112 EV charging stations to be operational by August-end

In a few months, Electric vehicle (EV) users in the city may no longer have to hunt for charging stations. The 112 EV charging stations that have been proposed to provide the infrastructure needed to encourage the use of EVs will be readied by August-end.

Officials said tenders had been finalised and work orders issued to establish the EV charging stations.

C.K. Sreenath, DGM, Smart-grid and EV, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), which is the State nodal agency for the project, said locations had been chosen in core city areas as well as outer areas to ensure that charging stations are spread out and covered maximum area.

“The 112 stations will primarily come up on government premises as it would be difficult to establish them in public places. Among the locations chosen are Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike ward offices, TTMC buildings, BMTC offices, Karnataka Housing Board offices, KIADB office, Bescom and BMRCL offices. They will be spread across the city, including outer areas such as Kengeri, K.R. Puram, Yelahanka and Electronics City,” he said.

The charging stations will be mapped on Google Maps to enable motorists to locate them.

At present, the city has around 7,000 EVs while the existing charging stations are run by operators of EV fleets for captive consumption, an official said.

“There is no public charging station, as there is no assurance that EV users will visit the facility. That is why we decided to take the lead. Now, people will get the confidence to own EVs,” said Mr. Sreenath.

Tariff to be fixed soon

The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) had, last year, fixed ₹4.85 per unit as tariff for charging electric vehicles.

Now, a cost to serve will be fixed, which is what consumers will have to pay at the stations.

“The tariff fixed is what the company operating the station will pay to Bescom. We are arriving at a cost to serve, beyond which they cannot charge consumers. This will have to be approved by the government, which may be done after the elections,” said Mr. Sreenath.

Highways in second phase

The EV Charging Infrastructure Workgroup Committee, comprising representation of the civic agencies concerned, including Bescom, BBMP, BMRCL, BMTC, KSRTC, Karnataka Housing Board and Karnataka Udyog Mitra, has also proposed EV charging stations to be established on highways.

As per the guidelines of the Ministry of Renewable Energy, these charging stations should be at a distance of every 25 km on both sides of highways, apart from fast charging stations every 100 km.

According to sources, the workgroup is working on the basis of the MNRE guidelines and the Karnataka Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy 2017, apart from adopting a few proposals from the Draft Delhi EV Policy 2018.

Mr. Sreenath said, in the second phase, locations on the inter-city highways will be identified to establish charging stations. “We have tentatively identified locations up to Mysuru from Bengaluru and up to Attibele on the Bengaluru-Chennai highway,” he said.

Source: thehindu