Mr. Rajeev YSR, Head – Strategy, Gati-KWE
Dense availability of charging stations is highly critical for the success of EVs and hence Government is encouraging the establishment of the same through multiple initiatives. With our presence in 600+ cities, we can leverage our spread in establishing the charging stations. We are already in discussion with major charging infra players in the country and are aiming to establish charging stations across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai by this year end. We are also identifying a few key corridors such as – Ahmedabad – Baroda, Surat – Ahmedabad, Mumbai – Pune etc to cater the needs of STOs promoting Electric buses.
Way forward
We are entering multiple business models agreements of revenue sharing / real estate sharing etc. The exact business model would soon be framed.
Mr. Piyush Gupta, Founder & CEO, Lithion Power Pvt. Ltd.
To accelerate EV adoption in India, it is pertinent that conventional charging and battery swapping be adopted in parallel, with conventional charging being primarily consumer-driven and battery swapping to be focused on fleet operators. This practice of combined development has helped China accelerate its EV growth & become today as one of the fastest growing and the largest markets of EVs in the world. In the Chinese city of Haikou alone, more than 2500 electric taxis today run successfully on the battery swapping model while most of the consumer oriented vehicles sold there, use the conventional charging model.
However, for the aforesaid models to run successfully, it is crucial that supporting intelligent telematics technology be developed and introduced into the ecosystem. For instance, telematics can help identify in real time, when an EV completes charging and prompt the charging station to send notifications to EVs nearby of the vacant slot available, if they are running low on charge. Moreover, it can help fleet owners track battery status of each vehicle to accord them, the decision making capability of swapping the battery packs at the right time, taking into consideration the nearest swapping stations and battery health. Further, increased use of smart telematics can help lower range anxiety by providing the driver, information about the state of charge, distance that can be covered, the location of nearest charging stations and availability of charged batteries at that charging station.Â
Mr. Chandan Mundhra, Founder & CEO, Savë Electric Vehicle
Charging stations are to Electric vehicles as Fuel stations are to conventional vehicles. Just the the sufficient presence of Fuel stations makes us so dependent on gas guzzling vehicles that we ignore the negative effects of it and fear from switching to EVs for range anxiety. This emphasizes the importance of infrastructure for the EV ecosystem. Again its a chicken and egg situation that which should come first, the vehicle or the infra but it can be made a reality by identifying immediate users of EVs and starting to create infra around them which will build a successful business case and lead to its expansion.
India will witness a steep rise of commercial EVs (erickshaw/eautos) and personal mobility (ebikes) in the coming years. An economical charging solution needs to be in place to meet the charging requirements of the 3 wheeler operators. Vacant plots, unused public spaces, petrol pumps etc can be utilized for setting up charging infrastructure. For individual users residential societies must provision charging points at basements, parking areas etc. More cleaner source of power generation and adequate amount of power supply will be an enabler in boosting the EV Ecosystem.
