First Outstation travel with Nexon EV

I am always fascinated with the new technology vehicles and in that course got my EV - Tata Nexon recently. While there are lot of writeup on the aspects of the Car - drivability etc etc , I wanted to put some info on my experience around distance , charging infra structure and the long term aspects if EVs need to be mainstream.

When I started the vitals were showing me as 100% Battery and 198 KM range. I was starting from Malad Mumbai and planned to go to Lonavala.

The Battery and the range was going well till I started in the Ghat. In the ghat section , the battery really dropped very quickly to a tune when I was exiting Expressway at Lonavala , the vitals were 40% Battery and 68 Kms Range.

Important thing that I found the regeneration capacity when I started back from Lonavala. The drive down the ghat brought back the battery to 48% with a range of 117 Kms - I think this is great. 

When I reached Ghatkopar  the battery had dropped to 10% and the power limitation kicked in with a range showing 29 Kms. This necessitated a refuelling (recharging) and I found a charging station close by. I dropped in at the Tata Power Vikhroli Charging Station. My first impressions :

1. The location is not clearly marked and difficult to identify quickly. Need to be carefully looking for the sign - the sign is worn-out and needs repainting 

2. The Tatapower Ezcharge app is quite good and provides the basic details. Where I struggled was to identify the right connecter for the car - so that information if handy would help.

The charging was decent spent about 30 minutes for 11KW charge and it took the battery to 50%.

Overall the battery and the range might be deceptive and the inclines and traffic really plays big time on the draining of the battery ( I Presume because the car runs on first gear most of the times). You have to be carefully watching the statics and plan for recharging in case you need to go longer distance. 

Will be doing a Pune round trip and will post my experience next week.

Tracing the History - Veereshwar Temple Aasre

I had been to a Shiva temple when I was very young may be about 7th std. This visit was interesting now as I think back as it was connected to our history. The temple I visited was supposed to be installed and managed by my grandmothers family - the Hawaldars. I remembe everything including the travel that we undertook in a bus along with Pujaris and family members as we had planned for a Rudra at the temple. I also remember the welcome that we had received as Hawaldar Family.

The time then moved on.

I had an urge to connect back to this history and started tracing the place - as I only new briefly the name of the village. I searched and found the details and then decided to make a quick visit.

The whole place is now changed - as compared to what I remembered visiting as a child but few things still remain.

At then entrance , there is a board mentioning the history of the temple and the efforts of Hawaldar family in rebuilding the same. Today the temple has been acquired by the Government and is managed by a trust but interestingly the pujari still provided me with every support when I mentioned about being a family member of Hawaldars.

























This was the history of the temple!

The temple entrance and the deepmal is completely renovated now and is more of cement structure rather than the original stone structure.

The Garbha Gruh has been completely redone and has a shiva Linga The original Nandi and a lot of Shiva linga have been installed at another small temple next to this main temple.

Also a Ganesh Murty next to the entrance to the garbha gruh.

While the temple is completely rebuilt, the heritage stone work still is impressive. A lot of stone carvings are lying around the temple. The trust now manages this temple and is responsible for the running of the dharmashala and other facilities.

Its a nice histroical trip about 30 minutes from Khopoli.

The board at the entrance is the only remembrance of the history of Hawaldar Joshi and the temple.

Trip to GIR - Some must knows after my experience.

Traveled to Gir National Park during the Dec holidays. Made a trip to Somnath and Gir in a four day span. Went from Mumbai to Diu and then by road to Somnath first and then to Gir.

Gir was beautiful. Nice climate - not very cold - pleasurable. Went for the Lion Safari and was danm lucky to sight Lions multiple times. First one was a lone male lion drinking water just after finishing breakfast :-). Here is the picture on a Nikon 70-300 (details below)

After taking his time to drink , started his majestic walk towards us...you have to see the king of the jungle in his kingdom. Cool !

Then we stumbled upon a group of 3 lionesses and 4-5 cubs all taking a nap after their brunch

Like I said , it made our journey complete with all these sightings.
Next day we went for the Devalia Safari. Good sightings again as this is a smaller enclosed area specifically made for folks who miss a natural sighting.

Some very important travel tips learnt during this journey :

1. Always plan in advance as the only way to get into the Gir Safari is by booking the permits on-line. There are no permits available locally. So you have to go to the website - www.girlion.in. There are three slots 0600-0900 , 0900-1200 and 1500-1800...choose as many as you want and book the permits. There are only 50 Jeeps permitted per time slot.You need ID proof for all the travellers during booking and also during entry into the Safari.
2. Can book Devalia as well - so if you miss sighting , then you can definitely see Lions at Devalia.
3. Local cabs are expensive depending on the hotels that you stay. We stayed at The Fern inside the forest - the place is good.

(Quick Tip and Trick - If you dont get the permit on the first go , keep checking every day - I found that they get booked early but then get cancelled as cancellation is permitted till 2-days before the trip - you might get second time lucky like me !)

We also did a short nature walk for birding along the Hiranya River. Did some good sighitngs including - Marsh Crocodiles , Indian Tree pie , Shrikes , Ibiss etc.

Trip Iten worked like this :

1. Mumbai - Diu - Takes baout 1.5 Hours.
2. Diu to Somnath - 80 Km 1.5 Hours. Somnath has a nice temple and a light and sound show at 1930 in the evening. We stayed at the Fern Somnath. The place is good but far from the temple. You get autorickshaws to travel from the hotel to the temple.
3.Somnath to Gir - 50 Kms about 1 Hour.
4. Gir to diu and back. Gir to Diu is about 2.5 hours.

The roads are good and a nice drive.

Dont forget to book your safari permits in advance.