By: ICN Bureau
Last updated : May 13, 2021 9:41 am
Formal release of the standards will be done within the next two months, after completion of field and durability trials of sample products
India is planning to standardize AC Charge Point for EVs so that it can accelerate the adoption of Electric 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers in cities, towns, and villages.
A forthcoming Indian standard will allow a rapid scaling up of EV charging infrastructure that is much needed in the country.
The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India, in close coordination with the NITI Aayog team had taken on this challenge. A committee involving all the key stakeholders including EV manufacturers, auto and electronic component suppliers, power utilities, and communication service providers has worked in fast-track mode to develop specifications, prototype products, and undertake testing & validation of the proposed standards. These will be formally issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
Several initiatives taken by the NITI-Aayog (Mission for Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage) and the launch of FAME-2 incentives are intended to stimulate the production and demand for EVs in India. Yet, the consumer adoption of EVs will also depend on the easy availability of EV charging infrastructure.
The Group had set a target price of less than Rs. 3,500 for a Smart AC charge point operated with a smartphone for a global breakthrough in affordable EV charging infrastructure. Fast-track development of the standard, close working between industry and government, and diligent testing & validation has met with success.
Several Indian manufacturers are already on board to make this Charge Point Device, as per Indian Standards, with target prices starting as low as Rs. 3,500. The LAC device is intended to be highly scalable and deployed in any place where a 220V 15A single phase line is available – mainly targeting parking lots of metro and railway stations, shopping malls, hospitals, office complexes, apartments and even kirana and other shops.
The draft Indian Standard has been taken up by the BIS Committee on Electromobility Standards. The formal release of the standards will be done within the next two months, after completion of field and durability trials of sample products. It is expected that a new industry sector will emerge catering to the high volume, low-cost charging infrastructure for EVs.
This Low-Cost AC Chargepoint (LAC) allows up to 3 kW of power to be drawn charging eScooters and eAutorickshaws. The user’s smartphone will communicate with the LAC via low-power Bluetooth and link up to a back-end where transaction payment and analytics are enabled. The user’s smartphone can be used for multiple accounts and payment options.
Dr. V. Sumantran, Chairman, DST-PSAO Group on Charging Infrastructure said, “When industry and government entities come together to work on national goals, remarkable progress can be achieved with speed. Furthermore, this effort brought out the talent in India for intelligent cost-innovation. Affordability constraints in India demand that we address problems keeping in mind both cost and scalability.”
Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog said, “The emphasis on charging points rather than costly charging stations has led to the accelerated efforts by the team for developing the LAC Charging standard for the light electric vehicles segment, as the next logical step.”
The share of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) two-wheelers and three-wheelers is around 84% of total vehicle sales in our country. Therefore, the fastest adoption of EVs is expected to be in two-wheelers and three-wheelers. By 2025, forecasts expect up to 4 million of EV vehicles could be sold each year, growing to almost 10 million by 2030. Any charging solution to serve this sector must be highly scalable, easily accessible by the public, support interoperability, and be affordable.