Salem and Coimbatore ghats — Chennai ↔ Bangalore belt

Roughly 350 km via NH48 — one DC stop typical, but Salem zone queues on weekends. Pick stations with multiple guns.

Enable hills adjustment if your route crosses elevated sections near Krishnagiri.

Coimbatore is shorter on NH544; Kochi adds Kerala distance and ghats. Plan Kochi as a separate multi-stop day.

Bangalore → Coimbatore pairs well as a second leg after a Chennai shakedown.

This belt has chargers but holiday congestion is real — always tap a backup on the map before you leave each stop.

Chennai–Bangalore, Chennai–Coimbatore, and Bangalore–Coimbatore all argue with Salem/Krishnagiri traffic. That is where you want two CCS2 guns, not a hero 60 kW label.

Elevation here is not Lonavala, but it is enough to punish a plan that arrived at 18%. Enable hills adjustment if the route tags ghats; keep 20%+ reserve anyway.

Adding Kerala after Coimbatore is a new ghat and humidity problem. Split overnight in Coimbatore if you are new to multi-state days.

This section carries meaningful gradient rather than being the flat run its distance suggests, and the direction you drive changes the energy bill. Consumption on the climbing direction is materially higher than the same kilometres in reverse, which is why the two directions can need different stop plans.

Charge on the lower side before a sustained climb. Arriving at the base with margin costs you a few minutes; arriving without it costs you options.

Heat is the dominant consumption factor for much of the year, and climate load on a sustained climb is where optimistic Wh/km figures fall apart. Enable adjust for conditions and enter a consumption figure from a hot-weather trip rather than a mild one.

The corridor is busy, so multi-gun sites are worth a small detour over single-gun ones, particularly at weekends when traffic between the two cities peaks.