EVs are all the rage. Will the charging infrastructure be achieved by 2023? | Daily News Byte

India currently has only 1,742 EV charging stations, which is expected to increase to 100,000 by 2027. The country needs an estimated 20.5 million units by 2030. Charging stations are key to EV adoption as range anxiety is one of the major barriers. Image: T Narayan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Th2022 is an interesting year for the country’s electric car ecosystem. From around 20,000 electric vehicle registrations in 2018, India’s electric car sales have expanded to nearly 300,000 vehicles between April and September, a number that is expected to increase further by the end of the fiscal year. In October of the same year, as many as 1,11,971 cars were sold nationwide, an increase of 185% compared to the period Same as last year, a record for electric cars in the whole country.

From the present to the start-up, the sector has seen a recent boom, due in part to the Indian government’s push to have more electric vehicles on the road by 2030, in addition to wider awareness and cost equality. EV penetration in the country currently stands at around 1% and the Indian government wants to boost EV sales to 30%. In the private car market, with more ambitions of 70% for commercial vehicles and 80%. Two and three wheelers by 2030.

Rising fuel prices have also played into the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. India’s crude oil imports required for fuel have been increasing over the years and stood at $40 billion in 2017. The figure is expected to more than double to $90 billion by 2030 at the current pace. At the same time, the price of batteries has dropped from 800 dollars per kilowatt-hour in 2011 to 137 dollars. per kilowatt hour in 2020.

However, at the center of the revolution, there is a growing need to organize infrastructure in the country. “Considering current growth trends, it is estimated that there will be 5 million EVs on Indian roads by 2030,” Gurugram-based market research firm JMK Research said in a recent report. “Two-wheeled e-cars alone will account for 70 percent of all EV sales when there are suitable charging options – both home and battery; The price of EVs reached parity with ICEs; And good use of them in the delivery service as well.”

That means an increased need to rapidly improve electric charging infrastructure, especially considering that range anxiety continues to be the number one barrier to EV adoption. India currently has only 1,742 charging stations, a number that is expected to increase to 100,000 by 2027. India needs about 20.5 million charging stations by 2030.

Of the charging infrastructure, electric two-wheelers tend to rely on public charging stations for charging only while electric three-wheelers are expected to use captive charging stations. “In terms of the type of charging, the current Indian EV market has limited capacity for fast-charging EVs,” JMK Research said. “However, going forward, public fast charging, supplemented by AC chargers with capacities ranging from 3-22kW at workplaces, malls, and restaurants are needed to support India’s charging infrastructure.”

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Already, companies have started deploying their own charging infrastructure to meet growing demand. For example, the Tata Group has established Tata UniEVerse, an ecosystem that will utilize the integration of the group, where several Tata companies have come together to provide EV solutions to consumers. The company has partnered with Tata Power to provide end-to-end charging solutions at homes, workplaces, and public charging stations. Under this partnership, the company has installed fast charging stations in metros, including Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, in addition to charging stations on expressways. To date, Tata Power has set up 1,000 EV charging stations across India in 180 cities.

The company has also tied up with Tata Chemicals in an effort to create an ecosystem of component suppliers and manufacture lithium-ion battery cells, in addition to looking at active chemical production and battery recycling.

Last year, Ola, which is moving into electric vehicles by 2021, said the company is planning to set up its Hypercharger Network, which it claims is the world’s widest and densest electric two-wheeler charging network, with more than 100,000 charging points. Across 400 cities. In its first year, Ola is setting up more than 5,000 charging points across 100 cities in India, more than doubling the existing charging infrastructure. The company also spent about 2 billion dollars over five years for that.

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“There is little activity regarding the establishment of charging stations under the FAME program and by major industry players at present,” JMK Research said in its report. “However, the 2030 goal seems achievable assuming the construction of 500,000 charging stations. is in the pipeline by toll point operators as well as oil marketing companies In addition to the initiatives from the center and the state. Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, for example, have set targets for setting up 1,00,000 charging stations each by 2024 and 2026 respectively.”

That means that India’s electric car revolution will be an important year in 2023.