Delhi to have one charging point for every 15 EVs by 2024, but infra remains a challenge

In a bid to encourage residents to shit to electric vehicles, the Delhi government’s charging plan for electric vehicles has incentives for battery swapping facility operators and one public charging point for 15 EVs by 2024, a new policy document has said.

The government will also have the power distribution companies, or the discoms, studying the impact of EV charging on the grid.

Delhi government on Monday released the charging action plan’ for electric vehicles on completion of two years of its EV Policy that was first launched in 2020.

The plan said that the biggest hindrance to the large-scale adoption of electric vehicles is inadequate charging infrastructure.

Titled Charging/Swapping Infrastructure Action Plan for 2022-25′, the document said that the national capital will operationalise the incentive provided to battery swapping facility operators in the Delhi EV policy.

The plan said that if the battery is not sold with the vehicle, up to 50 per cent of the purchase incentive would be provided to energy operators to ensure that the end user does not have to pay a big deposit.

Vehicle manufacturers will be encouraged to register their swappable models separately,” it said.

According to the document, it is required because battery capacity for the same vehicle model is different for swappable and non-swappable vehicles, and the purchase incentives are indexed to battery capacity.

“For administrative ease, vehicle and battery manufacturers will be encouraged to apply for incentives as a consortium, and incentives will only be provided to the lead member of the consortium,” it said.

The government said that battery swapping can evolve as a feasible solution for electric two and three-wheeled vehicles, which comprise the country’s highest share of EVs.

It allows a customer to purchase an EV without a battery, which substantially reduces the EV’s cost, it said.

Batteries typically cost 40-50 per cent of the total EV cost and it also delinks the EV user from risks of battery degradation. “Therefore, battery swapping as a solution can be a crucial enabler in accelerating India’s e-mobility transition,” it read.

The action plan also said that Delhi will also align future measures with the draft of the battery swapping policy published by NITI Aayog on April 20, 2022, and with any subsequent amendments.

The action plan stated that the accelerated adoption of EVs in Delhi will result in the installation of a large number of charging points.

According to the document, the impact of EV charging on grid management will also be studied.

“The discoms of Delhi will undertake joint studies to assess the impact of EV charging and suggest measures to mitigate the negative impacts of EVcharging on the grid.

The Department of Transport will work with discoms to recommend measures like ‘time-of-day’ tariffs and ‘managed charging’ to the regulatory commission,” it said.

The document said the national capital aims to achieve one public charging point for every 15 EVs by 2024, spread evenly across Delhi and accessible within 3 km travel from anywhere in Delhi.

“Taking into account the EV penetration and public charging needs of different vehicle segments and use cases, a charger to EV ratio of 1:15 translates to around 18,000 charging points would be required to cater for the need for (25 per cent of total vehicle registrations) electric vehicles in the horizon year of 2024,” it said.

The plan also said that the safety of vehicles during charging is critical to ensuring customers’ trust in EVs and said all public EV charging stations in Delhi will be required to adhere to the provisions provided in the Central Electricity Authority (Technical Standards for Connectivity of the Distributed Generation Resources) Amendment Regulations, 2019, and Central Electricity Authority (Measures relating to Safety and Electric Supply) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019.

Stressing that the large-scale adoption of electric two and three-wheelers is critical for Delhi’s transition as the EV capital of India, the plan said 42 per cent of vehicular pollution is caused by two and three-wheelers.

The document said that as land is a scarce resource in Delhi, it will leverage existing private and semi-public spaces (like

kirana stores, malls, theatres, hospitals, workspaces, group housing societies etc.) which have parking spaces and high dwell time for vehicles.

Delhi aims to become among the world’s most ‘Light EV’-friendly cities, it said.

Laying down the existing challenges, it said that consumers find it difficult to find reliable chargers in the market that are compatible with different vehicles and are trustworthy products.

The installation of EV charging points in Delhi may be hampered by the lack of awareness, the need to deal with multiple stakeholders, the cost of chargers and electrical connections, and a lack of incentives,” it said.

(With PTI inputs)

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