The government of Delhi aims to deploy around 18,000 electric vehicle charging points by 2024.
According to the charging/swapping infrastructure action plan for Delhi 2022-25 released by the Department of Transport, Delhi government, the target has been set based on EV sales projections for 2024. It also said that five battery swapping docks will be considered equal to one charging point under the target.
The action plan released at the Delhi EV Forum on Monday noted that the Delhi EV policy targets 25% of all new vehicle registrations by 2024 to be EVs. The projection model uses the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in new vehicle registrations for 2014-2019 to project EV sales to achieve the 25% target of EVs by 2024 (aligned to EV policy), it said.
It added that Delhi has at least 2,452 charging points spread across 1,919 locations.
Under the roadmap, Delhi aims to achieve one public charging point for every fifteen EVs by 2024, spread evenly across Delhi and accessible within 3 km travel from anywhere in the city.
“The need for public charging varies by segment and use case. Taking into account the EV penetration and public charging needs of different vehicle segments and use cases, a charger to EV ratio of 1:15 translates to around 18,000 charging points would be required to cater for the need for electric vehicles in the horizon year of 2024,” it said.
The action plan aims at developing a unified strategy for deploying EV charging stations (EVCS) and battery swapping facilities (BSF) in Delhi. “It will provide an integrated plan of action for all stakeholder agencies to maintain synergy in deploying EV charging/battery swapping facilities in the NCT of Delhi,“ it said.
The Delhi government will identify EV charging or swapping use cases based on charging requirements for different market segments, such as passenger vehicles, fleet owners for passenger and freight, delivery service providers, and public transport vehicles. It will also identify priority vehicle segments to determine which type of chargers and solutions to prioritize.
As per the plan, 20% of parking spaces in new buildings and 5% of all existing parking spaces under the purview of different agencies must be EV ready with at least 3.3 kW output charging points.
The government will also allow a wide range of stakeholders like charge point operators, battery swapping operators, advance chemistry battery manufacturers, delivery service providers, fleet owners and power distribution companies to participate in the location-allocation process for setting up EV charging and swapping stations.
The Delhi EV policy was notified on August 7, 2020. The state transport department was appointed as the nodal department for implementing the policy. According to the report, since the policy’s launch, Delhi has made significant strides in adopting electric vehicles.
“There has since been a steady uptake in the deployment of EV charging and swapping infrastructure in the NCT of Delhi. This steady uptake has been made possible by rigorous implementation of the mandates in the Delhi EV policy,” it said.
The Delhi EV policy has thirteen clauses pertaining to EV charging infrastructure, out of which ten clauses have been completely operationalized, two clauses have been partially operationalized, and one clause is yet to be operationalized, according to the action plans.
Speaking at the Delhi EV Forum, Jasmine Shah, the Vice Chairperson of the Dialogue and Development Commission, said that currently the government has achieved around 83% of the targets and commitments made in the policy.
“I think one area we need to do lot more is about EV battery recycling. We do have a vision for that under the EV policy but I think it has not been as straight forward in terms of putting in the implementation. This is a challenge that as a country we are grappling with. We don’t have any stringent regulations on that front (battery recycling),” Shah said, adding that, it would also be an opportunity for a state or city like Delhi to take the lead and form a recycling and safe disposal of EV batteries.
He also stressed on the need to accelerate EV adoption in segments like passenger auto rickshaws. He said that the Delhi government last year came up with 4,200 electric auto permits, and took up initiatives to educate the auto drivers of the country and also provided financial assistance.
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