Delhi to get fast-charging e-vehicle stations by next month
State-run EESL plans to set up 84 facilities by the end of March at some locations in the NDMC area
The government is setting up infrastructure for charging electric vehicles (EVs) in some busy areas of the Capital where cars can be recharged for as low as Rs 30 for a 15-minute top-up.
“We will set up fast-charging stations in public parking spaces and high-visibility areas. When people see chargers at various locations, it takes care of the range anxiety issues,” Saurabh Kumar, managing director, Energy Efficiency Services (EESL), told ET.
Range-anxiety refers to the concern triggered by unavailability of public charging stations, that also questions on EV feasibility. A 15-minutes charge will allow a range of 22 km while it will take 90 minutes to fully charge a vehicle.
State-run EESL plans to set up 84 such facilities by March-end at Khan Market and Yashwant Place, among other locations in New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area, which includes Lutyens’ Delhi. Users will be able to charge with a mobile app, ElectriFi, and even book a time slot.
In the initial phase, charging stations will be equipped with Bharat DC-001, the standard compatible with EV models of Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, while there will be space and interconnection facility available to accommodate European CCS and Japan’s CHAdeMO in each station.
“As of now, we only need the 15-KW chargers. In the second half of the year, when several foreign automakers are expected to roll out their EVs in India, we can equip these stations with the remaining standards,” Kumar said. The 15-KW chargers will also be compatible with electric two- and three-wheelers.
EESL is using telematics data collected to improve the efficiency of EV deployment, Kumar said. Data showed that the maximum that a sedan ran in a day was 92 km on a single charge. With around four charging cycles, however, this number increased to over 230 km.
“This is what the public charging system will address. The range of the cars goes up significantly by increasing the number of charge cycles. Each charge cycle doesn’t even have to fully charge the battery,” he said.
EESL’s first EV tender faced headwinds initially in absence of sufficient charging infrastructure for the cars. Its second tender was withdrawn in the middle of uncertainty around whether to allow the use of Indian, European or Japanese standards for EV charging stations.
The power ministry in December mandated charging stations to be equipped with all three standards, ending months of ambiguity.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes
