In a major e-mobility push the Delhi government has proposed incentives for battery swapping facility operators and one public charging point for 15 EVs by 2024 in the new EV policy document. The government will soon onboard power distribution companies, or the discoms to study the impact of EV charging on the grid.
The new ‘action plan’ for electric vehicles on completion of two years of its EV Policy that was first launched in 2020. As per EV policy document the biggest hindrance to the large-scale adoption of electric vehicles was inadequate charging infrastructure.
Titled ‘Charging/Swapping Infrastructure Action Plan for 2022-25’, the document said that the national capital will operationalise the incentive provided to battery swapping facility operators in the Delhi EV policy.
The plan said that if the battery is not sold with the vehicle, up to 50 per cent of the purchase incentive would be provided to energy operators to ensure that the end user does not have to pay a big deposit.
“Vehicle manufacturers will be encouraged to register their swappable models separately,” it said. According to the document, it is required because battery capacity for the same vehicle model is different for swappable and non-swappable vehicles, and the purchase incentives are indexed to battery capacity.
“For administrative ease, vehicle and battery manufacturers will be encouraged to apply for incentives as a consortium, and incentives will only be provided to the lead member of the consortium,” it said.
The government said that battery swapping can evolve as a feasible solution for electric two and three-wheeled vehicles, which comprise the country’s highest share of EVs. It allows a customer to purchase an EV without a battery, which substantially reduces the EV’s cost, the proposal said.
Batteries typically cost 40-50 per cent of the total EV cost and it also delinks the EV user from risks of battery degradation. “Therefore, battery swapping as a solution can be a crucial enabler in accelerating India’s e-mobility transition,” it read.
The action plan also said that Delhi will also align future measures with the draft of the battery swapping policy published by NITI Aayog on April 20, 2022, and with any subsequent amendments. The action plan stated that the accelerated adoption of EVs in Delhi will result in the installation of a large number of charging points.
According to the document, the impact of EV charging on grid management will also be studied. “The discoms of Delhi will undertake joint studies to assess the impact of EV charging and suggest measures to mitigate the negative impacts of EVcharging on the grid.”
As per the proposal, “the Department of Transport will work with discoms to recommend measures like ‘time-of-day’ tariffs and ‘managed charging’ to the regulatory commission.”
The document said the national capital aims to achieve one public charging point for every 15 EVs by 2024, spread evenly across Delhi and accessible within 3 km travel from anywhere in Delhi.
“Taking into account the EV penetration and public charging needs of different vehicle segments and use cases, a charger to EV ratio of 1:15 translates to around 18,000 charging points would be required to cater for the need for (25 per cent of total vehicle registrations) electric vehicles in the horizon year of 2024,” it said.
The plan also said that the safety of vehicles during charging is critical to ensuring customers’ trust in EVs and said all public EV charging stations in Delhi will be required to adhere to the provisions provided in the Central Electricity Authority (Technical Standards for Connectivity of the Distributed Generation Resources) Amendment Regulations, 2019, and Central Electricity Authority (Measures relating to Safety and Electric Supply) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019.