"Everything went wrong with charging from the very beginning." A Belarusian tells how he drove an electric car from Minsk to Tashkent
Traveling by electric car around Belarus and Europe is possible without problems (at least, so many say). But what if you head in the other direction - across the CIS? An "Onliner" reader named Alexander, along with his "navigator" Evgeny, embarked on a journey to Uzbekistan in a new Nissan Ariya. The traveler shared what to prepare for and how much money to set aside for the trip.
Preparation and route. What to see on the way from Minsk to Tashkent?
Given: A 2022 Nissan Ariya, but purchased new in 2024, with an 87 kWh battery and a real range, according to the hero of the article, of about 500 km in warm weather. Alexander decided to conquer the roads of the CIS in such a car. How did a novice traveler decide on his first long trip in an electric car?
— I generally like driving, so I decided to arrange a kind of challenge for myself – to get to Tashkent in an "electric car", says the driver. — Before the trip, I, of course, built a route (the website 2chargers.ru, which covers Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan, helped with this), checked for charging stations, and made sure that, in theory, everything was real.
By the way, I had never driven further than Smolensk before.
I didn't specially prepare the car for the trip; I just underwent the second maintenance a bit earlier than scheduled. I bought a jack and rented a spare wheel because it wasn't included with the car. By the way, none of the above was needed. But if something had been missing – it would definitely have been needed.
I also rented a charger that is 32 amps more powerful than mine and comes with adapters for industrial sockets. It was needed in case there was no EV charging station somewhere and I had to ask for electricity at some cafe.
Why Uzbekistan? I've been to Tashkent several times before. Our company has an office there – I planned to work and relax. I really liked the city. It's warm there now, but not yet hot.
The journey one way took five days (we left on April 17), we stayed there for five days, and our return journey also lasted five days. While the car was charging at stations, we explored the city on foot.
Turkestan in Kazakhstan
Our route was as follows: Minsk — Smolensk — Ryazan (bypassing Moscow) — Samara — Orenburg. Then we entered the territory of Kazakhstan: Aktobe — Karabuta — Kyzylorda — Turkestan — Shymkent. And the final destination was Uzbek Tashkent, where we were heading. In Russia, we liked Samara and Orenburg the most, and in Kazakhstan — Turkestan.
Ryazan Kremlin
Turkestan has been heavily promoted for tourism in the last 6-7 years. In the evening, there are many beautiful lights, and plenty to see.
What we didn't manage to visit was Baikonur; we'll save that for next time.
Adventures with charging stations, or What to prepare for when traveling by electric car across the CIS?
— Was everything good with charging stations along the way? — we asked Alexander the main question.
— Everything went wrong from the very beginning, — he admits. — To drive through Russia normally, you need to buy a SIM card (almost all apps for Russian charging stations require a local number for registration). But now it's not easy for a foreigner to buy one… I had to drive to Smolensk twice, and it's good that I took care of the issue in advance.
I also installed all the apps before the trip, linked my number and a card that works with the "Mir" payment system and local currency. Near Smolensk, everything was fine – you just had to tap your bank card to the terminal. But in Mozhaisk, problems arose. I started charging, and an SMS with a 3-D Secure code arrived for the app to debit money. But the page where I needed to enter the code wouldn't open. This is because Russia introduced internet restrictions: our bank pages (specifically for entering the code) are "bounced".
Fortunately, it was only around 5 PM. I ran to the nearest bank, but they told me they wouldn't have time to make a card and sent me to "Gazprom." There, they asked for a translation of my foreign passport. I had it, but I didn't bring it with me. In the end, I was lucky that the data on my ID card was also written in Russian. As a result, they opened a Russian card for me, I put money on it, linked it to the app — and we managed to charge. Because of this, we decided not to stay anywhere overnight, but to continue driving to make up for lost time.
In Samara, there was one of the few charging operators that allowed registration with a Belarusian number. We started charging, its cost was 18 and a half Russian rubles per kilowatt, but from my card, it started debiting 18 and a half Belarusian rubles (a 26-fold difference in amount. — Onliner's note)! My money ran out instantly, and charging stopped. I wrote about this problem in the electric vehicle chat. They replied that this "glitch" has been around for three years and they can't fix it. The money, by the way, has not been returned yet.
Another "trick" was in Penza. There's a good, powerful charging station there, but it's inaccessible via mobile internet. I learned about this from a Tesla driver who also came to charge. He explained that there's a salon nearby, about 300 meters away, where Wi-Fi is available. You need to connect the car to the station, then catch the internet and start the session. Then, when the car is charged, repeat everything in reverse order.
— Do you regret embarking on this journey in an electric car?
— Not at all. The thought never crossed my mind, like, "I should have gone with a gasoline car." In the end, everything worked out. The main thing is to know all the nuances and be prepared.
Kazakh steppes
I also studied the stations on the route through Kazakhstan in advance. On our way, there were two long consecutive stretches without chargers: 395 and 450 km. I had previously contacted a Kazakhstani who organized an electric car rally across the country last year. What's more, his car had a weaker battery – 57 kWh, but he managed to overcome these stretches. As a result, I drove on cruise control at a speed of 90-95 km/h. We passed the first stretch without problems, and in the second case, when we reached a charger, we had only 70 km of range left (on the way back after this stretch – 30-32). If the station between the two stretches hadn't worked – then it would have been a quest. By the way, to start charging, an app and a local SIM card were also needed – which we bought at the border.
— And how are things with stations in Tashkent?
— When I was there four years ago, I only saw a Tesla once and an electric BMW once. Accordingly, there were no charging stations. But now there are tons of them. The thing is, BYD assembly has started in Uzbekistan.
What to see in Tashkent and how much money to prepare?
— What did we see in Tashkent? I traditionally went to the mountains and waterfalls. We visited the market, and the Tashkent City Mall shopping center. I saw what had generally changed over four years.
What we didn't visit in Tashkent (though we should have) was the recently opened Center for Islamic Civilization. We also thought about Samarkand, but decided that an additional 300 km would have been too much.
The local cuisine is worth special mention: any place will delicious plov or shashlik.
Total expenses (charging, insurance, toll roads, food, accommodation) — $530 per person.
137.47 BYN, 16,673.6 RUB, 46,419.2 KZT (Kazakhstani Tenge), and 96,780 UZS (Uzbekistani Soum) were spent on charging on the road. In dollars, at the exchange rate at the beginning of May, this is $48.69, $222.9, $100.27, and $8.07 (a total of almost $380).
What advice would I give to electric car owners planning a trip? If the car has a normal battery — don't be afraid of anything!
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