[souvikjana83]

The wait time at charging station is really a deal breaker for me. If I am traveling with family, my wife will absolutely kill me for spending more time at a break just because the EV still needs to be charged. In fact most of the people will be tested of their patience at charging stations.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by Indian2003

How are electric cars going to work in a huge country like India? I was looking at a charging map for last year and there were over 79 million people to one charging station. There wont be that much electric cars per charging station but there should be a few thousands at least.

India had about 1800 stations in 2021. Norway with 5 million people and 400,000 EVs had about 3250 superchargers

Needless worry. Every week several new chargers get added. Vehicle ownership in India is very low at around 20 cars per 1000 people. So not everyone owns a car let alone an electric car. The number of chargers is growing exponentially each year from only a couple of dozen a few years back to over 2000 now. Around 20 to 30,000 new chargers will come up in the next couple of years. So see that the growth is like 10x per year. In addition, most people charge at home anyway.

[ant_vas]

let me share my (rather by BIL's) experience of travelling in Nexon EV and the challenges of charging stations.

We planned to drive to Pondicherry from Bangalore and as per Nexon EV website we identified charging stations at Krishnagiri and Vellore.

Krishnagiri one was at tata showroom and was easy to charge as it was early in the morning and we were the first one. charges to 95% in 45 mins and we were on the way. at vellore the Tata power charging station is a MG showroom and someone just plugged in their nexon EV (which was at 15%) just 2 minutes before we got their. after plugging their car for charging the person went missing. My BIL waited patiently till the that nexon was charged to 95%, then he went in search of the person and got him to move on. after plugging in he waited another 45 mins to charge his Nexon to 95%. Over all it took him close to 9 hours including breakfast break and charging breaks to reach pondi. Both charging locations were showrooms which were closed due to diwali and didn't have any refreshments on offer nor there were any restaurants near by!

On the return journey we expected to be delayed as lot many people will be travelling post diwali. at Vellore, already there was a car plugged in. after waiting close to an hour, my BIL plugged in his nexon only to have power cuts due to heavy rains and once the power was back, the software threw error that charging was interrupted by customer! he wasted more than 30 mins trying to get the charger to work. he then looked for other charging stations near by and found one at a hotel in palikonda. when he reached there a MG was already plugged in and unfortunately he realized this was not a fast charger only after plugging in! finally after couple of hours he started towards krishnagiri and when he was close, he saw that the zeon charging station got busy on the app, so he immediately went to the tata showroom one and got his nexon charged. post which he was able to reach bangalore with a little spirited driving. overall it took him 12 hours on return journey!

I believe the charging stations that exist currently have provision for charging only 1 car at a time and if the are not fast chargers the time taken will be lot more. we need more charging station with fast charging so that people will feel confident in driving their EVs on the highways.

[Early_Adopter]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

let me share my (rather by BIL's) experience of travelling in Nexon EV and the challenges of charging stations.

my BIL plugged in his nexon only to have power cuts due to heavy rains and once the power was back, the software threw error that charging was interrupted by customer! he wasted more than 30 mins trying to get the charger to work.

The problems seem to be multilayered. The first one is adequate number of chargers being available along the highways. The second issue seems to the availability of power to run these chargers. The third one is that the charger should be in working condition.

So, overall, the provision of charging infra along the highways is lot more complex that possibly some of the policy makers might want to imagine

[ant_vas]

he first one is adequate number of chargers being available along the highways. The second issue seems to the availability of power to run these chargers. The third one is that the charger should be in working condition

Completely agree with these 3 points. with most of the existing charging station if only 1 vehicle can be charged at a time, its certainly not enticing the users as it will always lead to uncertainty of free charging point and long wait periods won't help.

Am not sure of the power required to run a fast charging station, but am sure it certainly adds to the cost of setup and running a charging station.

and to the third point of chargers to be in working condition, most of the times it appears to be software related issues especially with the tata power charging stations. private once seems to be OK

Overall its a long way till the charging infrastructure will inspire confidence in indian consumersto take their EV's on a highways

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

Overall its a long way till the charging infrastructure will inspire confidence in indian consumersto take their EV's on a highways

Not fully correct. I do at least two out of town drives on my EV each month. Currently I am on a 600km drive as well. There are plenty of chargers available. Most places have generator backup as well. New chargers are coming up almost daily. If you looked a destination where there was no charger a couple of months ago, the chances are good that there would be one by now. You have to look at different apps to find one of course. In addition, you need a little patience. Having to wait a couple of hours once every 6 months is a small price to pay for the benefits of having an EV. In addition, there is an electric plug available in practically every building. You can charge at hotels, restaurants, malls and so on. Yesterday I charged at a fast charger located at a small hotel in Himachal Pradesh and later wanted to top up around 6% again. However a Jaguar iPace had just started charging. So the owner allowed me to plug my own charger in to another wall socket and I topped up while having some food. Similarly I charged last night till this morning at my hotel in Mcleodganj. No issues whatsoever. There is electricity everywhere!

[Venkatesh]

Zeon Charging to set up 400 EV chargers across Tamil Nadu in over a period of five years.

Currently, Zeon Charging is setting up 50 kW DC fast chargers. Going forward, it will add similar solutions to existing locations along with more powerful chargers. “We will go for powerful 100-150 kW chargers.

Source

[Axe77]

I was browsing through Recharge and a few things came to mind.

Most chargers displayed are regular 15AMP chargers and not fast chargers. I would have thought if you’re looking for public chargers a fast charger is more apt as it can quickly get you to recharge from (say) 10% to 80% while you take a snack break. How will 15 AMP chargers get a meaningful recharge in an hour or so?

The second point was that a lot of them are not operational 24x7. Slight bummer. But I guess if you’re on a multiple day trip you’re going to choose hotels that will facilitate overnight charging.

Third point is its a bit of a banana republic with private facilities at some places asking for ridiculous amounts. For instance while the norm for a slow charger seems to be 50-60 Rs / hour, apparently some places are asking for as much as Rs. 100/-. Not sure what’s the correct benchmark for a slow vs fast charger. Hopefully this will streamline to a narrow band in future as more infra comes up.

[Shresth_EV]

Don’t know if this is a relevant thread, but saw this article today :

BEE app to help find EV charging stations

(Via : Livemint)

The government is developing a centralized mobile app to help electric vehicle (EV) users locate charging stations and book slots in advance, said two people seeking anonymity.

The move by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is aimed at encouraging EV adoption across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Surat, which have a population of at least 4 million.

“BEE is designated as the central nodal agency for the deployment of public charging infrastructure in India under the ‘Charging infrastructure for Electric Vehicles-Guidelines and Standards’ issued by the ministry of power," a BEE spokesman said in an email.
“BEE has been tasked with the design and development of a centralized online database for capturing data of public EV charging stations, and additionally a centralized mobile application to help users locate charging stations and book charging slots conveniently is also being planned," he added.

If it’s true, it’s great news, although I’d be happier if it was not just for cities but every single charger in the country including dhabas on off beat paths, expressways or a mall parking.

If only they can integrate payment via UPI into this very app, it will be godsend for the EV owners to get rid of dozens of apps for each charging aggregator. One app to rule them all.

PlugShare is probably the closest but if it means more streamlined process to have one app to locate, pay and charge, it will be a relief, for ages to come because chargers and their providers will only grow in future.

[RM Motorsports]

Kerala State Electricity Board has set up EV charging points on the supply line posts with no added cost to create a charging station.

This is used via a mobile app ‘Electrify’.

[DrCar]

I hope Kerala government stop immediately converting this electric poles into charging points.

Many safety issues with these:
- Poles can dislodge due to poor maintenance.
- Overhead live wires can snap anytime and one can only imagine the harm they can do to a person underneath.
- Risk of getting caught in a lightning storm.
- Electric leakage due to grounding issues during rains.
- Multiple exposed illegal wires running around the pole can create issues.

I hope no sane person uses this to charge their vehicles.

[prankey]

Originally Posted by DrCar

I hope Kerala government stop immediately converting this electric poles into charging points.

Many safety issues with these:
- Poles can dislodge due to poor maintenance.
- Overhead live wires can snap anytime and one can only imagine the harm they can do to a person underneath.
- Risk of getting caught in a lightning storm.
- Electric leakage due to grounding issues during rains.
- Multiple exposed illegal wires running around the pole can create issues.

I hope no sane person uses this to charge their vehicles.

This proves that some people can find flaw in anything or everything. Don't go out of your house as you may catch the lightening or get heat stroke

[DrCar]

Originally Posted by prankey

This proves that some people can find flaw in anything or everything. Don't go out of your house as you may catch the lightening or get heat stroke

I just wanted to put forward my opinion about the risk one could have, if electric poles are made as a charging station. There are many better and safer places to put up charging station.

Please do look up how lightning strikes or how heat stroke affects a person.

Comments like this have made car manufacturers bold enough to short change us buyers for many years by providing unsafe cars. Why to buy cars with airbags when probability of one getting involved in an accidents is next to nil statistically?

Anyways I am ending the post here. Do plan to tag along with any of your doctor friends in a hospital round to see the effect of lightning and heat stroke on a person. You will realize the importance of my post then. If not possible, you can tag along with me.

Thanks and Peace.

[Vindi13]

Originally Posted by obaidhakim

From my last trip in the EV from mumbai to Goa and back.
I have learnt that the most efficient and cost effective trick is to charge upto 80% and move on unless absolutely necessary.
The time and cost incurred to charge above 80% SOC is significantly higher.

Hi,

If you don't mind, could you share your routemap and tips for this? Planning the same Mumbai-Goa trip and charting out stops using plug share.

[Srini76]

Team,

Just a thought to a query on charging lines vis-a-vis duration when the EV density increases and the update on the TESLA multi chargers et al - the primary requirements for a EV if I get this right is only Electricity and Space - if GOI was truly interested in going the EV way (Which is what it sounds like at least) why not mandate every Petrol Bunk across the country (to begin with at least the COCO's) have say 2 chargers ! I would like to get a EV and my usual is Chennai to Mysore which is very very possible even now.

Just thinking that if every COCO was to have say 2 or 3 electric charging points and assuming that a enterprise like BP/HP/IOC will have 1000 cocos across the country there invest meant would be about 1000 Crs even if we on the super high side said each charger being 33 lakhs ! and that is perhaps pocket change for the oil companies ! I mostly use BP coco and on the highway they have a eatery associated almost always which is a minimum 40 minutes per meal !

I think its more of a INTENT thing than anything else from GOI ! YEs I concede that I DO NOT know anything about safety of EV charging station and FUEL storage near by etc !

Srini