EV Policy in India

As per guidelines issued by Ministry of Power dated 14^th Jan,22 regarding “Charging infrastructure for Electric Vehicles (EV) – The revised consolidated Guidelines & Standards – reg”, some of the key points are given below –

Definitions –

1. Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) – shall mean an element in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (EVCI) that supplies electrical energy for recharging the battery of electric vehicles.
2. Public Charging Stations (PCS) – shall mean an EV charging station where any electric vehicle can get its battery recharged.
3. Battery Charging Stations (BCS) –shall mean an station where the discharged or partially discharged electric batteries for electric vehicles are electrically discharged.
4. Captive Charging Stations (CCS) – shall mean an electric vehicle charging stations exclusively for electric vehicles owned or under the control of owner of the charging station e.g. Government department, corporate houses Bus Depots, charging station by owned by the fleet owners etc. and shall not be used for commercial purpose of charging other vehicles on paid for basis.
5. Battery Swapping Stations (BSS) – shall mean a station where any electric vehicle can get its discharged battery or partially discharged battery replaced by a charged battery.

Guidelines –

1. Owners may charge their vehicle at their residence/office using their existing electricity connection.
2. Any individual / entity is free to set up public charging stations provided that such station can meet the technical, safety as well as performance standards & protocols laid down as well as norms/standards/specifications laid down by the Ministry of Power, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Central Electricity Authority (CEA) from time to time.
   • 2.1 Public Charging Stations (PCSs) may apply for electricity connection & Distribution Company Licensee shall release connection for EV Public Charging Stations in accordance with the timelines stated in section 4 sub. (11) of the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules 2020.
   • 2.2 Any public charging stations /chain of charging stations may obtain electricity from any generation company through open access. Open access shall be provided for this purpose within 15 days of receipt of the application complete in all respect.

• 3. Public Charging Infrastructure (PCI)

  – Requirements:

  • 3.1 Every PCS will comply with following-
• i. An exclusive with all related substation equipment including safety appliance, if required by Supply Code as approved by appropriate Electricity Regulation Commission.
• ii. Appropriate civil works

• iii. Appropriate cabling & electrical works ensuring safety

• iv. Adequate space for charging & entry/exit of vehicles.
• v. Appropriate fire protection equipment & facilities,
• vi. PCS shall have any one or more chargers or any combination of chargers.

• vii. Charging station for (two/three wheelers) e-vehicles shall be free to install any charger other than those specified above subject to compliance of technical & safety standards as laid down by CEA.
• viii. Tie up with at least one online Network Service Provider to enable advance remote/online booking of charging slot by EV owners. Such online information to EV owners should also include information regarding location, types & number of chargers installed/available, services charges for charging etc.

• ix. Share charging station data with appropriate State Nodal Agency (SNA) & adhere to protocols as prescribed by Central Nodal Agency (CNA) i.e BEE for this purpose. The SNA & CAN shall have access to this data.

• 3.2 Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) should have been type tested by an agency/lab accredited by ny National Accreditation Board for Testing Calibration Laboratories (NABL) from time to time.
• 3.3 The above minimum infrastructure requirements doesn’t apply to private charging points meant for self-use of individual EV owners (non-commercial owners).
• 3.4 Captive charging infrastructure for 100% internal use for a company’s own/leased fleet for its own use will not be required to install chargers as per para 3.1 & to have Network Service Provider (NSP) tie ups.
• 3.5 Public Charging Station may also be installed by housing societies, Malls, office Complexes, Restaurants, Hotels etc. with a provision to allow charging of visitor’s vehicles which are permitted to come in its premises.

• 4. Public Charging Infrastructure (for long range EVs) and/or heavy-duty EVs:

  • 4.1 Fast Charging Stations (FSC) i.e. public charging stations for long range EVs) and/or heavy duty EVs (like trucks, buses etc) will have the following –
• i. At least two chargers of minimum 100 KW (200- 750 V or higher) each of the different specifications (CCS/CHAdeMO chargers for above capacity or BIS Standard for e-Bus Charging Station (Level-4: 250 – 500KW) as provided under Annexure III (6)) with single connector gun each.
• ii. Appropriate Liquid Cooled Cables for high speed charging facility as above 4.1(i), for onboard charging of Fluid Cooled Batteries (currently available in some long range EVs), if required.
  • 4.2 Such Fast Charging Stations (FCS) which are meant for 100% in house/captive utilization, for example buses of a company, wood be free to decide the charging specification as per requirement for its in-house company EVs.

• 5. Location Public Charging Stations:

  • 5.1 In case of Public Charging Stations, the following requirements are laid down with regard to density /distance between two charging points:
• i. At least one charging station shall be in a grid of 3Km x 3Km. Further, one charging station shall be set up by at every 25Km on both sides of highways/roads.
• ii. For long range EVs and/or heavy duty EVs like buses/trucks etc, there shall be at least one Fast Charging with Charging Infrastructure Specifications as per para 4.1 above at every 100 Km, one on each side of highways/roads located preferably within/alongside the public charging stations. Within cities, such charging facilities for heavy duty EVs may be located within Transport Nagars, bus depot.

• 5.2 Additional PSC/FCS can be installed even if there exists a PSC/FCS in the required grid or distance.

6. Database of Public EV Charging Stations:

   • 6.1 Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) shall create & maintain a national online database of all the public charging stations in consultation with State Nodal Agency (SNAs). BEE shall create a web portal/software/Mobile Application for the database of Public Charging Stations throughout the country.

7. Tariff of supply of electricity to EV Public Charging Stations:

   • 7.1 The tariff of supply of electricity to EV Public Charging Stations shall be a single part tariff and shall not exceed the “Average Cost of Supply” till 31^st March, 2025. The same tariff shall be applicable for Battery Charging Stations (BCS).
   • 7.2 The tariff applicable for domestic consumption shall be applicable for domestic charging.
   • 7.3 The separate metering arrangement shall be made for PCS so that consumption may be recorded & billed as per applicable tariff for EV Charging Stations.

8. Service Charges at PCS –

   • 8.2 Charging of EVs is a service as already clarified by Ministry of Power vide letter no-23/08/2021 -R&R dated 13.04.2018.
   • 8.1 As electricity is being provided at concessional rates and also considering the fact that subsidy is being provided by the central/state govt in many cases for setting up Public Charging Stations, the State Govt shall fix the ceiling of Service Charges to be charged such PCS/FCS.

Electric Vehicle Chargers as provided under Para 3.1 (vi) of the Guidelines

Indian Standards EV Charging notified by BIS of 01.11.2021

 Light EV AC Charge Point

2. Light EV DC Charge Point

3. Parkbay AC Charge Point

4. Parkbay DC Charge Point

5. DC Charge Protocol

6. eBus Charging Station (Level-4: 250-500 Kw)

Role of EESL in Electric Vehicles in India

EESL stands for Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. It is founded in 2009 & promoted by Ministry of Power Govt of India (GOI). It is a joint venture of 4 Public Sector Undertaking Companies like NTPC Ltd, Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFC), REC Limited & Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). This company is backed by Union Ministry of Power.

The role of EESL is to develop energy efficiency programs/technologies for consumers, industries & Government.

Apart from this, its responsibility is to implement energy efficiency program successfully in India which includes lighting, smart metering, agriculture, electric mobility etc.

Seeing the huge market potential & aspiration, GOI has given direction to ESSL to enter into EV filed. The first National E -Mobility Program was launched by Ministry of Power in March, 2018. The purpose of this program is to provide support/push manufacturing of e-vehicles in India, providing technology for charging stations, fleet operators, service providers etc so that India could emerged as a global leader in EV industry.

Under this program, EESL has done following work –

• Procurement of 10,000 e -cars completed which will save over 1.65 Cr liter fuel every year & reduce CO2 emission by 4.42 t.
• Approx 1514 e-cars have been deployed for Govt purpose
• Provided electric vehicles on lease /purchase basis to Govt organizations to replace existing diesel/patrol vehicles.
• It has signed MOUs with various stakeholders (municipality, DISCOM etc) for setting up charging stations in municipality areas in major cities of various states.
• More than 300 charging stations have been set up at different locations in India.

EESL could be contacted on following address –

Energy Efficiency Services Ltd

5^th & 6^th Floor, Core-III, Scope Complex, 7 Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110003

Email: info@eesl.co.in,  Website: www.eeslindia.org

Cost of charging of an electric vehicle (EV)

Cost of Charging Of Electric Vehicle: 

Running Cost of Electric Vehicle:

This is a very good question? One would ask about an electric vehicle. The cost of electrical vehicle is already high so people would be more interested to know whether the running cost of EV is more/less as compared to Internal Combustion Engine vehicles.

As per study done by BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) on Tata e-vehicles is given below –

Tata Tigor (petrol version) & Tata Tigor EV were considered for calculation. Let’s say Tata Tigor’s average range is 20Km/ltr for patrol version. It means a Tata Tigor would consume 5 ltrs of patrol to cover 100Km distance. Assuming (as of 8^th feb,21) the cost of petrol is Rs 86.95/- per ltr. Hence the cost of travelling of 100Km is Rs 434.75 (5X86.95).

On the other hand, Tata Tigor EV with total battery capacity of 21.5KWh (units), the total cost of charging EV would be 21.5 Units X Rs 4.5 per unit (assuming EV home charging unit in Delhi). The total cost would be Rs 96.75. So, the running cost of electric vehicle is much cheaper than ICE vehicle (patrol version).

Other advantage of electric vehicle over ICE vehicle is – low maintenance cost & operating cost of an EV is lower as compared with than ICE vehicle which in turn reduces the overall cost of an EV.

Charging connectors for Electric Vehicles

In EV industry, there is no universal charger that can be used for all types of vehicles rather different types of chargers are available & used for different levels of charging.

Let’s understand it. Following types of charging cables/connectors are used for charging purpose –

1. Type 1
2. Type 2
3. CHAdeMO
4. Type 2 CCS

Type 1 &2 are mostly used for charging a vehicle through AC supply / Socket – typically for house charging as well as for public charging. These types of charging cables fall under slow / moderate chargers. While CHAdeMO & Type 2 CCS charging connectors are used for public charging system & fall under fast charging category.

Type-1 Charging cable/connector- 

Type 1 charging cable/connector needs single phase supply to charge the vehicle where one end of cable is connected with 1-ph AC socket/supply & other end is connected with vehicle socket. This cable has a 5-pin plug with no latch/lock pin arrangement to hold it while charging, therefore it can be unlocked by anyone. Normally, this cable comes with the vehicle for charging at home.

Type-2 Charging cable/connector- 

While Type 2 charging cable/connector requires 3-ph supply to charge a vehicle. Therefore, Type 2 charging system provides moderate charging due to provision of 3-ph supply. This cable has a 7 pin plug with no latch arrangement but the vehicle that use this cable has latch/lock- in facility which provides safety during charging of vehicles.

This cable is normally bought by the owner of the vehicle for fast charging. Type 2 cable is not only used at home but also used at charging stations also when we are on road & needs charging. Because same cable could be used at charging station for AC fast charging, if not available at charging station.

CHAdeMO & Type 2 CCS – 

CHAdeMO & Type 2 CCS are DC chargers & used for fast charging. The full form of CCS is Combined Charging System. The design of these two chargers is different & an electric vehicle can’t be charged with both DC chargers, therefore, one has to be very careful before going to charging station that charging station must have charger suitable for his vehicle’s charging socket. But, some charging station may have both types of charging arrangement.

Note: An electric car comes with both home charging & fast charging arrangement (Type 1 & Type 2).

Details of different types of chargers are given below (as per India EV guidelines). 

Electric vehicle Charging Stations

Electric Vehicle Charging Station:

Electric vehicle comes with rechargeable type battery banks which stores electrical energy like any other mobile phone. These batteries need external power to charge themselves. Various types of electric vehicle charging station modes are available for electric vehicles –

• Electric Vehicle Charging Station: Charging at home–

Home charging can be done by two methods –

1. By direct plug-in with single phase AC supply of 230V- a vehicle can be charged with a cable which comes with vehicle by connecting it with 3pin socket at home. No extra charging equipment is required in this case. These chargers are slow charges & takes lot of time to charge the vehicle (time varies depending on the type of vehicle). E-vehicle can be charged overnight when owner goes for a sleep &vehicle will be fully charged when he wakes up in the morning.

1. By charging with Wall Box – A wall box is a 3-phase AC supply system. Owner of the vehicle needs to buy a separate cable for it. This is a fast charger as compared to plug-in type. The power capacity/requirement of this charger is higher than the plug-in type charger.

*Note 1- Each e-vehicle comes with an On-board Charging system through which charging can be done at home. Only we need to connect the charging cable (plug in type or wall box type) with an On-board charging system.

Note 2 – Wall box type charger has some limitations with respect to power requirement at home, therefore these are slow chargers as compared to AC public charging system.

Note 3 – Details of each type of charger including power requirement is given in next topic. *

• Electric Vehicle Charging Station: Public Charging Stations (PCS) –

When you go out on an e-vehicle & suddenly you feel that battery needs charging, then public charging stations will help you. These public charging stations will be available at various locations in the city (like petrol pumps for engine vehicles).

There are two types of chargers available at charging stations -AC & DC chargers. Both AC & DC public chargers are faster as compared to charging at home.

DC Charger –

As we know that DC power/supply is required to charge any battery therefore DC charger is an external devise & is faster than AC charger because it bypasses the On-board charging devise & provide DC power to battery directly through a DC connector fitted in the vehicle.

AC Charger –

An AC charger is also an external devise, but it has to convert AC power into DC to charge batteries through On-board charging system of the vehicle. The charging capacity of AC charger can’t be increased up to DC level because of additional space requirement for On-board charging system. But the public AC charger is faster than Wall box AC charger.