CHENNAI: The Centre has set an ambitious target to electrify 70% of all commercial vehicles, 30% of private cars, 40% of buses and 80% of two-wheeler and three-wheeler sales by 2030. This in absolute numbers works out to 8 crore electric vehicles (EVs) on the road. To support such a surge, India will need a total of 39 lakh public and semi-public charging stations at a ratio of 1 station per 20 vehicles. But look at the current ratio, which is approximately 1 charging station per 135 EVs. It is way behind the global ratio of 1 charging station per 6 to 20 EVs.
Govt subsidy
To address the situation, the Union government and individual states are taking several measures to encourage private players to expand the charging network and make the business economically viable for charge point operators. The latest to bring in policy reforms to accelerate EV adoption and charging infra is the Tamil Nadu government. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, in its order dated June 30, revised rates for EV charging stations (both high tension and low tension traffic) per kWh to Rs 6, Rs 7.50 and Rs 9, depending on peak and off-peak hours. The peak hour (6 am to 9 am and 6 pm to 10 pm) rate has been reduced to Rs 9 per kWh from Rs 12 per kWh. Also, fixed charges have been reduced to Rs 75 per kW from Rs 300 (for 51–112 kW connections) per month and Rs 138 (for above 112 kW) per month. For 0–50 kW connections, it will be Rs 25 per kW (down from Rs 100). It’s more or less similar to other e-mobility frontrunning states. In Kerala, 25% equipment subsidy has been provided for the first 100 DC fast charging stations in the private sector.
Charging time
A typical DC fast charger takes about 1 to 2 hours to fully charge. Currently, there is no cap on charge point operators on how much they should charge. On an average, the consumer is charged Rs 20 per kW unit. A Tata Nexon car takes little over 25 kW units of power for full charge, which translates to Rs 500-600 for a full charge.
Uttar Pradesh mismatch
K P Karthikeyan, CEO and co-founder of Zeon Electric Pvt. Ltd, said the revision has infused life into the sector that was earlier unviable. As per official data available with Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, Maharashtra with 2,365 charging stations is leading the way in supporting EVs. Delhi ranks second with 1,619 charging stations, while Karnataka comes third with 736 and Tamil Nadu has 457. When it comes to EVs registration, Uttar Pradesh is well ahead of any other state with over 5 lakh, but has only 449 charging stations, which is miniscule. In Karnataka, an additional 1,169 stations are planned in the next six months.
Delhi plan
While some regions are aggressively pursuing EV adoption, others are lagging, creating a huge geographical divide. There are even states where the number of charging stations are in single digit. On the other hand, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) has prepared a comprehensive EV Charging and Swapping Infrastructure Action Plan for deployment of 18,000 public EV charging points across Delhi within the next three years.Under the single window facility, a total of 1,249 charging points (252 private and 997 semi-public) have been installed at 498 locations across Delhi. GNCTD is providing Rs 6,000 per charging point subsidy to slow chargers (LEVAC and Type 1 AC001 chargers) managed by Discoms operating in Delhi. Besides, 100 concessional land packages are being provided to the charge point operators to set up 896 charge points. The action plan includes setting up 103 battery swapping stations, officials in Delhi said.
Charging at homes, work places
Martin Scherfler, co-founder, Auroville Consulting told TNIE the government must encourage consumers to charge during daytime (solar energy generation hours) with attractive tariffs like in the case of Tamil Nadu. “Most of the charging will happen at homes (on domestic tariff) during night time. Charging during solar hours will help with grid-integration of renewable energy, not to forget that solar is the cheapest form of energy. Offices can also play a big role in providing charging stations to employees. I know companies that provide free charging at offices as an employee incentive,” Scherfler said.
Regulatory potholes
On hurdles, Harsh Verma, business development executive and assistant project manager, VerdeMobility Pvt Ltd, said although the Centre and state governments brought in policies providing subsidies for setting up charging stations, the growth rate has not met targets because of several on-the-ground problems. “There has to be a single window clearance mechanism. For instance, in Delhi where we are installing chargers, the Discom helps us in getting approval from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi but after that there are multiple NOCs we have to obtain from different departments, which is very tedious. Also, residents welfare associations are not welcoming proposals to install the chargers on their premises. There is less awareness on the utility.”In Kerala, finding suitable land for charging stations is a pain. Besides, the charging rate and machine quality are unregulated.