Be Part Of Our Whatsapp Community📱 To Get Exclusive Updates And Access To More BTS Action! 💬🤩
#BHARATMALA
World's longest ride on an EV bike - 13510 km in 54
days
The Electric bharatmala
We put the Mantis through the ultimate test... 27000 km on 2 motorcycles garlanding India, covering every type of terrain and weather conditions that a rider in India can experience!
Each Mantis covered 13510km+ in 54 days from Feb 4th, 2022, to March 29th, 2022.
Why Electric Bharatmala?
The Electric Bharatmala, a brainchild of John Kuruvilla and Gautam Khot - then mentors at the Brigade REAP accelerator - was an initiative to bring the stories of #MadeInIndia startups to smaller towns and cities in India. We would "garland India" with the Electric Motorcycles by travelling around the perimeter of India, along the beaches and the Himalayas, passing through cities and towns, hopefully inspiring more entrepreneurs in these locations.
The Journey:
John and Gautam proposed the idea of 14000km record-breaking ride on Mantis. After the 1st meeting on this topic we had about 3 pages, 2 columns wide, of every single thing that could possibly go wrong. We went through every possible risk — safety, technical, engineering, regulatory, legal and then decided, to let's do this!
The above map shows the planned route and the route that we had covered during the ride. We had to map out the charging stations, hotels, colleges, and other logistics. We completed 13510 km in 54 days. The Manali-Leh roads were closed and the rains and poor roads in the Silchar-Cherrapunji segment had us retrace our route to Guwahati.
We started from Bangalore, covered the perimeter of India and completed the Bharatmala ride in Bangalore. We rode 300-350km each day on average. The average speed maintained was 70-75kmph. The ride proved the Mantis' range: 150+ km on highways (at 70-75kmph average speed) and 200+ km in city riding.
15% of the rides were over 450km per day to put the vehicle through tests. The longest distance was 470 kilometres from Forbesganj to Gorakhpur but the most punishing was the 460 km from Sangrur (Punjab) to Kuchaman City (Rajasthan) in a heat wave of 42+deg C!
Extreme Temperatures and terrains:
The entire week in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat was extremely hot (40+ degrees Celsius). During the heat wave, the Mantises rode nearly 2000 kilometres and only a week prior, they were in Manali at -2 degrees Celsius!
With a climb from 100m to 2000+ m altitude we had reached during Sitapur to Nainital ride in a day. The trip to Dimapur was challenging, we rode approximately 65 kilometers of off-road in the rain.
The entire week in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat was extremely hot (40+ degrees Celsius). During the heat wave, the Mantises rode nearly 2000 kilometres and only a week prior, they were in Manali at -2 degrees Celsius!
RIDER TALE FROM BHARATMALA :
Janmejay Mishra
I had the opportunity to ride the bike thousands of kilometers far from home for thousands of kilometers from the cool foggy mornings in the Northeast to the exasperating heat in Rajasthan. All of the 4500 km I rode during the ride, all the team-mates and people I met, all the places I went to are etched on my heart and brain for life.
Akshay Tippannavar
I rode some of the most challenging mountainous stretches, from Dehradun to Jammu, via Srinagar. A ride of about 1500+ km in the crown of India. Dehradun (Paonta sahib) to Solan (Shimla) was the most beautiful and well built road I have seen. Riding the Mantis was such a breeze here. The banking on the road was wonderful. Hardly any traffic. I'm definitely going there again.
Prajwal Sabnis
As a founder, I learnt and relearnt many things on this ride. Travel is the only way to experience. And biking is by far the most satisfying way to travel. I rode a little over 3500+ km, and covered three of the most beautiful stretches — the Eastern Coast, the North-East and the Western Coast.
Gautam Khot
I rode 13500+ km, from the ooranis in Tamil Nadu to the mighty Himalayas in Kashmir, from the enigmatic Seven Sisters in the east to the world's largest oil refinery in Saurashtra on the west coast - the diversity of this great country boggles the mind.
