SMEV welcomes government plan to install 69,000 EV charging kiosks across India

The Society for Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) on Tuesday welcomed central government's plans to install at least 69,000 EV charging kiosks across petrol pumps pan-India to accelerate adoption of the electric vehicles in the country.

The SMEV, in a statement, however, also said that along with setting up of charging stations, the issue of parking space for these vehicles, especially the electric cars, at these charging kiosks should also be looked into.

"SMEV welcomes the announcement of setting up charging kiosks at every fuel station. It is a massive initiative that if done quickly and in sufficient density could address the issue of range anxiety in a big way," said Sohinder Gill, Director General at SMEV.

Providing sufficient space for parking electric vehicles (EVs), especially e-cars for a few hours while they are being charged, could be a challenge that needs to be addressed while setting up such stations, he said.

The SMEV statement came in the wake of union Minister Nitin Gadkari saying on Tuesday that "the government was planning to set up at least one electric vehicle charging kiosk at around 69,000 petrol pumps across the country to induce people to go for electric mobility".

A report last month had said that the coronavirus pandemic is expected to delay the penetration of electric vehicles in the country, as low affordability and the government's priority on reviving existing conventional automobile industry shift the focus away from EVs in the interim.

Stating that rejigging the FAME2 to spur the demand of e-two wheelers and removing the anomaly of very high GST on the batteries if sold separately from the vehicles are some of the steps that should be taken to boost the industry, Gill said, "A mix of battery swapping and charging station would perhaps be optimal as it would cater to all sorts of EVs including e-two and three wheelers."

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