Here’s some good news for those planning to buy an eco-friendly electric vehicle. Municipal corporations in Delhi have decided to set up a large number of electric charging stations in the city during the next one year.
Senior officials say that their target is to provide at least one station in an area of 3 sqkm so that people owning electric vehicles are incentivised. South Delhi Municipal Corporation has identified 75 locations for creating charging infrastructure, the north corporation has finalised 127 such charging points and the east corporation has shortlisted 93 locations for creating charging stations.
New Delhi Municipal Council has already established 55 e-charging stations and it plans to energise 45 new stations soon, the report assessing the progress of e-charging infrastructure in city states.
North Delhi Municipal Corporation mayor Jai Prakash said that “Delhi has a very high density of cars and two-wheelers, which leads to very high contribution of vehicular pollution to Delhi’s air.” “If a large number of commuters can be encouraged to switch to electric cars and buses, we will be able to bring about significant reduction in air pollution in the city. People want to buy electric cars but charging them remains a major concern for consumers. In coming years, we will make sure that electric charging stations are as easily available in the city as CNG and petrol pumps,” he added.
The south corporation has already been running a fleet of electric cars for its officials, which has led to a successful experiment of reduction in per kilometre transportation cost and annual savings in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.
A senior SDMC official said that e-charging stations were already running in Civic Centre parking area. “We had identified 113 suitable locations for e-charging stations, out of which 75 have been finalised so far,” he added.
Officials say that a majority of these charging points will be available in municipal parking areas where slots for electric vehicles will be reserved. “The company creating the charging points will fix the rates after consulting the respective corporation in two modes—on per hour basis or per unit basis. We are also planning to incorporate a battery swapping facility where a charged battery can be swapped with empty one reducing the contact time,” the official said adding that battery swapping facility will be expanded in the next phase.
As per the new building bylaws, it has already become mandatory to reserve 20% of the parking space for electric vehicles—with the provision of charging infrastructure in place—for all future projects, including malls, hospitals, public buildings, housing societies as well as commercial complexes. Besides encouraging adoption of e-vehicles, the move will indirectly help in cutting down the carbon emissions.
Among Indian cities, Delhi is on top as the biggest emitter at over 38 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent overall emissions, followed by Greater Mumbai at 22.7 million tonnes and Chennai at 22.1 million tonnes. Delhi has 85 private cars per 1,000 population against the national average of eight cars. In terms of CO2 emissions due to motor vehicles, Delhi emits about 12.4 million tonnes.
