Mahindra Electric SUV Owner Shows The Biggest Problem EV Owners Face In India [Video]

The number of brands launching electric vehicles in the Indian market has gone up in the last 5 years. Even the government is pushing manufacturing and promoting EVs as they are claimed to be more environmentally friendly. Charging infrastructure in India has improved over the years, but it is still very far from what an EV user expects.

Here we have one such video where a Mahindra BE6 owner shows the biggest problem that an EV owner faces in a city like Delhi.

The video has been shared by ReGen Life on his YouTube channel. In this video, the owner of the Mahindra BE6 was driving to the Patiala House Court in Delhi with around 16 percent charge left. Lawyer in question here was trying to find only govt chargers as it is cheaper than private stations. He was driving the car to the court with the hope that he would find a charging station where he could plug in and let his car charge, so by the time he finished work and came back, his EV would be charged.

When he reached the court, he was surprised to see a DC charger and an AC charger inside the judges' parking lot, but they were both not working. The parking for the public and lawyers didn’t have any EV charging points at all.

Even if the charging stations inside the judges' parking were in working condition, there was no way the owner could drive his car to the charger, as people had parked ICE vehicles in front of the chargers and blocked the way. This is actually a problem in many cities. This reflects poor awarness among people about the charging stations and also those who use it.

After finishing his work at the court, the BE6 owner resumed his hunt for a charger in the city. He did find a couple of them, but they were already occupied by other EVs. He then finally went to Switch charging stations installed by the Delhi Government.

Even these chargers were not in good condition and were also not functioning. In fact, people had blocked access to the chargers. The chargers were either destroyed, or there was no power supply that could be used to charge the vehicle.

The owner was searching for a charger with only 10 percent charge left. Finally, he decided to drive the car to the nearest Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) depot. There are several DC chargers installed inside the depot, but it looks like those chargers are not for public use.

The BE6 owner tried driving the car into the depot but was stopped by the security at the gate. He was told that he could not enter the premises with the EV. Even after requesting multiple times, the answer was no.

By this time, the battery percentage on the car had dropped to 7 percent, and the owner decided not to waste time and instead get to the nearest Mahindra service center to get the vehicle charged. He made it to the service center and plugged it into the 30 kW fast charger.

After plugging the car in, he realized that even the fast charger was not offering maximum output. After charging the car at the DC charger for an hour, the owner got about 25 percent charge. He then decided to drive the car home and get it charged there.

The video showcases the challenges an EV owner faces in India and we really hope in coming years, these issues are fixed.