Soon, you can charge electric vehicles at homes and offices
MUMBAI:OWNERS of electric vehicles can charge them at their residences with priority access to electricity from power utilities, according to new rules that seek to promote the use of such ecofriendly vehicles in the country.
Also, establishing a public charging station (PCS) won’t require a license and can be set up by an individual or entity provided they meet the standards drawn by the power ministry and the Central Electricity Authority, according to the power ministry’s final guidelines and standards for charging infrastructure for EVS. The guidelines, a copy of which has been seen by Mint, were issued on Friday by Anoop Singh Bisht, under secretary in the power ministry, to all Union ministries and departments, and the chief secretaries of states and union territories.
Power tariffs for charging EVS will be determined by the appropriate commission provided it does not exceed the average cost of supply plus 15%. For residential users, the tariffs for charging will be the same as for domestic consumption of electricity. A PCS can levy a service charge, with a ceiling fixed by a nodal agency in each state.
A spokesman for the power ministry declined to comment.
The new rules are expected to bolster the government’s efforts to roll out the second phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid vehicles (FAME) scheme in April next year. FAME-2 is widely expected to provide financial incentives of around ₹5,500 crore to EV buyers over five years.
Companies such as Maruti
Suzuki India Ltd, Hyundai Motor Co., Volvo Cars and Kia Motors India have already announced plans to introduce hybrid or electric cars. Tata Motors Ltd and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd are already supplying their electric cars to the Union government. The companies have however raised concerns about the inadequate charging infrastructure for such vehicles.
“Charging infra is definitely a key enabler of electrification,” said Rakesh Batra, national leader, automotive sector, EY. “You can’t get people to buy EVS unless there is an option for them to charge. In terms of policy, this is an important step because on product side, EVS are commercially available now.
The new guidelines aim to “proactively support creation of EV charging infrastructure in the initial phase and eventually create market for EV charging business and encourage preparedness of electrical distribution system to adopt EV charging infrastructure.”
In August, Mint reported the government may provide a ₹1,000 crore subsidy to build a nationwide charging infrastructure as part of FAME 2 scheme. The ministry
in its document did not refer to any subsidy figure or a target for setting up charging stations.
The roll out of the scheme will happen in two phases. In the first phase spanning up to three years, all nine mega cities, and expressways and important highways connected to them - Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat, Pune - will be covered. This includes corridors such as Mumbai-pune expressway, Ahmedabad-vadodara, Delhi-agra Yamuna expressway. Delhi-jaipur, Bengaluru-mysuru, Bengaluru-chennai. In phase 2, which will roll out over the following 3-5 years, will cover state capitals and Union Territory headquarters and highways connected to them. The power ministry will designate a central nodal agency to facilitate this rollout, while states can have their own nodal agencies, most likely the state discom. The guidelines recommend any person seeking to set up a public charging station should be provided connectivity on priority by the distribution company licensee in the area or may also obtain electricity from any generation company through open access.