EV CHARGING COMPANIES IN INDIA

The soaring high prices of petrol & diesel is making the people of India are looking for an alternative to the conventional ICE engine vehicles. Environmental reasons also play a big role in this field. As electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions the government of India is focusing towards electric vehicle mobility by providing subsidies and encouraging sustainable & green future. People of India respected & accepted these changes due to which the EV market in India is growing rapidly and we can see many electric vehicles running on the Indian roads.

     To grow this EV revolution further India needs charging stations at multiple places just like petrol, diesel and cng refuelling stations so that the fear of battery losing charge can be removed. India needs a charging infrastructure as strong as the conventional fueling system. With the presence of ev charging stations at public places, malls, restaurants ,hospitals etc. the main issue of range anxiety can be reduced and the number of electric vehicles can be increased.

Before jumping on to the EV charging companies present in India let’s understand about the type of EV chargers available in the Indian market.

1)AC CHARGERS

This is a type of slow charging which is commonly used in India. The input is AC which is first converted into DC by power converters and then transferred to the batteries. It takes about 5- 8 hours to charge the battery(depending on the battery size) therefore it is usually used in overnight charging.

AC charging is further classified into two types – 

• Normal AC charging – This type of charging is used by electric two, three and small four wheelers in India that provides charging at the rate of 2.5kw or 3kw.
• Fast AC charging – This type of charging provides fast charging at the rate of 7.7kw to 22kw.

2)DC CHARGERS  

This is a type of fast charging in which the dc input is directly sent to the battery thus improving the charging efficiency and time. These chargers are more expensive than AC chargers and are not commonly used in households. It takes about 60-90 min. depending on the battery and type of fast charging to fully  charge a vehicle.

DC charging categories – 

• Level 1 DC chargers –  This includes chargers supplying output voltage of 48V / 72V, with power outputs of 10 kW / 15 kW with maximum current of up to 200A.
• Level 2 DC chargers – This includes chargers supplying output voltage up to 10000 V, with power output of 30 kW/150 kW.
• DC Plug Connectors 

As we now have the basic understanding about the types of charging and chargers . Let’s know about the companies that are providing the EV charging services in INDIA.

• TATA POWER

TATA is a leading ,strong and successful company in the vehicle manufacturing sector in India and now it has kept its foot in the EV vehicle and charging infrastructure also. Tata Power EZ Chargers ecosystem covers the entire value chain of public chargers, Bus/ Fleet chargers and home chargers providing both AC & DC type of charging. Starting with the first chargers being installed in Mumbai,TATA’s EV charging network covers an area of 15+ states including Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai, with about 1,000+ charging points across 180 cities including: Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Visakhapatnam.The Company is planning to have a base of 10,000 Charging Stations as also to enable whole stretches of highways into e-highways across the length and breadth of the country.

• CHARZER

It is a startup based in Bangalore. The main motto of this company is to provide affordable chargers that can be easily installed around a small  shop ,mall, restaurants sites etc. Their product Kirana(grocery) charger provides a 3.3kw portable charging solution which comes with an affordable cost of Rs 15000/- giving a tough competition in the market. By installing these chargers at their shops people can generate extra income by attracting more customers further growing their business.

The company offers its services to major states and cities in India and has already installed more than 850 Kirana chargers. 

• DELTA ELECTRONICS INDIA

Delta is India’s leading EV Charging manufacturer in terms of sales and offers a wide variety of charging equipment. With over 40 years of expertise in power technologies, Delta Group delivers energy-efficient EV charging solutions including AC EV charger, DC quick charger, and Site Management System. The comprehensive EV charging solutions are able to fulfil the needs for various applications such as parking, workplace, fleet, residential buildings, etc. Delta’s EV chargers offer high-performance power efficiency up to 94%, support communication functions for system integration and have obtained global safety certifications such as UL (Underwriters Laboratories), IEC (International Electronics commission) CHAdeMO, CQC (care quality commission) and CNS.

• FORTUM INDIA 

Fortum is a Finnish clean energy company with activities in more than 40 countries. The established its first public charging station for Indian OIL in Hyderabad. According to a recent company statement, Finnfund, a Finnish development financier and professional impact investor, will invest in Fortum’s public charging point operator (CPO), Fortum Charge and Drive India Private Limited (FCDIPL). This will boost the growth of electric vehicles (EV) charging infrastructure in India. FCDIPL is a growing electric mobility infrastructure provider, owning over 70 public charging points at around 40 locations in India. Recently the company has set up a public EV-charging hub with 50 charging points at the Forum Neighborhood Mall at Whitefield in Bangalore Karnataka. The charging hub would cater to all types of electric cars and is also suitable for 3-wheeler and 2-wheeler vehicles. The facility has ten 60KW CCS charging points, 4 (four) 15 KW DC001 charging points and 36 (thirty-six) 7.4KW Type-2 AC charging points which allow 50 cars to be charged at a time.

• MASS-TECH

Mass-Tech is one of the leading manufacturers of Industrial battery chargers and control panels, established in 1993 by Mr. Subhash Patil, an electrical engineer with the specialization in Industrial Electronics & Microprocessor control application. Mass-tech Controls Pvt. Ltd. are manufacturers of DC UPS consisting of Battery Charging Equipment, DC Distribution Boards, DC-DC Converters, Polarization Rectifiers, Cathodic Protection, LV Switchgear Panels. From the year 2014, Mass-Tech has started manufacturing EV charging stations ranging from 10kW to 200kW. Mass-Tech has been working with all major EV manufacturing OEMS like TATA motors, Mahindra, Volvo and KPIT. It has to its credit the completion of the installation for DC Fast Charging Station in Mumbai, in partnership with TATA motors.

• EXICOM

Exicom is a manufacturer which offers EV charging stations for public charging of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, commercial vehicles and passenger cars. For the home, it actually provides the ultimate charging solutions. It has brilliantly set up the Bharat AC and DC chargers for Tata Tigor and Mahindra e-Verito cars obtained by EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Limited). Exicom is committed to achieve the goal of making India a 100 percent Electric Vehicles nation and supports the Government’s mission of shifting a major chunk of the country’s fleet to electric mode by 2030.Exicom’s Harmony multi standard fast DC charger is an all-in-one electric vehicle charging solution with 3 output connectors complying with CHAdeMO, CCS and Type 2 AC, serving all types of vehicles and charging needs. This design alone can provide flexibility to accommodate anywhere between 30kW-200kW.

In March 2022 the company announced that it has installed around 5000 EV charging stations across 200 cities in India. The company has achieved the milestone by installing a 200kw charger for TATA power at Delhi Transco Commission depot in Delhi.Approximately 3600 AC and 1400 DC fast chargers have been installed in multiple locations, such as fleet operators, bus depots, public charging stations, households and residential communities.

Gurugram-based Exicom Group has firmed up investments of Rs 200 crore over the next three years among others to commission a new facility in Hyderabad (Telangana) to treble manufacturing capacity of electric vehicle chargers in the upcoming financial year on back of a rapid growth in demand.

• OKAYA

Okaya offers EV chargers, swapping stations, and EV charging stations. The objective is to empower the use of electric vehicles without worrying about their charging. Okaya EV Chargers are compatible with all internationally accepted standards, and the company’s research and development division works round-the-clock to develop a best-in-class product line. EV chargers from Okaya can charge all electric vehicles with CHAdeMO, CSS, and GB/T charging standard compliance with a maximum DC output voltage of up to 920 V. The battery charging status is displayed on the charger, and the charging cycle finishes by itself or it can also be terminated by a user command. Okaya has completed installation of its first supercharger for Water Boat in Kochi Water Metro project. which is one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of EV Charging stations, Okaya Power Group, which is one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of EV Charging stations, lithium-ion batteries and lead acid batteries in India, has already deployed more than 800 EV charging stations in last six months and 250 MWh BESS solution across the country.

• ABB

ABB is a leading name in electric mobility, they have over 14,000 DC fast chargers installed across more than 80 countries. Abb India installed its first public DC fast charger in New Delhi in collaboration with EV Motors India last year. The Terra54 CJG charging station caters to multiple charging protocols of CCS2, CHAdeMO and AC Type 2. As per the company officials, the EV charging station will let the passengers charge their cars in 40-50 minutes from 0 to 80 percent. Additionally, all ABB chargers come with connected services, so customers can easily connect their chargers to different software systems like back-offices, payment platforms, Energy Management Online Solutions and smart remote diagnostics, therefore leading to significant uptime value. The ABB E-mobility division has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Numocity, a leading digital platform for electric vehicle charging in India. ABB will increase its shareholding to a 72 percent controlling majority with the right to become sole owner by 2026. The Swiss-Swedish company says the acquisition of the Indian company will strengthen its E-mobility’s position across India, as well as South East Asia and the Middle East. These are target regions for Numocity following increasing demand for charging solutions for two and three-wheelers, cars and light commercial vehicles.

• VERDEMOBILITY

VerdeMobility is a division of “System Level Solutions” that focuses on smart solutions in Electric Vehicles’ . They have various ranges of AC chargers with Hybrid chargers as well. Range of chargers – Bharat AC001, Type 2 single gun & dual gun, Dual socket, Hybrid charger with Type 2, 3 pin & IEC socket. EV charging infrastructure solutions provider VerdeMobility is all set to launch its range of smart and well-networked Hybrid AC EV chargers. The company had been catering to global needs through its only manufacturing facility, located in India (Anand, Gujarat) Recently, VerdeMobility launched and revealed its first Hybrid Electric Vehicle AC Charger to build a robust EV charging infrastructure with the aim to fulfill the growing diverse charging need for the Indian EV market. Its compact hybrid AC charger can simultaneously charge three-wheelers, two-wheelers, and all the EV cars with a total capacity of 14kW across 3 outputs with a unique charging combination of Type 2 AC charger and IEC 60309 (Bharat AC 001 Standard). The charger holds multiple communication protocols like GSM and Wi-Fi. It is also authenticated by RFID and the application, enabling customers to make instant online payments, thus reducing transaction costs and time for users.

• MAGENTA

EV solutions and service provider Magenta is a new but significant player in the EV charging industry. The company offers smart and innovative EV charging solutions like Penta, Poly, Flare can be installed Malls, highways, residential complexes, curbsides, fleet depots, parking lots, petrol fueling stations etc. The company has laid its network called ChargeGrid across the country. Recently, the company announced its plans to set up close to 4,000 charging stations in Maharashtra. The ChargeGrid stations are 24×7 functional and can cater to all kinds of EVs, including second-generation four-wheelers EVs.

.ENERGY EFFICIENCY SERVICES LIMITED

EESL is a joint venture of four Public Sector Undertakings — National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) Limited, Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Limited, and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). The company is backed by the Union Ministry of Power. 

EESL has signed MoUs with multiple stakeholders across municipalities, DISCOMs for setting up of EV charging stations in their premises such as New Delhi Municipal Corporation(NDMC) , South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), The Commissioner and Director of municipal administration, Government of Telangana (CDMA), Chennai Metro Rail corporation (CMRL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation (JMRL), New Okhla Industrial development Authority Noida, M/S Apollo Enterprises Ltd. (Apollo Hospital), Maharashtra Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro), PWD Maharashtra, Kalinga University in Naya Raipur, New Town Kolkata Development Authority, BSNL and CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd.

CONCLUSION

India needs policies so that a common charging solution can be developed where every electric vehicle no matter from which company has manufactured it can be charged easily because if every company sets their own standard of charging then this will create a lot of ambiguity and confusions for the end users and people would not have any kind of interest in buying the EV . Setting up of EV infrastructure in a huge country like INDIA  can not happen in a year or two and is a time taking process but all these  companies are doing great work in this domain and by their collective efforts India can establish a superior charging infrastructure.