Govt to launch app showing all available EV charging & swapping stations within 2 months: Official

A EV charging station set up by Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM). Currently, there are over 7,000 public EV charging stations in the country.

The government is likely to launch an app within the next two months that provides a consolidated view of electric vehicle (EV) charging and battery swapping stations.  Among other things, the app will provide the location and the capacity of these stations, a senior government official told Moneycontrol.

The development of the app and its launch is being led by NITI Aayog.

Charging point operators and equipment manufacturers have all come on board to share the required information with the app, the official said.

Due to a lack of interoperability, currently, a person with a particular brand of EV has a view of charging stations pertaining to only that specific make / model.

Integrated solution

“Right now, if you have a Tata electric car, then the charging infrastructure of Tata will be visible to you. But on the new app, MG, Mercedes, EESL, etc., all the charging infrastructure will be visible. This will be available in two months,” he said.

Initially, the app will show information like charging station location, connectors, whether the charging station is operational, its capacity, etc. Alternating current electric. vehicle connectors deliver power from a charging station to the onboard charger of an electric car.

The onboard charger converts alternating current to direct current and then feeds it to the electric vehicle’s battery pack.  It will also show battery swapping stations and fast and slow chargers.

The app will mention whether the charging station is open (o), or captive (c), or semi-public (sp). A charging station exclusively for the electric vehicles owned or under the control of the owner of the charging station like fleet owners is called captive. Semi-public charging stations are installed on private land but open to public use like visitor parking. Open or public charging stations are found street-side, at retail shopping centres, government facilities and parking areas.

“Later, the government intends to include features like booking and payment in the application", the official added.

Currently, there are over 7,000 public charging stations. India needs a charging station for every 75 electric four-wheelers.

Oil marketing companies have been allocated Rs 800 crore to install 22,000 fast chargers at fuel pumps under FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles).

Many hotels have installed EV charging stations at their properties and have plans to add more to cater to the growing number of travellers with EVs. The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) installed 224 EV charging stations at 92 of its properties last year, while Marriott International partnered with ChargeZone to install 100 charging stations. Other hotel chains are also ramping up their EV charging infrastructure.