India is electrifying but what about the charging points?

A majority of E2W surveyed users (90% of personal and 75% of commercial) reported charging primarily at their homes on a regular basis. They restricted travel distances due to the lack of reliable information on the location of charging stations and their placement. This is compounded by gendered safety concerns for women E2W users. A female E2W user in Chennai said: “Even if I go to the mall for charging, the charging points are located in the parking area where there are no lights, security, or other people around. It's challenging to stand alone there while charging”.

Another female E2W said: “I don’t prefer going to public charging stations because I'm not comfortable standing there for a long time. It can attract unwanted attention, with people questioning why I'm standing there. To avoid such situations, I choose to charge my vehicle at home.”

Men prioritised affordability and functional charging points. Women, on the other hand, prioritised safety, comfort, usability, and the accessibility of the charging infrastructure. Women were concerned about how to use charging stations, the safety of these locations, and longer waiting times.

Having received this feedback from existing E2W users, we developed an analytical framework to assess public charging stations in different zones in Chennai and Delhi. The framework included four indicators with 23 associated attributes. The four indicators included (i) Ease of locating the charging stations; (ii) Security; (iii) Charging infrastructure and network connectivity; and (iv) Amenities. Each attribute was assigned a weight (ranging from 0.5, 1, 1.5 to 3.0) based on its importance. Field visits were conducted to assess 60 charging points across Delhi and Chennai. Delhi was divided into five zones—North, Central, South, East, and West; and Chennai was divided into three zones. Each attribute was scored between 0, 1, 2, and 3 depending on the quality. A total score was arrived at with charging points from 0-33 rated as very poor, 33.01-66 rated as poor and 66.01-99 rated as satisfactory.

The charging points in Chennai were rated as poor on all four indicators whereas those in Delhi rated poor on ease of locating the charging points and security, satisfactory on charging infrastructure and network connectivity and very poor on amenities.

Unreliable information on charging points

Of the selected charging points, 64% and 46% were operational in Delhi and Chennai respectively. As per the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Chennai has 151 public charging points, whereas Delhi has 2,452 charging points as per the Switch Delhi website. Based on our sample survey, this translates to one charging point for every 103 EVs in Delhi and one charging point for every 455 EVs in Chennai, in comparison to 6-20 EVs for one public charger globally (Alvarez & Marsal, 2022).

The team had to refer to mobile applications of different charging point operators (CPOs) to ascertain that they existed and were operational and for the accurate location of the charging points. Many charging points lacked clear signage and visibility.

Safety and security of the charging points

Most charging points did not have an attendant or security personnel. This was a concern not only in secluded areas but for providing information to users. CCTV cameras were installed at some of the points, particularly those at petrol pumps and along roadsides. Some stations in central Delhi were vandalised.

Charging infrastructure and network connectivity

The availability of fast chargers for E2W, interoperability, information on how to use the charging point and waiting time to use the charging point were assessed. A female E2W opined: “Upon arrival at a charging point, I realised that the charging port did not suit my vehicle. I became really scared as my two-wheeler started blinking due to the low battery. Somehow, I managed to make it back home, but it was a nightmare for me.”

Amenities

The charging points in Chennai and Delhi lacked amenities such as seating, shaded waiting areas, drinking water, and toilets. There was insufficient space to park the vehicle during charging. Additionally, the absence of shaded waiting areas is a crucial aspect due to heat waves in Delhi and Chennai and across India.

Recommendations

The ministry of power is revising charging infrastructure guidelines, which recommend creating a web portal/ software/mobile application for maintaining a database of charging points. In order to ensure consistency in the charging infrastructure across the country, the following key guidelines must be considered.

Central and state nodal agencies should adopt CP guidelines to issue permissions for installing CPs in public places. The charging point operators (CPO) should update the location and operational status of the CP on a weekly basis and provide information on the real-time availability of the CP for user convenience. The usability of the CP needs to be improved with bilingual signage, and instructional information.

Additionally, CPOs should share gender-disaggregated data on the utilisation of the CP with the state nodal agencies on a fortnightly basis, who can share the same with Central Nodal Agencies periodically. This will provide insights on the use, and underutilisation of the charging points by time of day and vehicle type and take appropriate action to increase or remove charging points for certain types of vehicles.

The CPs should be well-lit at night, located in active areas and not in proximity to standalone liquor stores. The height of the CP should ensure safety for children, along with safety instructions, and an accessible, unobstructed path to park, enter and exit. Trained personnel can be considered to support E2W users.

The availability of fast chargers, and interoperability will be critical to creating a reliable public charging network. Lastly, amenities such as shaded seated areas, drinking water, and toilets in proximity to the charging point will improve the overall experience for E2Ws.

The utilisation of electric two-wheelers and other commercial vehicles especially will depend on the reliability, safety, convenience and affordability of public charging infrastructure. The government and CPO together will need to create an enabling environment.

Sonal Shah is the founder, Lakshmi Radhakrishnan is an associate-Integrated Urban Transport, and Manisha Sharma is a senior associate-Integrated Urban Transport at The Urban Catalysts. The article benefited from inputs by Priyadarshi Singh and Adithya Dushyanth. The views expressed are personal