Delhiites can charge their EVs for free in the afternoon from June 1

Delhiites owning electric vehicles will now have a reason to rejoice as from June onwards they will be able to charge their EVs for free between 12pm and 3pm at over 40 public charging stations across the national capital. The move is aimed at promoting the use of electric vehicles and also to incentivize EV charging at public stations, authorities said.

The initiative of free afternoon charge to EV users is being taken up by an EV charging startup ElectriVa, which has set up over 40 public charging stations in partnership with the three civic bodies.

Authorities aware of the initiative said that the free charging will be provided at around 35 charging stations operational along the ring road at locations including South Extension, Bikaji Cama Place, Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Mayur Vihar, Netaji Subhash Place, South Campus, Nelson Mandela Road, Hauz Khas, Green Park, Greater Kailash, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, Saket, Shalimar Bagh, Preet Vihar, among others. Normally, the EV charging rates during the morning and evening hours are kept at around Rs10 per unit charge.

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"We will provide charging to all commercial and non-commercial EV users for free between 12pm and 3pm during afternoon hours. We want to bolster the EV ecosystem in the national capital. At present, it is important to incentivize public charging to make people switch from fossil fuel to electric vehicles," Sumit Dhanuka, Founder of ElectriVa, said, adding that the company will set up a charging station every 3km in Delhi and locations have already been allotted by the three civic bodies.

The penetration of electric vehicles in the automobile sector in Delhi has grown in the last few years. According to government data, around 10 percent of the total vehicles purchased in the city this year (January-March) so far, are electric vehicles. As many as 10,707 electric vehicles were registered in 2022 between January and March 14. Of them, 5,888 were e-two-wheelers (e-bike and e-scooters), data showed.

Dhanuka said that in the national level, power grid stability is a concern and if all potential future EVs were to charge at homes, it can result in grid failure during peak demand. In advanced countries such as the UK and Netherlands, having EV penetration of 12 percent and 20 percent respectively, they have put special impetus on strengthening public charging infrastructure. "Public charging will change the charging pattern of EV users if properly incentivized. It should be prioritized and this narrative has to change with speed in public charging infrastructure work," he said.

He added that battery swapping facilities will also be provided at charging stations soon. He said 100 more charging stations are being set up in Delhi, in partnership with government agencies across the city. The Delhi government is also encouraging people to buy electric vehicles and is providing a range of subsidies on purchase of commercial as well as private EVs. The government has also announced plans to set up 100 public EV charging stations having 500 charging points by June 27.

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