India is gradually moving towards a cleaner future, and electric mobility is one of the key sectors the country is increasingly banking on. Another step towards the future of mobility is the commissioning of India’s largest electric vehicle charging station in Gurugram under the Ease of Doing Business Program operated by Alektrify. Situated in a prime spot on the Jaipur-Delhi-Agra Highway, the station is armed with 100 charging point for four-wheelers, dwarfing the former largest station in Navi Mumbai that has 16 AC and 4 DC charging ports.
The official release mentions “this station is now open with 96 chargers” and also says “this charging station is largest in India with 100 charging points for 4 wheelers”. Although 72 AC slow chargers and 24 DC fast chargers translates to a total of 96 charging points.
“Electric vehicle charging station of this size and magnitude is rare and will be instrumental for the industry to experience actual Ease of Doing Business in smooth ‘Certification Compliance’ and ‘Safety Standards’. Electric vehicles are the future and this station is our prototyped preparation for that future. This ultra-modern station is now open to meets all the regulatory standards set by the government. It will also set the standard as a prototype station for all the upcoming EV charging stations of National Highways for Electric Vehicle (NHEV) pilot project making India’s first 500 km E-Highway between Jaipur -Delhi-Agra,” said Abhijeet Sinha, National Program Director, Ease of Doing Business program and Project Director of National Highway for Electric Vehicles.
The station has 72 AC slow chargers and 24 DC fast chargers. With the AC charger taking an average of 6 hours to fully charge an EV, and the DC charger topping an EV up in less than 2 hours, the one station can essentially charge 4 EVs per day via the AC and 12 EVs per day by the DC charger. This equals a 24-hour fully occupied charging capacity over 500 vehicles.
The station itself is designed with the Indian conditions in mind, the hemispherical shape of the station ensures efficiency by reducing loads for air conditioners and heaters. The open area is lit naturally by sunlight during the day, while solar-panel powered lights are used for night time. Waste management systems have also been inbuilt inside the station, resulting in minimal harm to the environment. Sinha also added, “30 Minutes, 30 Percent and 3 years are very important for this NHEV project. Because every electric vehicle will get technical back-up on this e-highway in 30 minutes during breakdown, fleet operators will get vehicles in 30 per cent lesser price and within 3 years investor’s CAPEX spent on civil and electric infra of charging stations will reach its breakeven.”
It has been set up by Alektrify, the official partner of NHEV for the pilot programme of EV Charging stations on the highway. The programme is meant to act as a showcase of the benefits of Charging stations from an operators point-of-view, the competitive advantage of owning a charging station against a Fuel Station in terms of the installation, licensing and safety benefits.
Source: indiatoday.in
