India partners with Japan for affordable EV charging standard

India has joined hands with Japan to develop an electric vehicle charging standard for emerging markets. Under the partnership, the two countries aim to develop easy-to-build EV charging stations based on Japanese protocols that are claimed to slash installation costs by two-thirds, reports Nikkei Asia.

The CHAdeMO Association, the organization responsible for Japan's charging standard, will work with India's standards drafting committee. The drafting committee includes automakers such as Mahindra Electric and Maruti Suzuki. The report claims that the committee plans to submit a draft proposal to the Bureau of Indian Standards this year, aiming for official adoption as early as 2023.

CHAdeMO's roster of roughly 500 member companies includes global auto manufacturing giants such as Nissan and Toyota. It hopes to encourage broader use of electric vehicles not only in India but in emerging Southeast Asian countries as well, which are now short on the necessary EV charging infrastructure.

The report claims that the proposed specifications would allow for a maximum output of 22 kilowatts, which is half the typical figure for charging stations in Japan. The cost of installing a charging point, now in the $15,000 to $23,000 range, could be cut significantly to less than $10,000. The lower power output means longer charging times, generally twice as long as standard Japanese EV chargers for the same battery. However, since electric vehicle demands in emerging markets are expected to initially focus on compact vehicles with relatively low battery capacity, this could be an acceptable trade-off.

This partnership would enhance the EV charging ecosystem development in India, which is expected to become a major market for electric vehicles by the end of this decade. India aims to have electric vehicles account for 30 per cent of its total new car sales by 2030.