EESL, Hindustan Petroleum Plan To Set Up EV Charging Points Across India

State-run Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), on December 30, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation to set up electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across the country.

Under this partnership, EESL and Hindustan Petroleum will be planning, developing and installing charging facilities at “suitable locations” across India. These EV charging stations will be equipped to change two, three, and four-wheeler vehicles.

“With the installation of public charging stations, the range anxiety of EV owners is expected to reduce, which will increase the adoption of electric mobility. This will also bring down automobile emissions, enabling a cleaner and greener environment, in turn, safeguarding the public from health risks,” Hindustan Petroleum said, in a press statement.

EESL’s managing director, Saurabh Kumar, also added that the partnership will further address the “range anxiety” concerns that the customers may have, which are further enhanced due to the lack of charging facilities.

“Increased access to charging infrastructure is vital for the uptake of electric mobility across the entire EV ecosystem of two, three, and four-wheelers. Our partnership with HPCL will also establish more visibility of charging infrastructure, sending a signal to the general public that India’s electric mobility vision is being realised in full potential,” Kumar added.

Recently, EESL also inaugurated the first electric vehicle public charging station in South Delhi, in partnership with South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). The charging station was installed near SDMC market area of Greater Kailash.

It is just the first one of the 75 charging stations the authorities are planning to install in Delhi. This is a part of EESL and SDMC’s initiative to boost the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the national capital.

Besides EESL, another state-run organisation Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has decided to set up EV charging points at Delhi-Chandigarh highway to ensure that customers are not skeptical about adopting EVs.

The boost for EV infrastructure is not just limited to government organisations, private players like Tata Motors, MG Motors and Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL), in a joint venture with British Petroleum, have taken up such operations.

Recently MG Motors set up its first charging station in Gurugram. In addition, taking EV charging points to customers’ homes, MG Motors has also partnered with Delhi-based eChargeBays. Tata Motors, on the other hand, has decided to set up 500 EV charging stations by 2021.