I Took My EV From Noida to Jaipur and Learned the Hard Way That Range Anxiety Is Real - Here Are The Biggest Learnings

We bought an EV as our second car sometime in the middle of last year. While we love road trips, we have always defaulted to our petrol car for long drives. This time, tempted by soaring fuel prices (and a bit of confidence), we decided to take the EV from Noida to Jaipur. I charged the car to 100% early in the morning. The dashboard confidently showed a range of 430 km, while Jaipur was just 298 km away. Seemed doable. What could go wrong?

We hit the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway, wide roads, smooth drive and soon found ourselves cruising above 100 kmph. Midway, we drove through dense fog for about half an hour, switched on the defrost mode, kept the music on and carried on. Then came the shock. Just 1 hour and 36 minutes into the drive, the battery

had dropped to 36% and panic mode got activated.

We immediately searched for the nearest charging station but it showed 12 km away. We kept driving, hoping for an exit but the stretch felt endless. Eventually, we found an Indian Oil EV charging station near Ferozepur Jhirka. I quickly downloaded the app, added ₹1000 to the wallet, plugged in the charger but nothing happened. The scanner kept showing “wrong QR code.” While we were struggling, a Tesla pulled in. The owner tried the same, he downloaded the app, plugged in, failed. At this point, exhaustion and frustration had kicked in.

We decided to move ahead and thankfully found another EV charging point inside an Indian Oil petrol pump. One car was already charging. I tried the second plug. A helper came over and tried to make the app work but it just wouldn’t. Eventually, we struck an unofficial deal and he started the charging using a workaround. Soon after, the Tesla followed us there too.

We sat at a nearby tea stall and after 20 minutes, we checked the car only to realise the charger wasn’t working at all. The helper came back, fixed it again and finally after another 45 minutes, the battery went up from 70% to 94%. We decided to not waste any more time and got back on the road, confident that 94% will help us.

Chatting with other EV owners made one thing clear: speed and features drain the battery fast. The fog defroster, AC and driving over 100 kmph had done the damage. We switched off the AC, slowed down, kept a keen eye on the range and finally reached Jaipur with 32% battery left.

The hunt for a charger resumed. The nearest one showed up at Marriott Jaipur. We reached and spotted a Statiq charging station. Yet another app download, wallet recharge but this time, it worked like a dream. The app clearly showed charging progress and remaining time. After charging, we went on a short night drive and barely used 10% of the battery. That’s when you realise that within the city EVs are brilliant.

The next morning, we charged to 100% again and headed back to Delhi. The car showed an ETA of 3 hours 40 minutes, which felt reassuring. But the moment we slowed down to conserve battery, the ETA kept increasing.

We stopped once the battery hit 70% and found a 270 kW charger where a BYD was already plugged in. Time for app number three - Electreefi. Downloaded it, added money and just as we were about to charge, the power went off. Fifteen minutes of waiting later, electricity returned and charging finally began. A quick chat with the BYD owner reinforced the same truth: overspeeding or overusing features drains the battery far quicker than you expect.

With 2 hours 20 minutes left to reach Delhi, we played a careful game- sometimes speeding, sometimes driving under 80, constantly watching the battery. Once we were 37 km away, we finally relaxed, sped up and made it home relieved, exhausted and wiser.

Biggest takeaways

• Plan charging stops. It’s far better to stop and charge than push your luck and panic later.

• Speed and features matter. Overspeeding, AC, defrost and other features drain battery fast. You need to constantly balance distance, speed and usage.

• EVs are fantastic within cities. Short drives are absolute breeze and pocket friendly.

• Highway ecosystem needs work. Charging stations exist but reliability, downtime and usability are still issues.

• We need a centralised charging app. Downloading 3-4 apps, adding wallet money each time and hoping one works is not sustainable for long drives.

The honest review is that EVs save money but they cost time. Road trips take longer, and patience becomes part of the journey.