As Electric Vehicles are taking over India’s vehicle revolution, there comes the need for charging stations (EV Charging Stations). Yet, the question still lingers in our minds: are they a real opportunity? Or are they just another obstacle, unfit for India’s infrastructure.
Manufacturers and governments are seeing the benefit and need for EVs to better the air pollution for an overall healthier future, but we still have many steps before we can fully implement the infrastructure into India’s society.
Recently, there are about 10473 EV charging stations in India, spread across 849 cities. These include states Maharashtra with 3,079 stations, Delhi with 1,886, and cities like Bengaluru with a whopping 4,626 stations. Stations are often more concentrated in tier-1 cities as such due to the demand of the vehicles there. Yet, smaller states like Tripura, contain just 1 charging station. This is the problem that often goes underlooked. Since most of the stations are located in the so-called metro cities, it overlooks smaller cities like Nagpur, Bhopal, and Vishakpatnam. While these cities may be slightly behind in numbers compared to the others mentioned before, they are currently gaining momentum for the EV boom. To make it more clear, let’s break it down.
Obstacles
- Reliability: Inadequate power grids. Power outages are common occurrences in cities, as there is a limited capacity. This means the smaller cities may not be able to withhold the large number of EV charging stations, like the bigger cities do.
- Low profit: Establishing and maintaining EV charging stations are expensive.
Faster charging-stations involve immense upfront and set up costs that some smaller cities simply lack the proper resources to sustain. These stations can cost up to Rs. 50 lakh, depending on the types of chargers as well, especially if the city is looking for a faster DC charger, versus a basic AC charger. Additionally, because of lower populations of EV drivers and income levels, there are chances for lower rates of penetration, thus investors can fear a low ROI (return on investment).
Opportunities
- New Market Potential. Since these areas are newly developing and untapped, the first investors and developers have a strong chance to establish a strong brand presence and customer loyalty, by acting early enough to get the population’s attention.
- Strong Government Support. FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) is an initiative that is aimed to promote the integration of EVs by providing a sort of motivation for the buyers and the manufacturers. It is a phased event, with the total price being Rs. 10,000 crore. Here it is apparent that the government already has a strong scheme to address this very problem of EVs, perfect for providing support for the smaller cities. With the government’s support, the chance of installing those EV stations increases dramatically.
Overally, providing EV charging stations, specifically in lower cities are characterized both as an obstacle or opportunity. The key if the initiative works relies on policy awareness, smart placement, government support, but also well thought out knowledge on the matter itself as it has to integrate with existing business models, if they do not want to disturb India’s diverse current infrastructure. Who knows? Maybe the future of EV adoption in India might depend on how well we charge up our smaller cities.
References:
- https://www.cardekho.com/electric-charging-station
- https://blinkcharging.com/en-in/blog/electric-vehicles-in-rural-india
- https://ackodrive.com/ev-guide/future-of-ev-charging-stations-in-india/#:~:text=The%20future%20of%20EV%20charging%20stations%20in%20India%20looks%20promising,charging%20infrastructure%20to%20support%20them.
- https://www.anariev.com/india-ev-charging-station-landscape/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
- https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2112237