RIVERSIDE SOJOURN

How much can you accomplish on a single charge?

- Keshav Teiva Poumai

Journeys are wonderful things. To travel, to make use of the fact that we are not trees rooted in one place for the rest of our lives, and to have the freedom to traverse the length and breadth of the world. To experience, to enjoy, to escape — there are a hundred and more reasons to pack your bags and set out. That being said, a journey doesn’t have to be a world tour; it could be a short trek up the hillock near your house or even an expedition to an elusive food joint on the other end of town.

I believe distance does not define the journey, nor does the destination; the act of travel in itself is more than enough. Now, in our case, the preferred means of travel is on two wheels. And with a major chunk of working people taking to EV scooters as their primary means of transport, it really got me thinking: could we practically attempt a weekend getaway with a limited range of about 100 km and no access to charging infrastructure in between? Ideally, if you plan the route, calculate everything meticulously, and most importantly, have enough faith in your EV, it should be a breeze, right?

Determined to put our theory to the test, I enlisted the River Indie EV scooter as our trusty steed, charged it up to full capacity, packed all my camping gear in its under-seat storage (which is massive), and set out to a camping spot around 35 km away in Titwala. With regard to our choice, we decided on the Indie because the trip was charted out to be a mix of city roads, highways, and a few off-road trails, and with the ‘SUV of Scooters’ tag, it seemed to be the most suitable candidate.