Electric Vehicles: Infrastructure development in India vs the USA

The Charging Infrastructure: India vs United States

Governments around the world are implementing stricter emission norms, and many countries are moving towards electric vehicles. These plug-in vehicles can reduce emissions and even save you money. Their prices are expected to drop significantly in the years to come.

Electric cars are making big waves in the automobile world, as manufacturers like Tesla, General Motors, and Volkswagen ramp up their manufacturing. These noise and pollution-free high-performance vehicles are expected to make their fossil fuel-guzzling counterparts obsolete by 2025. Consumers across the world, especially in India and the US, are seeing the advantages of electric vehicles, and are expected to own them in large numbers soon.

What are electric vehicles?

Electric vehicles (EVs) run on electricity and have an electric motor for propulsion instead of an internal combustion engine. They have a large traction battery pack to power the electric motor and must be plugged into a charging station or wall outlet. There are two basic types of EVs: All-Electric Vehicles (AEV)s, and plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV)s.

The vehicle emits no exhaust from the tailpipe and does not contain the typical liquid fuel components such as a fuel pump, fuel line, or fuel tank. Though air pollution can result from electricity production, the US Environmental Protection Agency terms all-electric vehicles as ‘zero-emission vehicles’ since they produce no direct exhaust or emissions.

What are charging stations?

An electric car charging station is a machine that supplies electric energy to charge plug-in electric cars. It requires an exclusive transformer with all related equipment like cabling and electric work, civic work, and safety appliances. The charging station has different types of chargers catering to different vehicle requirements.

User safety comes first. All charging units need grounding installation that ensures safety even in difficult conditions. Equally important is the reliability of the charging infrastructure.

Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in India

The automobile market in India is the 5th largest in the world.  The Central Electric Authority has stated in its June 2020 report that there are 933 EV charging stations across India. Finding charging stations and running out of batteries is the greatest fear of an electric vehicle driver. The only way people are going to buy electric cars, is if the charging process is as easy as fuelling traditional vehicles. Due to the absence of charging infrastructure in India, some companies like Ola Electric are looking to provide home charging infrastructure to the customers of its electric cars.

Many companies aim to change the charging landscape for EV vehicles in India. Many EV makers are offering free lifetime charging options for customers, demonstrating their commitment to popularise these vehicles. These will facilitate urban mobility as well as long-distance intercity travel. Other EV makers are partnering with third-party charging stations.

Ola Electric recently announced the setting up of a massive charging network for electric two-wheelers. It is named the Ola HyperCharger Network. It will be the fastest two-wheeler charging network in India, and also the world’s largest. It will cover 100 cities in India in the very first year, and over 5000 charging points will be set up. Eventually, it plans to cover 400 cities with over 1 lakh charging points.  Ola will also launch an electric scooter in a few months that is being produced at its manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu.

Also read: Battery Manufacturers in India

Charging Process in EV Charging Stations in India

There is an app developed by some charging station operators for smartphones or tablets, where you can search for ‘charging station near me. At the electric vehicle charging station, you have to put the charging gun into the charging socket of the car. Then you have to fill in a few details on your app, after which you will get an OTP.

Automatically, the battery management system of the car communicates with the charger. It first calculates what is the percentage of charge in the battery of your car. Based on that information, you give a green signal from your smartphone, and the charging process starts.

There are several options you can either go in for a time charging wherein you select how much time you want to be billed for, or you can simply select units. You can opt for a full charge also. Once the charging is done, you can make the payment from your phone using internet banking, or debit or credit cards. Thus, the whole charging process is quite hassle-free.

The average cost comes to around Rs 10.5 including GST for a one-kilowatt hour. So, running an electric vehicle is quite cheap as compared to a petrol or diesel vehicle.

Review of EV Charging Stations in India

The general review about charging stations in India is quite positive. Most of them are centrally located in the major cities. Also, they have got multiple charging stations, so the charging process is quite fast. The app makes the process of charging seamless, and the payment process contactless.

Electric Vehicles Charging Facilities in the USA

In the United States, President Joe Biden is moving aggressively to fight climate change by securing supply chains. The goal of the administration is to actively encourage the development of electric vehicles and charging stations. But as far as charging facilities are concerned, the US faces the same problem as India faces. Currently, there are around 1.8 million electric cars on US roads. But, as per Statista, there are just over 40,000 public charging station locations with 100,000 charging plugs.

Also read: Lithium Battery Manufacturers in India

There are 3 basic types of charging facilities available:

Level 1: It is a slow type of charging like a regular outlet charge. The charging speed is around 3 miles per hour.

Level 2: It is faster and charges between 10 and 25 miles per hour of charge.

Level 3: It is ‘DC quick charging’ and can charge up to 90 miles per hour of charge.

The Role of the Government

President Biden’s American Jobs Plan envisages an investment of $ 15 billion to fund a national network of 500,000 charging stations. Gas stations are setting up EV charging stations to diversify their offer and better serve the customers.

Tesla vehicles account for 85 percent of all-electric cars in the United States. Most electric vehicle owners charge either at home or work. One of the benefits of driving an electric vehicle is never needing to go to the gas station.

The Challenges

The biggest concern with battery-operated vehicles is their range limitation. A study conducted by the University of California Davis has found that one in five electric vehicle owners has switched back to conventional vehicles, due to the paucity of charging stations. To overcome this, and also due to the increase in the number of electric vehicles on roads, several companies are building charging stations across cities in the USA.

Private Players Pitching In

SemaConnect is one of the leading charging station operators in North America with over 12,000 active charging stations. Many of its charging stations are powered by solar panels. They are quite popular, and a car can be fully charged in under 2 hours.

Another EV charging network, California-based ChargePoint, raised $ 127 million in funding for expanding its charging stations across North America and Europe.

New charging zones are being created by companies like Tesla in residential, hotel, retail, and other commercial locations. This is believed to be profitable for investors.

The automotive and mobility market is undergoing a revolution. Electro-mobility is gaining momentum globally. So, it is very profitable for private players to invest in the charging network for electric vehicles in the lucrative markets of India and the United States.

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FAQs

Q. Is there any app for EV users in India?

Ans. Owners of electric vehicles can download an app called ElectreeFi that will help them locate the nearest charging station.

Q. Which US state has got the largest number of electric chargers?

Ans. The state of California, with 32,000 power outlets, has the largest number of chargers.

Q. What are the different charging protocols for electric mobility in India?

Ans. Some of the charging protocols are AC Type 2, CCS2, and CHadeMo.

Q. Which are the top charging station manufacturers in India?

Ans. The most prominent manufacturers of charging stations for electric vehicles in India are ABB, Tata Power, and Charzer.

Q. What is the average cost of setting up a charging station in India?

Ans. A normal station costs between Rs 50 lakhs to Rs 60 lakhs, while the bigger ones may cost up to Rs 1.3 crores.