The wellness coach, who travelled across India in an electric auto, on what his journey taught him about the state of EV infrastructure in the country, challenges of long-distance travel in an electric vehicle, and more
Jothi Viknesh in Ladakh during his trip across India in an EV auto.
Images: Jothi Viknesh
In 2016, Jothi Viknesh set out for a solo trip around India on his motorbike. The joy and adrenaline rush from the adventure made Viknesh take another trip around the country, covering 40,000 kms in 8 months in a car with two friends. Third time around, Viknesh wanted to do something different. And so, he chose to travel across the country in an electric auto. While a bike and a car ride were easy, an auto, that too an electric auto, came with a number of limitations, as per Viknesh. “I wanted to spread awareness about sustainable travel and show that if I can do it in a simple auto rickshaw, people can choose better EVs without any fear,” says the 35-year-old wellness coach and Zumba instructor based out of Bengaluru.
Viknesh’s journey in a Mahindra Treo e-auto started from Bengaluru on December 5, 2021 and concluded after more than 350 days on November 27, 2022 in the same city. He covered 28,385 km and drove around a number of regions including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Kashmir, Ladakh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Kerala. For the journey, Viknesh spent close to Rs7 lakh.
In conversation with Forbes India, he talks about the trip, the EV infrastructure in the country, challenges and lessons through the journey, and more. Edited excerpts:
Viknesh on the way to Khardung La, near Leh.
Q. Why did you choose to undertake this trip as a solo traveller?