In efforts to adopt the electric mobility campaign going around India, Shimla’s Municipal Corporation has announced to set up five charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) over the next couple of months.
Following Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s announcement that he plans to replace all government vehicles running on fossil fuel with electric ones as part of the efforts to make the state pollution free, there’s a sense of urgency to build the required infrastructure for facilitating the switch from conventional to EVs.
“We have allotted five sites for setting up the charging stations to two PSU companies and a private one. We have already signed an MoU with Rajasthan Electronics Industries Limited and Sunfuel Electric, a private Gurugram-based company. A pact with Energy Efficiency Service Limited will be signed shortly,” said MC Commissioner Ashish Kohli.
EVs will be more effective than conventional vehicles… Also, driving an EV will be much cheaper than a vehicle running on fossil fuel. —Sudhir Nayak, Co-founder, Sunfuel Electric
These companies will set up five charging stations —two each by two PSUs and one by Sunfuel Electric — at different places in the city.
These companies will build, operate and maintain these charging stations and share the revenue with the civic body as per their agreements. “Sunfuel Electric is likely to start the service in a month or so. The machinery of Rajasthan Electronics Industries Limited is already here, and the work will start in a month,” said an MC official.
Sunfuel Electric, which will set up a charging station near Hotel Cecil and primarily cater to tourist vehicles, says EVs have a bright future in the hilly terrain.
“EVs will be more effective than conventional vehicles, owing to regenerative braking system and instant torque delivery. Also, driving an EV will be much cheaper than a vehicle running on fossil fuel. An EV will cost you from 80 paise to Rs 1.30, depending on the vehicle one is driving,” said Sudhir Nayak, one of the co-founders of the company.
“The charging time for any car through a fast charger is normally 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the rate and size of the battery,” Nayak added.
He further said the vehicle once fully charged could cover at least 250 km. “Considering distances travelled are short daily in the hilly terrain, it’s another advantage of having an EV,” he added.