In an attempt to encourage the use of electric vehicles in the national capital, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Monday, will buy 32 electric cars for official use. As per a report by the HT, the municipal body will buy the second lot comprising of 43 vehicles by March-end. The SDMC will also set up charging stations in Delhi to promote the use of electric vehicles. While the charging stations will be built only for official vehicles in the first phase, the second phase will reportedly see the civic body set up similar stations for private use as well. These steps are in line with the Centre’s ambitious idea to switch completely to electric vehicles by 2030.
Like SDMC, NDMC (North Delhi Municipal Corporation) too will buy EVs to encourage their use. As per the report, the body will procure 80 electric vehicles by the mid of this month. The civic body has already installed 37 charging stations, as per the report, at several locations including Palika Kendra, Talkatora Stadium, Vidyut Bhawan at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road, among others. Out of the 37 charging points, 28 consist of alternating current chargers while the rest have direct current chargers. The biggest difference between the AC and the DC charger stations is that while an alternating current charger takes three-five hours to get the vehicle fully charged, a direct current charger can do the same within just one and a half hours. The NDMC will also install 10 charging stations under the Smart City project, the report adds.
As per the report, at least 30 new charging stations will be set up across the city by the New Delhi Municipal Council. However, the report claims that the numbers are too less to motivate the use of electric vehicles in the city. Furthermore, the lack of fixing responsibilities for the initiative and lack of participation of private players are believed to be other hinderances.
Coming to the current scenario of the EVs in the city, Delhi has a total 10.4 million registered vehicles including 3.15 million cars, 6.7 million two-wheelers, 38,285 buses and 174,000 auto-rickshaws as per Delhi Government’s transport department. Notably, Indian Oil set up the first electric vehicle charging station in Pune in November last year.
It is worth mentioning here that replacing the conventional vehicles with the electric ones will not only help check pollution but also reduce dependence on the fast-depleting fossil fuels.
