Allocation under FAME-II will help decide charging infra roadmap, says Power secy

As climate change makes itself more and more felt, fossil fuels are being looked at as something that needs to be changed. In an effort to move towards something more sustainable auto companies have no doubt started moving towards the electric path. And while the road will be long and hard, it is not undoable. Here are the electric cars that are already on sale in India.

India may have to wait a little longer for clarity on a protocol for electric vehicle charging stations as the government hasn’t zeroed in on any one standard protocol.

“Department of science and technology is undertaking studies and developing charging standards... We are waiting for that... Once they give us the details, we would be able to come out with the protocol,” Ajay Bhalla, Secretary, Ministry of Power told Moneycontrol.

Among the protocols available, including combined charging system (CCS- European), CHAdeMO (Japanese), GB/T (Chinese) and Tesla Superpower, the Indian government is expected to prefer European standards.

According to reports, Central Electricity Authority’s April report has suggested adopting European Combined Charging System which is widely used by auto-makers.

Companies like Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford Motors, Renault, BMW, Chevrolet, Audi, Jeep and Fiat follow the European standard in India while companies like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra prefer Bharat EV standard due to its easy compatibility with European standard.

Country’s largest car manufacturer, however, uses Chademo system developed by its parent Suzuki Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp.

While Chademo, CCS and Tesla Supercharger restock 80 percent of the battery in about 20-30 minutes, India’s Bharat EV standard, however, doesn’t apply to charging speeds above 15 kilowatts.

Sources say charging infrastructure development is stuck due to the absence of standard charging protocol.

“There are five kinds of protocols worldwide for charging. So India has to choose one of them… DHI has a budget of Rs 1,000 crore for charging infrastructure but the ministry of power is yet to give the green signal,” they said.

Bhalla said Bureau of India Standards (BIS) approved charging standards have helped remove confusion across the sector.

“Technical standard and connectivity regulations and safety and electricity regulations for charging infrastructure have been notified,” he said adding, “There are certain BIS approved charging station standards available and certain new standards are being worked out by the department of science and technology... Once these standards are available, it would be more convenient”.

The secretary said the roadmap for stations will also depend on the amount given to the department under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (hybrid and) Electric vehicles scheme.

“The executive finance committee has done their studies and the scheme will be sent to the cabinet unless that is done, we cannot do anything... That is not our department,” he said.

Centre has approved Rs 5,500 crore package under second phase of FAME scheme of which Rs 1,000 crore will be spent on developing infrastructure. The scheme was launched as a part of ‘National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020’ to promote e-mobility in phased manner.

While NEMMP envisioned six to seven million electric vehicles in the Indian fleet by 2020, NITI Aayog’s transformative mobility report of 2017 has set out a roadmap for pure electric vehicles which advocated for the adoption of a transformative solution of shared-connected electric mobility. This would include 100 percent electric public transport vehicles and 40 percent private electric vehicles by 2030.

According to a report by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), EV penetration, at the end of FY18, stood at close to 0.1 percent in passenger vehicles, 0.2 percent in two-wheelers and close to nil in public sector.