Context-In a major decision to give a boost to Electric Vehicles in country, Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy (IC) and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri RK Singh has approved amendments in Electric Vehicle Charging Guidelines and Specifications.

New guidelines

• To ensure that at least one Charging Station should be available in a grid of 3 Km X 3 Km in the cities and one Charging Station at every 25 Km on both sides of highways/roads.
• It has been envisaged that in the first phase (i.e. 1-3 years) all Mega Cities with population of 4 million plus as per census 2011, all existing expressways connected to these Mega Cities & important Highways connected with each of these Mega Cities may be taken up for coverage.
• In the second phase (3-5 years) big cities like State Capitals, UT headquarters may be covered for distributed and demonstrative effect. Further, important Highways connected with each of these Mega Cities may also be taken up for coverage.
• To address the concerns in inter-city travel and long range and/or heavy duty EVs it has been provided that Fast Charging Station for long range and/or heavy duty EVs like buses/trucks etc., shall be installed at every 100 Kms, shall be installed one on each side of the highways/road located preferably within/alongside the Public Charging Station (PCS) mentioned

Government's target

• The Indian government has set ambitious targets to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
• By 2023, it wants all three-wheelers to run on batteries.
• By 2025, the rule will be applicable to most two-wheelers. 

Advantages of Electric Vehicles In India

Public Transport

• To reduce congestion on roads, the cost of transportation for travelers, transportation energy use and negative environmental impacts electric vehicles plays a crucial role in easy mobilization.

Sharing and mobility services

• EVs will improve the sharing and mobility services in India and improves the connectivity. Through EVs, we can connect electric vehicles and reduce the cognition conditions which leads to traffic jams.

Creating jobs in Private and Government Sectors

• Electric Vehicles are a new portion of India. Manufacturing of electric vehicles in India will provide jobs to unemployed youth in both private and government sectors.

Clean and Green Environment

• Electric Vehicles are friendly to nature. Unlike fuel vehicles, Evs release 0% emissions into the atmosphere. Because of the clean and Green environment, the temperature levels will be under control

Challenges

Range Constraints

• Electric Vehicles are fixed for a specific range, they cant go beyond that. Most of the electric vehicles can cover a range of 100KM. If someone wants to go for a long ride they need a backup battery. However, research is going on to improve the range of electric vehicles.

Charging Stations

• In India, very few EV charging stations are available. Main cities in India like Delhi, Mumbai, Banglore, and Hyderabad have charging stations. Some thousands of charging stations should be set up all around the country to reduce the scarcity of recharging stations.