MG e-Hub: Simplifying EV charging, but can it overcome India's infrastructure challenges?

The switch to electric vehicles in India will ultimately hinge on creating a robust and well-connected charging infrastructure. A prominent initiative in this regard appears to be MG Motor India's e-Hub app initiative, which is trying to consolidate a fragmented charging marketplace into a single user-friendly interface.

To determine the effectiveness of this solution in real-world intercity driving, I employed the app on a road trip from Delhi through the ancient heartland of Rajasthan, making detours at Alwar, Bharatpur, and Fatehpur Sikri.

This first-person account narrates my experience employing the MG e-Hub app to explore the accessible charging network and evaluate some of the benefits as well as challenges which came up under novel driving conditions.

MG e-Hub: More than just another app

In case you weren't aware, MG e-Hub is not merely another app to fill your phone's storage, rather it developed into a handy resource for this journey. It is MG Motor India's bold attempt to organize the fragmented EV charging landscape in India, so to speak. And surprisingly, MG Motor India is well on the way to doing so by having over 8,500 fast chargers integrated as of now since its launch in August 2024. The true value of the app lies in how it brings many charging providers into a single, easy-to-use, interface.

Think of it as a digital concierge for your EV's energy needs, providing location services, availability (or theoretically, anyway!), and payment options in one. And the app doesn't stop there: in addition to finding chargers, it includes a smart trip-planning capability.

By providing a destination, it would assess how much remaining range the car has and provide the best route to arrive at the destination, even including how far to drive and where to stop for charging to maximize the best chargers available promptly to lower the costs to me and minimize wasting time! For MG, this is a clear approach to building owner confidence in EV ownership.

Delhi to Alwar: Smooth sailing on a charged current

My journey started in the familiar chaos of Delhi, but soon, the highway opened up for us, beckoning us for an easier ride. As I quickly checked the MG e-Hub app, I noted with relief that the screen was dotted with charging pin icons along the Delhi-Alwar route. Mostly fast chargers, each promising a good enough charge in the time it would take for me to enjoy a cup of garam chai.

This leg of the journey felt almost normal. I relied on the MG e-Hub working in the background as my safety net against ending up on the side of the highway with a dead battery. There was confidence to it all, and with the app's simple design, I could easily snap into view a choice of convenient charging spots in seconds.

The charging desert to Bharatpur

The journey to Bharatpur, though, was the opposite. Stepping off the highway, we took smaller roads, twisting through picturesque villages. Pretty, yes. Charging-friendly, most certainly not. My MG e-Hub app, which had served me so well up to now, now showed a discouraging blankness. The bright pins that indicated the Delhi-Alwar corridor were nowhere in sight.

MG e-Hub app is entirely a step forward, superseding the unreliable ways consumers try to find and access EV chargers into a one-stop option.

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MG e-Hub app is entirely a step forward, superseding the unreliable ways consumers try to find and access EV chargers into a one-stop option.

Now this part of the trip became a cautious exercise of conserving battery, the dashboard range number felt next to ominous as it served as a reminder that, although the situation was improving on major highways, things were slow-moving in semi-urban and rural areas. You begin to notice it when you get off even the shortest distance from the main highways and, despite the travel planning features of the app, I saw a long stretch with no charging options.

Bharatpur to Fatehpur Sikri and the fickle finger of highway chargers

Bharatpur presented a glimmer of hope, with a few charging points popping up on the app. The joy of being able to plug in, however briefly, was enormous. The short dash up to Fatehpur Sikri, the UNESCO World Heritage site just 19 kilometres away, was range-neutral. But, to get back to Delhi, via the busy Delhi-Mathura highway, I hit yet another dilemma. I had thought that surely, a major national highway would have a plethora of charging options. But the reality was something else. The density of reliable, fast chargers on the MG e-HUb app was unexpectedly low which made my anxiety rise again.

It was on this leg that the value of the MG e-Hub app became inescapable. With the battery level slowly dwindling, and the nagging throb of range anxiety setting in, we came to depend heavily on the app to find a charging lifeline. The app's route suggestion feature featuring charging stops proved especially useful here, although it brought out a quirky flaw.

Also watch: MG Windsor EV review: Crossing into crossover territory

The route planning feature of the app, though overall useful, posed an interesting dilemma on the way back to Delhi. While it did indicate charging points along the route, some were located on the other side of the congested highway. Indian highway driving tends to make U-turns to reach such chargers less than desirable. We saw a pair of chargers on our side which looked to be in working order, but the app seemed to emphasize those on the other side of the median. This indicates that considering the nature of highway accessibility, such as direction of movement, could perhaps make the app even more convenient. We decided to switch to one of the suggested chargers, which increased the duration of our journey as we were unsure of the proximal alternatives.

MG e-Hub: A powerful tool, but the journey isn't over

My trip to Rajasthan constituted more than just sightseeing; it also acted as a real-world testing of current EV charging infrastructure, and testing the usefulness of applications like the MG e-Hub app. The app is entirely a step forward, superseding the unreliable ways consumers try to find and access EV chargers into a one-stop option. It was better than I would have thought in allowing me to get my EV charged in a time of need instead of having to figure the process out myself. I thoroughly enjoyed a hands-free experience of having major networks mostly populated, and knowing that I would have the support of the application while I planned my trip. Nevertheless, my trip revealed the app had some shortcomings.

Although the app is an excellent aggregator, the experience also highlighted a couple of areas that could potentially be improved. Similar to any system based on real-time information, the consistency of charger availability and operation shown within the app could sometimes fluctuate. A couple of times, chargers that appeared available had to be inspected again upon arrival. This suggested that there may be merit in having a little bit of flexibility in planning. Also, the highway charging scenario during the final part of the trip underscored the need for the app to consider the realities of gaining access to chargers based on the direction of travel.

Conclusion

For electric vehicle users traveling outside the city in India, the MG e-Hub app can be beneficial. My experience in Rajasthan was its proof, demonstrating its capability to identify charging stations, route planning with charging en route and range anxiety minimization, all through an intuitive interface. We may still be a way from a fully seamless charging experience across India for EV users, but the MG e-Hub app does offer a glimpse of what that future may look like.

As MG Motor India and other stakeholders continue to invest in the charging network and build-out a range of charging options, the real-time accuracy and navigational challenges the app currently faces should continue to improve. Until those are resolved, using the tech, planning with care, and enjoying the convenience of something like the MG e-Hub app will only make emission-free vacations more commonplace for future drivers to confidently embrace the electric highway.