Delhi's Based Power Utility Plans To Set Up EV Charging Infrastructure On Its Own

Tata Power-DDL’s EV Charging Stations in Delhi

One of the biggest hurdles in the adoption of electric vehicles is the non-availability of the charging infrastructure. While there is the obviously higher cost of electric vehicles, the other problem is that there are not enough chargers to power the electric vehicles. Unlike normal cars, electric vehicles do not have a big enough range and have to be charged after every 100 to 200 km. This means that electric chargers are needed in close proximity. Normal cars already have a well-established network of gasoline stations spread all over the country, however electric vehicles do not have the luxury.

Also, read List Of Places Where You Can Charge Your Electric Vehicle For Free In Delhi

This is known as the classical “chicken and egg” problem and governments all around the world have been trying to surmount the challenge by setting up charging infrastructure either on their own or through PPP model. Utilities are one of the main stakeholders in helping set up the charging infrastructure as they are also the suppliers of the “electricity” which is the fuel for electric vehicles.

Tata Power-DDL is one of the two main power distribution utilities in Delhi which is the capital of India. The company has already set up 5 charging stations and plans to set up 1000 more over the next 5 years. The company wants to do this on its own without any help from the government. In my view, this is a very smart move by the company as it gets a readymade customer for its main product – power. The charging infrastructure will help sell large amounts of power to electric vehicles customers in the future. The utility also wants to work with the municipal corporation and the metro company to get locations for setting up the charging stations.