Kochi

The Airbus A380 swayed and shook, dropped and rolled as it started its descent into God’s own country. I smiled to myself as I watched the little droplets of rain run down the window panes like tiny rivulets. After the sweltering Bombay heat, it looked like Kochi had decided to be good to me. And this wasn’t just the weather. For, in Kochi, I had something special waiting. We were out to celebrate the World Environment Day and Mahindra Electric had the perfect car for us – the Mahindra e2oPlus.

As we exited the airport, there she stood, the e2oPlus - clean and primed, ready for its voyage. Was it irony that this car stood amidst the tree-laden confines of one of the greenest airports in India? Surrounded by the solar panels erected at the airport, it was as if Kochi was celebrating the clean technology used by this car. And what’s more, unlike Mahindra’s earlier electric car, which was a tiny two-door vehicle, this is the e2oPlus, a tall-boy hatchback, and the top-spec P8 at that. It has everything your everyday hatchback has and something more– no exhaust gases, no pollution.

So we set out on the road to Gavi, one of the cleanest hill stations in India and a globally renowned destination for eco-tourism. The pre-monsoon thunder showers had considerably cooled everything down and we drove with a chilly breeze in our faces from Kochi via Kanjirapally.

Mundakayam

The light drizzle continued all through the drive to our first stop, Kanjirapally, where the e2oPlus was charged up through the night. The roads were beautiful and after driving for an hour, we stopped for some grub. It was a regular village eatery, simple and unpretentious. Here I had my first ever taste of idiyappam. These are delicate rice noodles, steamed and served with chutney or egg roast. After gulping down a swig of coffee to keep us awake, we headed towards Kanjirapally via Pala.

Kanjirapally is a bustling town in eastern Kerala on the highway that goes towards Sabarimala. It is exactly 87 km from where I had started and halfway to Gavi which is the reason why we had chosen it for the stop over. The drive was largely nice and peaceful with Metallica thrashing through the speakers while the e2oPlus cruised comfortably. It was a bit skittish in some places, especially on broken roads, but then on a morning like this, one hardly cares. When we reached Kanjirapalli, the e2oPlus still had 40kms worth of battery. So we pushed on to the smaller town of Mundakayam, located about 12 kms from Kanjirapalli, at the foot of the mountains.

Mundakayam has only one decent hotel, the rest are all lodges. Upbeat after the lovely drive in the e2oPlus from Kochi, we were shocked when the hotel management denied us permission to charge the car. Fortunately, we still had 30km of charge left after the 100 km marathon. As we scouted around the small market area for help, Jacob Kadampuzha, owner of Kozhikunnel Auto Electricals, Mundakayam, came to our rescue. He took us to his lovely house perched atop a hill and opened his garage for us. While the batteries of the e2oPlus were getting juiced up, we were also guzzling down fresh Chinese orange juice, kindly provided to us by our host.

Vandiperiyar

In Idukki, on the way to Gavi, is the picturesque hamlet of Vandiperiyar, known for its tea estates and misty mountains. The road climbs relentlessly up the steep mountain towards Gavi. The e2oPlus had no qualms climbing and was never out of breath. I didn’t need to use the Boost mode even once, but, with the throttle open all the time, the 55km drive to Vandiperiyar drained more than 60 per cent of the battery.

Luckily, Jacob uncle had booked the Vandiperiyar Club house for us. Halfway up a tea-estate, the British-built Vandiperiyar Club chalet has one of the best views I ever laid my eyes on. We plugged the e2oPlus through the afternoon. To our dismay, we discovered that by the time it gets charged enough for the climb to Gavi, the entry gates there would be closed. The best option then was to soak in some more of the beauty of Vandiperiyar and so we went out to grab some local grub.

Kottayam

Since we had to give Gavi a pass, we decided to take the Mahindra e2oPlus to another beautiful location – Kumarakom. A popular backwaters destination, complete with houseboats, Kumarakom lay only 14km from Kottayam. Kottayam itself was 95km from Vandiperiyar. The only hitch was, being a wooded area, the electricity went out at the first sign of rain and didn’t return. Luckily, we managed the drive to Kottayam at 84 per cent state of charge (SOC) with a distance to empty (DTE) of 114km remaining.

Enroute to Kottayam lay Parunthumpara or eagle’s rock. Situated on the top of the hill near Peermade, Parunthumpara offers a bird’s eye view of the valleys around and endless carpets of forest. And if the day is clear, you can even spot the Sabarimala and supposedly the makara jyothi on the other side. This alone has made this spot a popular choice for tourists on their way to Thekkady. It was also an additional 10km detour to our already stiff target. When we took off from Parunthumpara, the SOC was 55 per cent with a DTE of 76km and we were at least 80kms away.

But here, the Mahindra e2oPlus had another trick up its sleeve – regenerative braking. Downhill, I maintained the efficiency indicator in the E-Gen zone, charging the batteries as we rolled. The trick here is to feather the pedal, maintain the efficiency marker in the E-Gen zone and almost freewheel or else the car will almost brake itself to a halt if you go off-throttle completely. The e2oPlus’ handled well on ghat roads and the tyres successfully cleared the 25kms of hair-pin bends all the way to Mundakayam. When we hit the ghat, the SOC read 51 and the DTE 63 and I managed to stretch it out to 60 and 74 respectively when I hit Mundakayam.

We hit Kottayam by afternoon and with temperatures hovering in mid-30s, it was time to test the air-conditioning. The air-conditioning in the e2oPlus worked well and cooled me in minutes as we negotiated the city traffic to drive into the Mahindra dealership at Kottayam with just 28 per cent SOC and 28 kms DTE to spare. We had covered over 108kms since we set out in the morning. The dealership welcomed us and charged the car to 100 per cent SOC for the first time since we left Mahindra Kochi.

The last leg?

The early morning routine had set in by now and we hit the Kumarakom side of the Vembanad lake with the sun still trying to pierce through the morning mist. The beautiful backwaters with the houseboats anchored on its surface is the very sight that sells tourism in Kerala. We breezed past the colourful houses and today, I was gunning the e2oPlus. It cruised at a fair clip of about 60kmph and the efficiency meter too remained happily high.

As we neared Kochi, I had mixed feelings. We had taken this 350km trip with the e2oPlus to Gavi and back through the interiors of Kerala to find out what it’s like to travel with an electric car, the first of its kind in the country. We knew what we had signed up for, and it delivered far beyond that. Most of all, we had a great adventure. The memories of the friendly people in Kerala, the simple but delicious local food, and the beauty of Western Ghats will always linger with us. And at the centre of it all is always the faithful e2oPlus, bravely negotiating bad roads and dangerous bends.

This swanky city car stood out like an exotic fruit in the earthy green background of rural Kerala and wherever we went, heads turned. At pit stops, we were often dragged into conversation by the locals, who were curious about the car. After successfully negotiating the first challenge, we couldn’t wait to take up something bigger, a 550km round trip this time. And for that we drove to the city which has pioneered India’s EV revolution – namma Bengaluru.

Words: Omkar Thakur

Photography: Vipurva Parikh