India to launch low-cost charging devices for electric two, three wheelers

The Indian government in collaboration with manufacturers of electric vehicles and charging devices has been able to develop a low-costcharging infrastructure for electric two and three wheelers which is expected to help push adoption of such vehicles in the coming years. The Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India, in close co-ordination with NITI Aayog team have been work on this initiative.

The new standards for this new low-cost charging infrastructure will be ratified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

According to a statement issued by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India, the group has set a target price of less than Rs. 3500 ($50) for a smart AC charge point which can be operated with a smart phone, for a global breakthrough in affordable electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

“Fast-track development of the standard, close working between industry and government, and diligent testing and validation has met with success. This Low-Cost AC Chargepoint (LAC) allows up to 3 kW of power to be drawn charging e-Scooters and e-Autorickshaws. The user’s smart phone will communicate with the LAC via low-power bluetooth and links up to a back-end where transaction payment and analytics are enabled,” the statement further added.

The Narendra Modi government has been urging vehicle manufacturers to develop and manufacture electric vehicles to reduce vehicular emission and curb oil imports. The union government has also been incentivizing purchase of such vehicles through the second phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing Electric and Hybrid vehicle (FAME) scheme.

The union government has been focusing on driving adoption of electric vehicles in the two and three-wheeler segment where the price gap has been narrowing.

According to analysts at Motilal Oswal Institutional Equities, the two-wheeler industry witnessed considerable price inflation due to regulatory changes. The cost to the customer has risen by 25% between January 2021 and April 2018. At the same time, the cost of a lithium-ion battery continues to fall sharply, with an estimated decline of 24% during the same period.

Several Indian manufacturers are already on board to make this charge point device, as per Indian Standards, with target prices starting as low as Rs. 3500. The LAC device is intended to be highly scalable and deployed in any place where a 220V 15A single phase line is available – mainly targeting parking lots of metro and railway stations, shopping malls, hospitals, office complexes, apartments and even kirana and other shops, the statement further added.

“The emphasis on charging points rather than costly charging stations has led to the accelerated efforts by the team for developing the LAC Charging standard for the light electric vehicles segment, as the next logical step” said Rajiv Kumar, vice chairman, Niti Aayog.