The rush to install adequate charging stations for electric vehicles across the country is expected to gather momentum in the coming months with increasing sales of electric vehicles and ‘infrastructure-boost plans’ of new as well traditional players in the segment.

EV charging infrastructure has clearly lagged now but a healthy ecosystem needs both vehicle volumes as well as charging infrastructure.

Various models

Though the quantity and speed of charging stations may pose challenges in the purchase of electric vehicles in the near term, various models are emerging to improve the charging ecosystem. Industry representatives and analysts opine that the increasing sales of electric vehicles will help companies and other stakeholders to speed up the efforts to build charging infrastructure.

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“EV charging stations in India number in a couple of thousands. This compares to about 70,000 petrol pumps in the country — so, there is a long way to go. However, we are seeing demand pick up significantly for EVs across segments, and this will in turn be instrumental in driving demand for charging services,” said Gagan Sidhu, Director, CEEW Centre for Energy Finance.

Legacy players

New-age players now lead the electric vehicle market in India, particularly in the two and three wheelers. However, traditional ICE players are lining up with not just new EV launches, but also by building necessary ecosystems like charging infrastructure through tie-ups with energy players to make easier the purchase of electric vehicles. Several tie-ups such as Reliance-BP, Kazam-BSES, Log9-Fortum, among others have been formed to set up charging/ battery swap stations for EVs.

For example, Tata Power, which is emerging as the country’s leading EV charging infrastructure provider, has played a major role in accelerating Tata Motors’ electric car sales. Tata Power aims to increase the number of EV charging stations in the country to 2,000+ by the end of this fiscal, up from about 878 stations spread across 178 cities now.

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The company targets 3,000 charging stations per annum and seeks to achieve 15,000 stations by 2025 and 50,000 by 2030.

It has been roped in by TVS Motor Company to build an ecosystem to support the latter’s ambitious EV plans. More such partnerships are expected in the coming months as Tata Power continues to ramp up its network across the country.

Hero Electric, a leading player in the electric two-wheeler space, has set an ambitious target of setting up 20,000 charging stations by the end of next year, up from about 1,700 now. It has also roped in a start-up — Massive Mobility — to realise its objectives.

Fragmented market

Ather, an emerging brand in electric two-wheeler space, has decided to make available its proprietary charging connector to other EV companies to adopt for their two-wheelers, a move that may lead to an interoperable two-wheeler fast charging platform for the country.

“On the one hand, the charging infra market appears to be fragmented from the perspective of current EV volumes. Even so, the pickup in EV volumes will create space for new business models and players to emerge. Partnerships are key to de-risking and offer the potential for faster rollout of charging infrastructure,” said Sidhu.

Modular infrastructure

Will high real estate prices in big cities pose challenges for setting up charging stations? “Unlikely,” Sidhu said.

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“EV charging infrastructure is more modular and does not have to limit itself to the kind of formats that petrol pumps operate under,” he added. “For example, charging points can be integrated with existing parking spots in malls, markets, offices etc. Therefore, high urban real estate prices won’t necessarily restrict the rollout of charging infrastructure.”