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Jio-bp aims to install over 30,000 EV charging points by 2030 on rising electric 2-wheeler adoption
EV charging infrastructure is crucial to lower range anxiety, which is the reluctance to purchase an electric vehicle due to its limited range.
Jio-bp, the joint venture between Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and global energy giant BP, aims to install over 30,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging points in the country by 2030, people aware of the matter told Mint. This is a massive expansion from the company's existing 5,600 charging points.
The expansion plans align with the Union government's strategy to promote EV charging infrastructure across the country, illustrated in the ₹2,000 crore allocation in the PM E-drive scheme.
Jio-bp opened its 5,000th EV charging point in September and completed 500 charging stations nationwide, according to a statement.
Also read | Indus Towers to diversify into EV charging
This comes against the backdrop of the Union government tapering subsidies in its latest EV subsidy scheme—PM E-drive.
An email query to Jio-bp sent on Thursday evening did not elicit a response until press time.
EV adoption growth
Global trends have indicated that EV adoption starts growing rapidly when it reaches 5%, the person mentioned above said. India's adoption of electric two-wheelers has reached that level, creating a favourable landscape for the development of EV charging infrastructure.
"While the sales of electric two-wheelers have crossed the 5% adoption threshold, electric four-wheeler sales are yet to reach that inflection point," said one of the persons mentioned earlier. "We have seen across countries that when the adoption of electric vehicles breaches the 5% mark, the growth thereon is rapid, and Jio-bp is also banking on that growth in India."
“To take care of range anxiety, Jio-bp is setting up charging stations primarily at EV-convenient locations such as malls, corporate parks, hotels, airports and residential societies,” the person said.
Also read | Despite industry demand, EV charging may not get infra status in budget
The adoption of electric two-wheelers has risen steadily in the country over the last few years. The ministry of road transport and highways' Vahan portal data showed that the penetration of electric two-wheelers rose to over 6% in 2024 from 4% in 2022. Penetration and adoption of EVs refers to the number of EVs sold out of the total number of vehicles sold over a period of time.
Jio-bp EV charging stations will have about 70% of their electricity generated by green energy, according to the person mentioned above. This is crucial, as the electricity used to power zero-emission vehicles is often generated by coal. Jio-bp EV charging stations will harness solar energy to charge the zero-emission vehicles, the person said.
Range anxiety
EV charging infrastructure is crucial to lower range anxiety, which is the reluctance to purchase an electric vehicle due to its limited range. According a power ministry disclosure, there were a little over 25,200 EV public charging stations in the country till the end of 2024.
The government has bolstered EV charging infrastructure since 2019, under various subsidy schemes, incentivising oil marketing companies (OMCs) to install these chargers.
Under the second iteration of the government's Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) vehicles in 2019, the ministry of heavy industries allocated ₹1,000 crore for subsidising the development of EV charging infrastructure.
Also read | The EV charging business needs to figure out a viable model
As per a parliamentary disclosure by the ministry of heavy industries on 13 February this year, state-run OMCs have installed over 20,000 EV charging stations from their own funds till the beginning of this year.
Using the FAME II subsidy, these government OMCs have installed 4,523 EV charging stations across the country. But only 251 of these stations have been "energized", the ministry of heavy industries said in the 13 February Rajya Sabha response.
Jio-bp was the first company in the industry to deploy 480 kW chargers, which are fastest in the country, another person mentioned above said. Of all the Jio-bp charging stations in the country, 95% are fast-charging stations. OMCs were to install fast EV chargers, specifically CCS-II type with a capacity of 50 KW and above, the heavy industries ministry had said in a press release in March 2023.
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Business NewsCompaniesJio-bp aims to install over 30,000 EV charging points by 2030 on rising electric 2-wheeler adoption
First Published:15 Feb 2025, 12:12 AM IST
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