State-run Energy Efficiency Service Ltd (EESL) is expanding EV charging infrastructure across the national capital one EV charging station at a time. The latest one to join the list is one commissioned by the EESL in collaboration with South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). South Delhi’s first electric vehicle charging station has been inaugurated at a car park in Grater Kailash I N Block Market.
The inauguration coincides with the National Energy Conservation Day being celebrated across the country, EESL said in a statement. EESL has installed the charging station after signing an agreement with SDMC. This is the first of the 75 charging stations to be installed across SDMC areas as per the agreement.
The installation of public charging stations would help in increasing the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the city. With the increasing penetration of EVs, the local emission of pollutants is also expected to reduce, leading to cleaner air providing several health benefits to the public.
In related news, EESL had to shrink its electric vehicle order by 70 percent from its original goal of procuring 10,000 EVs to just 3,000. The company says that this is a result of the Andhra Pradesh Government and its newly elected Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy cancelling the orders placed by the previous government under the Chandrababu Naidu administration.
In March 2017, EESL had placed an order to 10,000 electric vehicles from Tata Motors and Mahindra Electric. The units were set to be procured by March 2019. However, the deadline was extended to March 2020 due to a lack of demand and issues related to range.
At the moment, only 2,000 units of electric vehicles have been procured by EESL. Managing director, Saurabh Kumar told PTI that it has been decided that the current order will be closed by March 2020 at whatever the number of vehicles has been delivered by then.
