Cost and requirements for setting up a charging station in India.

 

BY   AFZAL YOUSAF

Development of Charging stations are the vital part of the EV infrastructure in India. Charging station should be set up on a regular interval that will help people bend towards more to electric vehicle and makes EV more friendly amongst them. Indian Govt. set up an infrastructure guidelines that makes compulsory of setting up a charging station every 3 km in cities and 25 km in Highways. Also there should be a charging infrastructure on every 100 km for long range and heavy vehicles on national highways.

But unfortunately, at present we are nowhere near this requirement and there is an urgent requirement to set up required charging station as number of EVs are increasing in near future especially in big cities.

If you are an entrepreneur, ev enthusiast or a person who is looking to set up a charging station in India, Please read the article to get an idea about the set up cost, Infrastructure required, and Cost effectiveness.

Major steps for the charging stations development is:-

• Do we need a License from Govt?
• Setup cost
• Required infrastructure
• Calculation of cost effectiveness

In govt. point of view, Any individual is free (no need of licence) to set up an electric charging station anywhere in the country, provided the station meets the required standard by power industry. So you  need not be concerned about the licence if you met the infra requirements, find the right vendor and right location.

Set up cost is the next major factor. It includes various factors like:-

• Cost of the charger
• Installation cost
• Electricity and software cost
• Maintenance and labour cost
• Marketing cost

To calculate the cost of the charger, first we need to know the types of charger as there are type 1, 2, 3 chargers. In charging stations, usually type 2, type 3 fast chargers and CCS  chargers are used. Find the approximate price of the chargers below.

• Type 2 charger - ₨ 1,25,000
• Bharat AC 001 - ₨ 70,000
• Bharat DC 001 - Rs 2,40,000
• CHAdeMO - Rs 15 Lakhs
• CCS - Rs 15 Lakhs

Then we need to calculate the cost of infrastructure and other requirements. Find the approx price below:-

• Land cost ( if land is on lease) - Rs 5,00,000 per year (Depends on rent cost on various parts of India)
• Electricity connection of 250 KVA - Rs 7,50,000
• EV supply equipment managing software total cost - Rs 50,000
• Maintenance and labour cost - Rs 3,50,000 per Year
• Civil infrastructure works depending on the area- Rs 2,50,000.

Apart from the above cost, you need to spend some amount for Marketing depending on your marketing strategy and area of installation. So the total cost of charging station set up depends on what types of chargers you install and other mentioned expenses above.

Minimum infrastructure requirements for a charging stations are :-

• A transformer with a subsequent substation including all proper safety equipments.
• 11/33 KV Cables/ lines with associated equipment for line termination, metering etc.
• Appropriate civil works with public amenities and adequate space for charging and vehicle entry/ exit.
• Tie up with at least one network service providers to enable remote/ online booking of charging slot. Such online information should include location, type of chargers installed in the station.
• Charging station data should be shared with appropriate DISCOMs to maintain a protocol and CEA (Central Electrical Authority) should have access to this data base.
• Necessary local certifications if required. It varies from state to state.

By calculating the cost effectiveness, charging stations are going to be widely used in coming future as number of electric vehicles will be drastically increasing in Indian roads. If you have investing capacity and ready to invest for future then charging station is an excellent option in India because as said in the first part of the article, India is nowhere near the guidelines of the required charging stations and we are about to see a revolution in EV adaption.

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