We need to have a UPI moment for EV charging ecosystem, says Mercedes Benz India MD & CEO

Santosh Iyer, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.

The only all-in-one Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) charging application that works seamlessly at home, office, around town and on the road can accelerate the pace of adoption of Electric Vehicles, states a senior official of the country’s biggest luxury carmaker.  Drawing the analogy of UPI (Unified Payments Interface) system of seamless transfer of payments, he stated that there should be a single app which integrates multiple charging points in order to access to vehicle charging stations nationwide.

“The charging infrastructure is developing (as) a lot of private players are getting into it. But the biggest lag is that you need multiple apps (for vehicle charging). While there are aggregators, it is still not easy to charge cars. One of the biggest things is that there has to be a policy framework where there is a UPI moment for charging ecosystem wherein you can use a singular app, get your vehicle charged and pay seamlessly., stated Santosh Iyer, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India.

According to him, this kind of convenience will take away some of the angst of charging EVs. He also cited the example of Mercedes Me App offered to overseas EV buyers.

“If the car is able to pay, locate the right charger and book an appointment, it will make the whole process seamless. I think India has the edge because of the digitalisation push by the government. India can even have a charging stack for the world where the entire payment system is seamless. These are the things which if incorporated in the National Automotive Mission Plan and will give more confidence for capex. There can be a bit more acceleration in the EV space,” added Iyer.

Iyer was speaking during a fireside chat session at Green Bharat e-mobility summit, which was organised by Network18 in association with Ola Electric Mobility.

Responding to one of the questions asked by a moderator, he stated that India has a unique two-tier tax structure -GST and road taxes which are 18-20 percent at various states. He said: “Till the time there is no consistency on taxation, you can’t get higher penetration of EVs. Therefore, our ask (from the government) is to have a standard policy for EVs. It needs support till the time a certain threshold volume of say 30% (of total sales) is met.”

Iyer affirmed that decarbonising the automotive industry is not an option but the responsibility of its players.

“By 2030, the company aim to have an all-electric fleet in certain countries. The rate of customer transformation is not that fast.  We have to be cognisant of the fact that we are only one stakeholder. Where there is government on one side, there are also consumers, who need to be ready to adopt to this technology,” noted Iyer.

He also stated that Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and reduction of taxes on premium cars can also result in exports of luxury EVs out of India.

“Traditionally, cars are built closer to the market. The first prerequisite is open up the fences and allow FTAs.  With high taxes, we cannot be competitive enough. Secondly, if the internal taxation structure is made in a way and manner that you can make world class cars which adheres to global regulatory standards, then the scale grows and the market opens up opportunities for exports,” noted Iyer.

Meanwhile, Iyer revealed that its global R&D centre in Bangalore is playing an instrumental role in the design and development of its global models, including EVs.

“Most of the cars that we are making are software defined cars. We will be coming out with our own operating system, which is developed by our colleagues in Bangalore. A lot of AI related activities like Battery Management System (BMS) is carried out there. Our R&D centre in Bangalore is doing a lot of active and passive safety technologies even on EVs,” the Mercedes Benz India head said.