BENGALURU: Electric vehicle owners will soon be able to pull into a Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) power station and charge their vehicles as the company will launch 11 charging stations in the city. The first of these 11 stations were inaugurated at the corporate office in KR Circle on Monday.
Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said, “It will cost Rs 75 for charging your car to travel 120 km. In the coming month, we will finish installing the remaining 10 points in Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha and other BESCOM stations.”
As part of its inaugural celebrations, BESCOM is offering a flat rate of Rs 4 per unit of power till the time that Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) approves the tariffs that BESCOM has proposed. These tariffs will be around Rs 4.85 per unit of power between 6am and 10pm and Rs 3.85 per unit between 10 pm and 6 am. For fast charging options, the rates will be slightly higher at Rs 5 per unit and Rs 4.40 per unit during the day and at night respectively. It takes 16 units of power to charge your car to run 120 km. “This works out to less than Rs 60, which is competitive,” said P Rajendra Cholan, Managing Director, BESCOM.
However, with a small market for electric vehicles, BESCOM is hoping that the availability of charging stations 24x7 will fuel the demand for vehicles. “We are set to give electric vehicles to our senior staff to further the cause. Around 100 vehicles will be given and we can look at replacing our fleet of 1,500 vehicles including 750 service vehicles with electric vehicles once more manufacturers enter the market,” he said.
BESCOM is also talking to BBMP and BMRCL about the possibility of putting up charging stations at different locations like Metro stations.“Around 200 locations have been identified and we have done feasibility studies for 60-70 locations,” Cholan said.
MOBILE APP TO SHOW AVAILABILITY
Once all 11 stations are in place, those wishing to charge their vehicles will be able to view availability of power, vacant slots and charges as well as the location of the station through the BESCOM app. “We will incorporate these facilities like location and availability of power in the app. The stations will be open 24x7 for charging vehicles,” Cholan said.