Kejriwal inaugurates 11 EV charging stations, Delhi to get 89 more in two months

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday inaugurated 11 high-tech low cost electric charging stations in different parts of the city, taking yet another step towards pushing the residents to shift to electric vehicles (EVs).

The chief minister launched these charging stations as part of a larger project to set up 100 charging stations across the national capital in the next two months.

“Through these 11 electric charging stations, Delhi has given the world the most affordable model of its kind. Driving an EV after charging them here would be extremely cheap it would barely cost 7 paise/km for two wheelers, 8 paise/km for three wheelers and 33 paise/km for four wheelers,” he said.

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There are 73 charging points and 12 swapping stations at these 11 charging stations and the consumers will be charged at the rate of Rs 3 per unit, Kejriwal said.

“There will be 100 charging stations with 900 charging points and 103 swapping stations in two months. Under the EV policy, we had set a target of ensuring that 25 percent of total vehicles purchased in Delhi by 2024 are EVs. We have already achieved 10 percent in two years,” he said.

Nearly 70 percent of these charging stations have been set up at Delhi Metro parking areas where EV users can easily park their vehicles for charging, take the Metro to their destinations, and then return home with their vehicles, the CM said.

Noting that the Delhi government has prioritised the installation of EV charging stations, which has played a significant role in the promotion of EVs, he said in the last two years, 70,000 electric vehicles have been purchased in Delhi leaving cities like New York and California behind.

In August 2020, the Kejriwal government had launched the Delhi EV policy, aimed at making Delhi the EV capital of India.

Delhi already has close to 2,900 public charging points and 250 swapping stations, perhaps the highest across the nation, Kejriwal said.

There are many unique aspects about the Delhi government’s public-private partnership to developing public charging and swapping infrastructure, he said, adding the government aggregated 100 land parcels from different agencies for this project.

“For setting up these charging and swapping stations, Delhi government has provided land at highly concessional rates and electrical infrastructure of up to 100kW on each site. Rest of the input costs are being borne by the private entities,” he said.

One can charge their vehicle at these stations at a meagre cost of Rs 3 per unit, the CM said.

“When we understand this figure in on-road terms, the cost of driving an electric two-wheeler is just 7 paise per km while it is Rs 1.75 for a petrol scooter or bike. For an electric three-wheeler, the cost is just 8 paise per km while it is Rs 2.62 for CNG three-wheeler. Driving a four-wheeler EV will cost just 33 paise per km as against roughly Rs 7 for a petrol car. Such rates are probably the lowest in the world,” he said.

While asserting that the EV Model of Delhi is extremely unique, he said it can shape the path for the entire country to ride on this revolution. “That being said, we are keen to adopt any good practices followed anywhere else as well,” he added.

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