While electric vehicles are still a long way from becoming mainstream transportation mode in India, but the EV market has shown increasing demand. Electric vehicles have the potential to develop the transportation sector worldwide. Electric vehicles in all categories are two, three or four-wheelers will continue to increase by 2030. With increasing, research EVs can perform as par conventional vehicles but a major challenge for the electric transport ecosystem is EV charging infrastructure. Adequate charging infrastructure is required for the rapid adoption of electric vehicles. Lack of charging infrastructure is the reason behind the low rate of penetration of EVs in India.
Challenges for the EV Charging Infrastructure in India
The country is struggling with several challenges like high prices of electric vehicles especially in four-wheelers, battery production capabilities, electricity consumption, charger compatibility, improper charging location, and a lack of vigorous electrical charging infrastructure. The electric Vehicle charging infrastructure faces numerous challenges in terms of development. Let’s understand why it is challenging to set up an EV charging infrastructure.
High Initial Investment
Setting up the EV charging station is quite high in cost. To set up the EV charging infrastructure, some requirements need to be fulfilled like proper location, land, right vendor, grid power stability, remittance of power, varieties of charger types, cables, and other auxiliaries. With the high cost of setting the EV charging station, the only way to make fast charging stations feasible is to increase their utilization. For that charging infrastructure should be set with DC charging which is more useful than AC charging technology. Even the government also needs to help for setting up the charging infrastructure by investing with EV companies.
Multiple Types of Charging Connectors
There are some connectors such as CCS (Combined Charging System), CHAdeMO, and Bharat DC-001, and AC-001, all should be installed in a single charging station so the consumers will have a choice of having fast and slow charging as per their requirements as well as timing perspective. EV must be proficient in taking high voltage and current or both. So, a combination of slow and fast chargers could be the best option for EVs. Superchargers should be used to reduce more time.
Location to Set up the EV Charging Station
To set up the Electric Vehicle charging station, the location of the charging station is a major challenge. Location or design of charging station should be such that it is easily visible, accessible, save time, and charging queue can be minimized. For that, location should be considered as a prime location having characteristics of ample parking space, approachable, feasible to set up, convenient waiting area, etc. so the consumer can utilize the ideal time to charge their EVs.
Technical Safety at EV charging stations
Setting up the EV charging stations requires specialized technical safety. Voltage fluctuations, over current, frequency mismatch, and ground fault are major concerns. To overcome Voltage fluctuations, stabilizers, proximity sensors, and control pilot sensors need to be integrated to keep a check on it. Otherwise, it may damage the expensive components. By designing some hardware components properly, many issues like power issues, heat dissipation, grounding, voltage measurement can be fixed.
Software Related Challenges
Finding the availability of the charging slot is one of the most important tasks, for this, it is very helpful to develop such software, it makes life easier and saves time. Let’s take an example of India’s one of the top companies in the EV charging station sector: Fortum India. It is a leading provider of EV charging services and It offers secure, robust, and intuitive charging solutions for EV drivers and businesses. They have developed an application based on real-time data called Fortum charge and drive. It enables the EV consumer to locate chargers and start/stop charging, manage payments, contact customer support, charging history, digital receipts, fleet management.
The good news is Central Government and State Governments are taking numerous measures to make India a 100% electric vehicle nation by 2030, With such promising steps taken at the policy level and adoption of green strategy by major private sector automobile players, we can expect a rapid change in our vehicles in the coming years. Overall, when it comes to saving the environment and economy, electric vehicles offer a sustainable solution. With growing support from the government and increasing awareness, electric vehicles are certainly the future of Automation.
