A panel of experts got together to discuss the existing charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Delhi. The panel looked at busting some commonly-held myths around EVs for the audiences. The key highlights involved explaining battery swapping and talking about the progress Delhi has so far made and how the State can overcome challenges involved in smooth EV adoption in the city.

According to Anirudh Amin, Marketing Director, System level Solution (Verde Mobility),

Besides growing the user base, what has actually influenced the charging infra development is also the involvement of PSUs and other key operators. 

“Delhi has been making phenomenal progress towards transport electrification particularly in the last two years since Delhi’s EV policy was launched. Delhi now has the second highest EV sales  in the country.” added Sonali Nandrajog, Communications Manager, Climate Trends and moderator of the panel. 

While Nitin Kapoor, MD, Saera Electric, pointed out the biggest challenge of creating robust infrastructure around charging stations, Dr Praveen Kumar, Senior Program Manager Electric Mobility, WRI added how the pace of charging affects battery life of the vehicle. “Slow charging gives you better performance and better battery life but you have to invest a lot of time in changing the vehicle. When you move to a fast charging point you can save a lot of time but it leads to battery degradation,” he added.

“If idle vehicles are parked like school buses or cars in office parking, then the energy can be stored into those idle batteries,” pointed Ankit Mittal, Co-founder and CEO, Sheru, highlighting how solar energy can be used optimally for charging EVs.