Most charger maps present a pin as though it were a guarantee. The honest version is that public charging data in India is messy: listings lag reality, guns fail without updating anywhere, and live availability is patchy. This page is the accuracy policy in plain language — what EV Grids sources, what it estimates, and what you must still verify before you rely on a stop.
Data at a glance
| What you see | Where it comes from | How to treat it |
|---|---|---|
| Route distance and drive time | Google Directions driving route | Reliable, but traffic changes the time |
| Charger location, power, connectors | Third-party map listings plus enrichment | Verify on arrival; power is a station maximum |
| Star ratings | Third-party map listings, not EV Grids reviews | A weak prior only |
| ₹/kWh | Listing where present, otherwise inferred from operator | Indicative — confirm in the operator app |
| Arrival SOC and energy added | EV Grids calculation from your Wh/km and inputs | Estimate, not a battery reading |
| Vehicle range and Wh/km | Planner preset you selected | A planning input you can override |
Where pins come from
Trip planning uses Google Directions for the driving path, then discovers EV charging locations near that path (Places-style listings: name, coordinates, ratings, business status, and sometimes connector details). We enrich and rank; we do not operate the stations. A listing can lag reality by days or months. A hotel that added a charger last week may be missing. A plaza gun that died on Tuesday may still look open.
Nearby search on Chargers near me uses the same family of data with GPS. It is a snapshot, not a reservation system.
What the stop card is claiming
- Location — a map coordinate. Drive into the site; do not blindly follow a pin into a basement if signage disagrees.
- Power (kW) — listed or inferred hardware maximum. Your car may draw less. Shared cabinets split power across guns.
- Connector types — CCS / CCS2, Type 2, CHAdeMO when the listing includes them. If the listing is vague, match with your eyes and the operator app.
- Ratings — Google user ratings, which mix “charger worked” with “dosa was cold.” We still use them as a weak reliability prior.
- Reliability badge — green / amber / red from operational status, rating thresholds, admin alerts, and live “all connectors busy” when Google provides counts. Amber “unverified” means thin evidence, not “broken.”
- Estimated ₹/kWh — often a heuristic from operator name plus a default, unless a better figure is on the record. Confirm in-app. See trip cost.
Live availability is incomplete
Some networks publish gun counts; many Indian highway sites do not. When live counts exist and every gun is busy, the planner can mark the site busy and down-rank it. When counts do not exist, a green badge only means “listing looks operational and ratings are not terrible.” That is why backups exist. Read backup chargers and what if the charger is dead.
Caching and freshness
Repeated plans for a popular corridor may be served from cache so the API stays fast under rate limits. Cache is for route structure and candidate sets, not a promise that the gun you saw at 9 a.m. still works at 4 p.m. If a long weekend just started, assume queues regardless of yesterday’s plan.
Admin alerts vs public edits
Operators and drivers send corrections (closed site, wrong connector, moved pin). Some of that becomes internal alerts that turn badges amber or red. We are not Wikipedia: we do not publish a live public changelog of every gun. If you have a correction, contact us with corridor slug, station name, and what changed.
How to drive with imperfect data
- Start with enough SOC that one failure is annoying, not existential.
- Select a backup at every stop before you leave the previous one.
- Keep operator apps installed and logged in.
- Prefer multi-gun hubs over romantic single-gun “hidden gems” on festival weekends.
- Treat EV Grids as a planner — then navigate in Google Maps, and believe your dashboard over any website.
For the ranking math, see how EV Grids works. For connectors and etiquette, see the charging guide.
Frequently asked questions
- Are EV Grids chargers guaranteed to work when I arrive?
- No. Pins come from maps listings and enrichment. Guns fail, sites close, and live occupancy is incomplete in India. Always keep a backup charger selected and confirm on the operator app.
- Why is the kW or price on a stop card different from the pole?
- Listed power is often a station maximum, not what your car will draw. Estimated ₹/kWh is frequently inferred from the operator name when a live tariff is missing. The pole and the app are authoritative.
- How do I report a wrong charger?
- Use the footer Feedback form or email with the corridor, station name, and what changed (closed, wrong connector, moved pin). We use this to improve ranking and admin alerts.
Plan charging stops on your route
Open the free planner with origin, destination, and a vehicle preset. You get ranked DC stops, backup chargers, SOC estimates, and a Google Maps itinerary.
Plan a trip