NHEV has launched India’s largest EV charging station In Gurgaon, Haryana. The charging station is located in Sector 52 in Gurgaon and features 100 charging ports, including 72 AC chargers and 24 DC fast chargers.
In Gurgaon, Haryana, the NHEV (National Highway for Electric Vehicles) has launched India’s largest electric car (EV) charging station. the installation and operation of this charging station are done by Alektrify. The smart EV charging station hosts 100 charging ports for four-wheelers 72 among them are AC slow chargers and 24 of them are DC fast chargers. The charging station is located in Gurgaon’s Sector 52. Before the Gurgaon charging station, the largest EV charging station in India was located in Navi Mumbai with 16 AC and 4 DC chargers.
The key features of the Gurgaon station are,
- The Gurugram charging station completely eclipses the previous charging station standard for India, which was established with 24 chargers in Navi Mumbai.
- As per the estimation, it can accommodate up to 576 EVs over the course of 24 hours.
- An AC charger can take up to six hours to charge an electric vehicle, whereas a DC fast charger can take less than two hours.
- The charger is one of a plethora of EV chargers planned for NHEV’s 500-kilometre E-highway connecting Jaipur, Delhi, and Agra.
Setting Up The Bench Mark
The importance of the charging station lies in the future of EV charging in India and the whole EV sector in the country. According to the company, their mega charging station will not only help the EV sector in the region but will also serve as a model for major EV charging stations across the country in the future. Alektrify, an authorized commissioning and installation partner business of NHEV for setting up charge stations on the Jaipur–Delhi–Agra E-highway under the Ease of Doing Business pilot program, installed and will operate the charging station.
“The station has 96 operational charging ports for electric vehicles for 96 EVs at a time and can serve up to 576 electric vehicles round the clock. 1 AC charger takes up to 6 hours to charge an EV and can charge a total of 4 vehicles in a day and 72 such chargers can charge 288 EVs every day. While our fast DC chargers can charge a vehicle in less than 2 hours and can comfortably charge 12 EVs every day and this station. We have 24 such DC 5KW chargers to charge 288 EVs in a day-night utilization.”
-Praveen Kumar, Member – NHEV Working Group and Managing Director of Alektrify charging hub
Synergic Move to Electrify the Country
Abhijeet Sinha, National Program Director, Ease of Doing Business program & Project Director of NHEV in additional charge shared and expressed the vision by saying, “India is on the verge of making the investment in E-mobility charging infra setup highly competitive compared to fuel stations in terms of ease in licensing, commissioning, electrification, certification and to draw revenue equivalence with existing petrol pumps. The 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’.”
Mr. Sinha also added that the Power Ministry’s 2018 relaxation of exempting licensing norms for setting up charging stations was real ease of doing business which enthused us to do NHEV pilot and result is in front of you; as young entrepreneurs like Mr. Praveen and Mr. Narender Yadav making India’s largest charging station. The Ministry of Power’s recent guideline in Jan 2022 has opened the door for now using government land for charging stations will further boost the monetization of such assets in the national interest of reducing oil import bills by faster adoption of electric vehicles.”
He also thanked NITI Aayog’s Advisor Mr. Sudhendu J. Sinha for the go-ahead they gave to sell electric vehicles and batteries separately in 2020 helped a lot to make the Annuity Hybrid E-Mobility (AHEM) model more viable and practical for operators. He said- “30 Minutes, 30% Percent, and 3 years are very important for this NHEV project. Because every electric vehicle will get technical back upon this E-highway in 30 minutes during a breakdown, fleet operators will get vehicles at 30% lesser price and within 3 years investor’s CAPEX spent on civil and electric infra of charging stations will reach its breakeven.”
Conclusion
The Gurgaon charging station has a while the addition of Alektrify’s charging station won’t completely solve India’s still-immature charging infrastructure, it is nonetheless a welcome addition with the hopes that it could accelerate EV adoption in India. At the same time, the charging station is a clear example and portrait of India’s approach to EVs. The project was a synergic and ambitious activity taken up by various ministries and departments involved in the project.