his travel choices. 

We catch up with the Mumbai-based 36-year-old, who is currently recovering from the exhilaration of having been featured in the India Book of Records for the ‘maximum distance covered in an electric car by an individual’. 

The record celebrates his feat of having completed a round-trip journey starting from Mumbai on 10 February 2025, traversing 28 cities across eight states in his Tata Curvv.ev and returning to Mumbai on 14 April 2025. The journey lasted 10,027 km. Sushil also used the time dutifully to channel passion into purpose. Over the course of the two months, he made a stop at 25 universities where he conducted awareness sessions around electric mobility. 

Aside from spinning a route of sustainability across 25 Indian cities — including Surat, Dwarka, Udaipur, Delhi, Bhopal, Indore — on that trip, he credits the trip for layering his understanding of EVs.

What sets EVs apart 

Recalling his first EV expedition, Sushil says, “There are still so many question marks around how an electric vehicle performs; even I had them.” But time-tested drives replaced the scepticism with knowledge. Today, Sushil is a seasoned expert. But he shies away from being called that, reasoning that his success with EV trips owes a great deal to the performance metrics of these electric fleets. 

He explains, “A vehicle with a petrol or diesel engine has a lot of moving parts, allowing for more wear and tear. In EVs, the moving parts are fewer, and so the maintenance is lower.” 

With regards to efficiency, too, Sushil says, EVs are a win. “ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles have an efficiency of 20-30 percent — for every 100 units of fuel that you load the tank with, only 20 or 30 units are actually being used to push the car forward — while in EVs this efficiency is around 60-90 percent.” 

As the Indian automotive sector is seeing a collective push to recognise EVs, Sushil is positive that the acceptance is only going to surge in the coming years. 

Pedalling a sustainable story across 7000+ kms 

In 2016, Sushil and his solar-powered cycle made headlines as he rode through nine states in the span of 79 days, covering 7,424 km. This broke the Guinness World Record for the longest journey on a solar-powered electric bicycle. 

As more and more consumers hurry to invest in EVs — especially with the government proposing a complete transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to EVs by 2030 — what was once a fledgling field is now starting to amass a huge clientele in the Indian market. As a report by the Economic Times points out, 2024 saw the sale of around two million EVs in India, reflecting rising consumer interest.

But the report goes on to state that cost is a pain point. “Whether an electric vehicle will cost you less or more ultimately depends on how you use it,” the report explains. 

Sushil agrees. “India is a cost-conscious market. If you look at the decision to buy an EV, it would primarily be based on the cost of the vehicle. An EV does cost more, and this is because of the batteries. Even while battery costs have reduced in the last five years, the price parity is yet to be achieved.” 

That being said, Sushil coaxes people towards EV adoption by reasoning, “The upfront cost is higher, but the cost of running the vehicle is much lower than an ICE vehicle. The per-kilometre cost of running a petrol or diesel vehicle is around Rs 10. An EV would be Rs 3. So, the more you run an EV vehicle, the more you’re receiving in payback compared with the amount that you have invested.”  

An antidote to range anxiety 

In 2022, people across India had become adept at identifying the MG ZS EV, an electric SUV, as it revved its engine of sustainability across 35 cities and 13 states, through the historic Golden Quadrilateral route (a network of national highways connecting major Indian cities Delhi-Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai), covering a distance of 8,849 km in 70 days. Driving it was Sushil.

Talking about how he countered range anxiety during the trip, he says, “Interestingly, we charged the MG ZS EV only 12 times at DC fast-charging stations along this route, costing us Rs 2,851. The rest of the time, we charged the car overnight using a portable AC charging cable that could be plugged into any 16 Amp socket (a three-pin heavy-duty socket which is usually used to run loads like air conditioners, geysers, water coolers, etc).”

The entire journey was planned according to the “worst-case scenario” when it comes to charging. That being said, Sushil advises an extension cord to access the 16 Amp plug point, which may not be available at a short distance near the parking area of the electric car, especially for riders embarking on long journeys. 

But the biggest boon he shares was ‘Plugshare’, which provides a complete map of electric vehicle charging stations worldwide. “Every EV company has its own app. Even if you want to go to a particular charging station to charge your vehicle, you can; you’ll find its charge zone. Everything is digital, even at these charging stations. On the app itself, you can load money into the wallet depending on how many units of electricity you want in the car.”

Planning for an EV trip 

However, in a detailed blog where Sushil recounts every step of the journey, he does highlight one key challenge in travelling long distances on EVs. 

“Network establishment at EV charging stations and managing multiple apps and digital wallets of EV charging station companies could be a challenge. But there are solutions today to eliminate this challenge, like the QR code scanning ‘Charge-Thru’ process by ‘Fortum Charge & Drive’ and ‘YoCharge’,” he notes.

Other ways of countering range anxiety, he says, are to lower your speed. “Lower speeds will generally deliver a higher range due to lesser air drag and rolling resistance. Regeneration plays a key role in city driving due to frequent braking. Instant acceleration is very useful for overtaking on highways. We even touched speeds up to 150 kmph, but it’s not recommended since the range could drastically reduce.” 

But all things said, planning has helped Sushil navigate the perils of range anxiety. “If you look at the battery life, you can assess how many km the EV will be able to run for on a single charge. Let’s say it’s a four-wheeler, and you charge the battery from 0 to 100 percent, this can run for around 400 km. Of course, it depends on different battery capacities.” 

If you’re doing an intercity trip, he recommends planning the journey such that every two hours you can make a stop at a charging facility and align this with your restroom and meal breaks. “With one hour of charge time, around 200 km of range can easily be added to the battery.” 

As Sushil is prepping for his next EV trip, he is sure this list will be compounded with more learnings. And by then, maybe you’ll be planning your EV trip too!

Edited by Khushi Arora; All images courtesy Sushil Reddy

Sources 

'Buying an electric car? Before spending big bucks, factor these hard facts': by Yasmin Hussain, Published on 29 April 2025.

'Maximum Distance Covered in an Electric Car by an Individual': by India Book of Records, Published on 28 May 2025.