What infrastructure would be needed to switch to Delhi’s ambitious electric vehicle plans

The Delhi government announced the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy in the month of August 2020, with the goal of accelerating the transition to battery electric vehicles so that they account for 25% of all new vehicle registrations by the year 2024. Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi at the time, described the policy as one step forward in lowering pollution levels in the city. The creation of Electric Vehicles charging infrastructure is one aspect of this policy that will help with the transition.
Last week, the power minister of Delhi, Satyendra Jain, claimed that in the first phase, the government plans to install 500 electric vehicles (EV) charging points at 100 sites. According to the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy, new constructions must include EV chargers in 20% of parking spaces while 5 per cent of the total area with more than 100 parking spaces must be set aside for such chargers.
What are the plans for EV charging stations in Delhi?
In phase one, about 1,100 electric-vehicle (EV) charging stations and battery swapping stations will be installed in 100 places. Each station would be capable of charging five cars and the majority of them will be on land owned by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, shortly called DMRC. These charging spots are expected to be located within 3 kilometres of one another and have a minimum output of 3.3 KW. The Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) is the project’s nodal agency and has invited bids from private agencies.
In addition, as per modified building regulations, the installation of private charging points in 20% of all parking areas of all new construction and 5% of parking spots that offer more than 100 parking spaces for already constructed areas are required and the aim is to finish it by the month of December of this year.
Moreover, municipal corporations are also preparing several locations for the same.
Who will be responsible for their construction?
The tender for the company(s) that will set up the charging points will be awarded in the month of April. In accordance with the PPP model, the other party will install the charging stations, the costs of which shall be recovered through service fees. However, the award will be given to the company with the lowest service fee charge, said vice-chairperson of the DDC, Jasmine Shah.
According to the tender document, the Bidder is responsible for supplying, erection, testing, commissioning, and maintaining the Electrical Vehicle Charging Station, as well as all other works necessary for its execution and operation, at his own expense. As per the Vice-chairperson of DDC, 67 companies expressed interest in the pre-bid meeting held in March.
What kind of government assistance will be provided?
Shah said that the Delhi government is responsible for providing the necessary electrical infrastructure and ensuring that the bays are connected to the grid. Moreover, the government will be investing around Rs 10 crore to ensure that the electrical network is built and connected to the gird with sufficient load.
For the first 30,000 slow charging points, the Delhi government will provide Rs 6,000 and for private charging points, representing 20% of all parking in new constructions and 5% of all parking spaces with a capacity of over 100 car parks. These provisions form a major part of the policy on electric vehicles in Delhi.
Where are they going to show up?
Various authorities, according to Shah, were asked to pool and provide sufficient land for the project. The government has received over 200 land parcels in well-connected and well-travelled areas from various land-owning agencies and will start with the first 100. Both fast chargers and slow chargers for 2-4 wheelers would be made available in the charging stations.
The land agencies which supplied a 23 square metres land pool at a variety of locations are the DMRC, the Delhi State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, BSES Yamuna Power Limited, the Delhi Transport Corporation, and the Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited.
These 100 parcels are spread throughout Delhi. There are 22 parcels for the northwestern area, then 19 for the southern area, 18 for the western area, 15 for the southwestern region, 9 for the north-east, 9 for the east and 8 for the north district, 5 for North District and 4 for the district of New Delhi. However, there are few exceptions of these locations- Central, South-East and Shahdara districts.
The sites were chosen on the basis of the DTL data collection drive, which assessed the availability of their load, their presence at other commercial locations, population density, vehicle density, geography etc. Concessionary sites are provided in accordance with a revenue-sharing model to compensate for fixed costs with a sharing between the landowner agency and the dealer linked to each power unit sold.
What features would a single charging bay have and what services would it offer to the citizens?
These charging bays provide unrestricted access to the public charging stations regardless of vehicles. Even where the concessionaire has agreed to submit a subscription plan, other vehicles, as opposed to private charging stations at workplaces, houses, commercial areas and more cannot be excluded from charging their vehicles in these spots.
Two large categories of loaders are available – slow and fast. Low loaders provide a minimum output of 3.3 kilowatts while the fast or moderate chargers would include DC-001, Type 2 AC (22kW) and any other charger delivering an output power of 15 kilowatts to 22 kilowatts per loading point.
As the name suggests, slow chargers take more time to load than fast charges. Typically, EV cars are suitable for both. While slow-chargers can be used by two to three-wheelers vehicle having lower battery capacity, the time taken to charge cars (4 wheelers) is longer. The chargers basically determine the time it takes to load a specific vehicle; the slow charger might take up to 8 hours to power the car in comparison to a quick charger which might completely power it in a time span of only 15 minutes to an hour.
Depending on the economic feasibility and the location and the types of vehicles most prevalent in the area, the concessionaire shall determine which charger to provide. The usage prices shall be different.
Will there be any other way to charge our Electric vehicles?
Yes, the other alternative could be battery swapping. If a vehicle needs the energy quickly, its current battery can be swapped (full charged) for another available battery. This process takes a couple of minutes to save time. Stations can partner with manufacturers to determine which vehicle models they are dealing with. For the exchange of vehicle batteries, battery swapping stations shall be made in multiple locations.
At the entrance to public re-fuelling stations, similar to towers at the entry of fuel stations, the bays shall also have a prominent tower display. The display should specify the loading station configuration and the charging rates.
How much is it going to cost?                                                                                   
The unit and the Tariff for EVs had been determined for 2019-20 at Rs 4.5/kwh and Rs 4, respectively, by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). Service charge is the cost of the concessor charging a User to charge an EV on a PCS except for electricity tariff and a time-based penalty and GST.