PlugInIndia Community Event
The Idea
We at PluginIndia Pune community organised the first ever PluginIndia event at Pune.
We wanted to take our electric cars out in the mountains. The idea was to drive to Lavasa which is around 55 km from Pune deep in the rugged mountains.
Lavasa is a popular tourist landmark for residents from Pune city as well as Mumbai. Lavasa is also popular among enthusiastic motorcyclists due to the twisty roads present in the "Mutha ghat" all the way through to the "Temghar-Lavasa ghat"
We at PluginIndia Pune community organised the first ever PluginIndia event at Pune.
We wanted to take our electric cars out in the mountains. The idea was to drive to Lavasa which is around 55 km from Pune deep in the rugged mountains.
Lavasa is a popular tourist landmark for residents from Pune city as well as Mumbai. Lavasa is also popular among enthusiastic motorcyclists due to the twisty roads present in the "Mutha ghat" all the way through to the "Temghar-Lavasa ghat"
The road deep in the mountains towards the great lakes!
The Objective
The main intention was to drive the electric car to Lavasa - India's first planned city and have discussions with the officials about installing an electric socket in the parking lot at Lavasa for the benefit of the EV community.
The main intention was to drive the electric car to Lavasa - India's first planned city and have discussions with the officials about installing an electric socket in the parking lot at Lavasa for the benefit of the EV community.
The Participants
The participants are members of the PluginIndia Pune Community
Padmaja Kulkarni
Vithal Kulkarni
Kamlesh Mallick (did the send off's!)
The participants are members of the PluginIndia Pune Community
Padmaja Kulkarni
Vithal Kulkarni
Kamlesh Mallick (did the send off's!)
The Event
Kamlesh could not attend the event as he got held up by life's little 'surprises'.
Vithal and Padmaja however were all set to explore Lavasa in their cute little red electric car - The Mahindra e2o
Kamlesh could not attend the event as he got held up by life's little 'surprises'.
Vithal and Padmaja however were all set to explore Lavasa in their cute little red electric car - The Mahindra e2o
Two Electric Cars - The send off at the beginning!
The drive was fun. The Mahindra e2o could easily handle the ghats of Lavasa. The entire route is filled with picture perfect views. With the monsoons still on, everything is green and lush. Perfect for an emission free electric car. By the time we got to Lavasa, we had around 45 km worth of energy left.
Reach the Temghar Dam
Stunning scenery as we climb the heights!
The Mahindra e2o can easily handle these ghats on 'F' mode.
At Lavasa in front of the Varasgaon Lake
Once we reached Lavasa, we met their executive who helped us and arranged for a 15 Amp socket to charge the car. This was a temporary arrangement and we are grateful for the authorities at Lavasa to support the EV community of Pune.
We fill the 'tank' at the Lavasa Information Center :)
The Impact
The Authorities at Lavasa have told us that they will look into installing couple of 15Amp plug points for the benefit of the EV community.
We at PluginIndia appreciate the green initiatives taken by Lavasa.
We did some quick calculations on the benefits of supporting EV's.
If we end up driving to Lavasa using a petrol automatic car or a sedan, which gives around 10 kmpl - A distance of 110 kms from Pune to Lavasa will need around 11 liters of petrol. Maybe more due to the inefficiencies of the Petrol engine.
Lets say we make 10 trips over a year to attend the various events at Lavasa or to just chill in the mountains. This would consume 110 liters of petrol from Pune to Lavasa in a year. All this At a cost of Rs 8470 (Rs 77 per liter of Petrol)
Compare this to Electric vehicles. An electric car would consume around 12 kwh of electricity for such a round trip. For 10 such trips, the clean e-car consumes 120 kWh of electricity. All this at a cost of just Rs 600 (Rs 5 per unit)
There are more benefits apart from the costs
We hope many businesses, hotels, resorts will support EV's in the future.
Remember when u support us, you also do your bit for our country and the environment!
The Authorities at Lavasa have told us that they will look into installing couple of 15Amp plug points for the benefit of the EV community.
We at PluginIndia appreciate the green initiatives taken by Lavasa.
We did some quick calculations on the benefits of supporting EV's.
If we end up driving to Lavasa using a petrol automatic car or a sedan, which gives around 10 kmpl - A distance of 110 kms from Pune to Lavasa will need around 11 liters of petrol. Maybe more due to the inefficiencies of the Petrol engine.
Lets say we make 10 trips over a year to attend the various events at Lavasa or to just chill in the mountains. This would consume 110 liters of petrol from Pune to Lavasa in a year. All this At a cost of Rs 8470 (Rs 77 per liter of Petrol)
Compare this to Electric vehicles. An electric car would consume around 12 kwh of electricity for such a round trip. For 10 such trips, the clean e-car consumes 120 kWh of electricity. All this at a cost of just Rs 600 (Rs 5 per unit)
There are more benefits apart from the costs
- We don't consume oil which is imported and costs the Indian exchequer. Thus we help our country in our little way.
- We are also patriotic we use Indian made energy rather than foreign oil.
- We don't pollute the ecologically sensitive Western Ghat mountains as we don't do emissions.
We hope many businesses, hotels, resorts will support EV's in the future.
Remember when u support us, you also do your bit for our country and the environment!