1. Ministry of Power amends guidelines for EV charging infrastructure.

The Ministry of Power has amended the guidelines for EV charging infrastructure which were issued by the Ministry in January this year. The Ministry has brought 3 major amendments:

* Public EV charging stations will have the feature of prepaid collection of service charges with ‘time of the day’ rates and discount for solar hours.

* A committee under the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) will periodically recommend to the state governments the ceiling limit of service charges to be levied on these public charging stations.

* This committee shall also recommend a ‘time of the day rate’ for service charges as well as the discount to be given for charging during solar hours.

2. Electric Citroen C3 test mule spotted near Pune.

A test mule of Citroen C3’s electric version was spotted without any camouflage. The car was being charged at an EV charging station near Pune. The electric hatchback will debut in the first quarter of 2023.

The conventional Citroen C3 was launched in July 2022 in India. The company aims to position the electric version of the C3 as an affordable city car. The car is expected to have a range of 300 km and will be priced around Rs.10 lakh.

3. SGS inaugurates a huge facility for automotive testing in Pune.

SGS, the world’s leading testing, inspection & certification company, has opened a state-of-the-art automotive testing laboratory in Chakan, Pune. Built over 2.2 acres of land, the lab offers an extensive range of advanced testing services. Along with these facilities, the strategic location of this laboratory, being close to many automotive OEMs, enables reduced logistical costs. The tests undertaken here include: airbag testing, EV component test, physical and chemical tests on auto components, complete range of tests for automotive electronics sub-assembly as per domestic & international standards as well as all global OEM specifications, etc. In line with SGS’s commitment to sustainability, the lab features a big solar rooftop plant, rainwater harvesting and EV charging points for employees as well as visitors.

4. Bolt Earth makes a major announcement.

Bangalore-based Bolt Earth made a major announcement pertaining to its plans for deploying a nationwide fast-charging network across the country’s national & state highways. The company has tied up with another Bangalore-based company ‘Highway Delite’ to help identify profitable locations along highways to establish fast-charging stations. Bolt Earth aims to cover 22 key highways across India by the end of 2025. The two companies have already identified 300 strategic locations across major highways with footfalls of more than 1000 people per day. Highway Delite app offers services across highways, including amenities ratings, EV charging stations, FASTag logistical tracking devices, GPS, insurance and roadside assistance. 

5. Electric Mobility Summit 2022 to be held on November 17.

Financial Express is hosting the 2nd edition of ‘Electric Mobility Summit’ on November 17 at Hotel Hyatt Regency, New Delhi. The day long summit will bring together government officials, OEMs, suppliers, startups, battery manufacturers, charging companies and other EV ecosystem players.

The event will see discussion on topics like:

* India’s role in decarbonization of mobility.

* Can India become an EV hub?

* Challenges & opportunities of localizing EV supply chain.

* Battery swapping vs EV charging.

* New business models for India’s EV market, etc.

6. Kazam gets featured in ’30 most promising startups of 2022’.

Kazam got featured in YourStory’s ’30 most promising startups of 2022’ at Techsparks 2022. The event was held in Bangalore. To view the complete list of the 30 startups, please visit here.

For complete EV charging solutions, explore the Kazam website.