1. Tenders to set up EV charging stations floated in two cities.

Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation has issued a tender to set up 2 electric vehicle charging stations with 5 charging points per station under a public-private partnership (PPP) model. The 2 locations that have been shortlisted are: Bhopal Municipal Parking near Hotel Ranjit’s Lakeview & Multi-Level Car Parking in Maharana Pratap Nagar.

Maharashtra: Nashik Municipal Corporation has invited bids to set up 20 EV Charging Stations at various locations in the city. A total of 20 CCS2 fast-chargers (60 kW) and 100 AC chargers (3.3 kW) will be installed at shortlisted spots.

2. Ashok Leyland’s EV expansion plans.

Ashok Leyland is planning to introduce light & heavy commercial EVs in the country very soon. This includes introducing the electric variants of the LCVs Dost & Bada Dost around Diwali this year and low-floor electric buses.

A pilot program for the Dost EV will begin soon with a few fleet owners to get feedback on the vehicle. The company will manufacture its electric LCVs at the Hosur (Tamil Nadu) unit and commercial production is expected to begin in 2023 last quarter. Ashok Leyland’s subsidiary Switch Mobility is already manufacturing electric buses at the company’s Ennore (Tamil Nadu) unit.

At present, Tata Motors is the only automaker with an electric LCV in the market (Ace EV).

Recently, Ashok Leyland had announced its plans of manufacturing electric trucks for Indian ports. The company is also collaborating with Adani Group and Reliance Industries to work on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and is investing Rs 1200 crore in its EV arm Switch Mobility.

3. Telangana Govt working on expanding the state's EV charging infrastructure.

Telangana is set to increase the number of EV charging stations in the state to 3000 by 2030. Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corp (TSREDCO) will set-up these charging stations across the state. The agency is identifying cities in the state with high EV sales and will earmark spots to install the EV chargers. Telangana’s EV Policy states that urban areas will have EV charging stations at intervals of 3 km and on highways, at every 25 km.

4. Tata Power to set up EV charging stations in Assam.

Tata Power will work with Assam Government to install EV charging stations in the state. Representatives of Tata Power had a meeting with Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma regarding this. The CM has directed the state’s Transport Department to look into the proposal from Tata Power.

Tata Power has proposed setting up 10 EV charging points in Guwahati in Phase 1. The company will run and maintain these charging points as well. In the long-term, Tata Power plans to set up more such points in 100 locations in the state to be jointly identified by the company and the state government.

5. Volkswagen working on wireless EV charging.

Volkswagen is working on wireless EV charging with its own patented coil & charging pad design made with silicon-carbide materials. As per company sources, its initial attempts involved a 6.6 kW prototype, which wirelessly charged at rates comparable to Level 2 systems (240 V). But with a silicon-carbide inverter, the system gave better results and performed up to 120 kW. Now, Volkswagen is inflating the system to 300 kW!

This R&D is being undertaken at Volkswagen’s Knoxville Innovation Hub, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and University of Tennessee. These two partners have expertise in high-power wireless charging and power electronics optimization.

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