Govt To Come Up With One-Stop EV Super App By Next 6 Weeks: Report

The Indian government is reportedly planning to launch an electric vehicle (EV) super app, a one-stop platform for EV users, which will provide detailed information about public charging stations and enable reservations at the stations.

With an aim to enhance the overall EV usage experience, address range anxiety, and hence, encourage EV adoption, the government is planning to include crucial details about the charging stations on the app including their availability, charger types, and tariffs. The app could go live in the next four to six weeks, as per an Economic Times report.

There were reports earlier about work on such an upcoming platform where the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) was tasked with a part of the work.

It is pertinent to note here that a good network of EV charging and swapping stations is significantly important to improve the adoption of the vehicles. After all, the infrastructure should be as well-built as it is for the ICE vehicles to find fuel stations. However, as per reports, India still lags behind in building that wholesome ecosystem.

In order to make a mutually beneficial arrangement for all stakeholders in the sector, the Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) is already in the process of collating information from the private sector to build the super app, the publication reported.

Besides the information on the network of public charging stations, the app is also expected to show information shared by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that would enhance visibility and traffic at the private charging points as well, as per CESL managing director Mahua Acharya’s statement to the publication.

“We need an extensive network of charging stations at strategic locations, which are safe, well-lit, well-covered and where users can top-up their electric vehicles within an hour,” Acharya was quoted as saying. 

“This will help cut down battery size, make electric vehicles more affordable, ease range anxiety and speed up adoption of e-vehicles, even for long-haul travel,” he added.

Under a public-private partnership model, CESL’s plan is to aggregate demand and establish 10,000 charging stations in the next three years under phase-II of the government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) India scheme.

Meanwhile, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) has already established such an app for streamlining the EV charging process. On the EV Mithra app, EV owners/drivers can check the availability of charging stations across the city and pre-book them depending on availability.

Current EV Charging Infrastructure

As per a recent Redseer report, there are only about 3,000 EV charging stations in the country as of now, which is about six available charging stations per 1,000 EVs. In sharp contrast, China, with the highest number of EV manufacturers, has about 200 charging stations per 1,000 EVs.

Under phase-I of the government’s FAME India initiative, which commenced on April 1, 2015, and ended on March 31, 2019, the Ministry of Heavy Industries had sanctioned about 520 charging stations/infrastructure for about INR 43 Cr. 

As of July 1 this year, 479 charging stations were installed in the country under the scheme.

Meanwhile, out of the 2,877 EV charging stations sanctioned by the ministry under phase-II of FAME, 50 charging stations have been installed so far, as per the government’s latest data.

Several industry experts had earlier told Inc42 that there still remains a major gap between the government’s intent to support the EV ecosystem and its execution. Hence, a partnership model of work is expected to be beneficial for the overall sectoral development.