Delhi to get 130 more electric vehicle charging bays in 45 days
The Delhi government has reached out to firms across board to move fleets to electric vehicles, as well as help boost charging infrastructure across the city as part of the Electric Vehicle policy.
Electric vehicle (EV) ride-hailing mobile app company BluSmart Mobility, which began operations in December 2019, will open its 130 fast-charging stations to the public in the 45 days, said its CEO and co-founder Anmol Singh Jaggi to The Indian Express.
The Delhi government has reached out to firms across board to move fleets to electric vehicles, as well as help boost charging infrastructure across the city as part of the Electric Vehicle policy.
Under the policy, all vehicles hired by the government will be shifted to electric within five months. An appeal has also been made to companies that give cars on hire to shift their fleet to electric vehicles.
Delhi’s Power Minister Satyendra Jain announced on March 12 that in the first phase, the government aims to install 500 Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points at 100 locations, and, as per the Delhi EV Policy, new constructions shall have EV chargers in 20 per cent of its parking spaces, and those with more than 100 parking spaces shall reserve five per cent for such chargers in a bid to expand electric charging infrastructure.
As per this initiative, charging bays shall be constructed and operated by private players.
BluSmart operates a fleet of 400 cabs across the South Delhi-Gurugram area, and began operations in a full-fledged manner after the lockdown in July 2020.
“BluSmart currently operates the largest EV charging infrastructure in the country, and we have hubs constructed at South Extension, Ansal Plaza, and Nehru Place, with more coming up in Dwarka and Vasant Kunj. These hubs/bays have the capacity to charge 25-150 cars each,” said Jaggi.
These charging points are fast-chargers that can complete the charging an EV in 90 minutes, and 130 stations will be open to the public soon, said Jaggi.
“For this charging process, we will accept online payments via a BluSmart app. The government of Delhi gives a low electricity rate to EV charging at Rs 4.5 per unit, and to that additional service costs which include real estate, technical backend and other such charges, shall be added,” said Jaggi.
He said that the fleet shall expand to 700 cabs in the next 3 months as demand for their cabs has been growing exponentially. Currently, the charging infrastructure caters to four wheelers, and work is on to construct it for two-three wheelers too, he said.
Delhi government launched the EV Policy in August last year with an aim to drive the transition to Battery Electric Vehicles, so that they contribute to 25 per cent of the total new vehicle registrations by 2024.
“This service is to bring EV vehicles mainstream, as it leads to fewer emissions, and to provide an alternative service to the people,” said Jaggi.
Source: indianexpress
