Why the Next 10 Years of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Will Smash the Last 10
India, the world's 6th largest economy by nominal GDP and the 3rd largest by PPP.India is the fourth largest automobile market in the world. Currently, there are only 1,742 charging stations and 1.5 lakh electric vehicles in the country, and this number is expected to grow to 1 lakh EV charging stations in India by 2027 to meet the demand for increasing charging stations on India's upcoming infrastructure.Investment in this sector was approximately $6 billion in 2021 and this figure is expected to grow to $20 billion by 2030.
Where are we now
The charging infrastructure in India is currently quite under-developed with as many as 26 EVs per charger available in the country, compared to only 8 in China and 17 in the US.
In India, EV sector growth is currently being led by electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers and electric buses.
The government’s FAME-II scheme has proved effective in expanding the EV ecosystem and accelerating e-mobility in the country.The central government is also taking several initiatives in boosting the transition to environmentally friendly transportation in the public fleet. Total INR 1000 cr has been allocated under fame-II scheme realizing the need for faster development of charging infrastructure.
Under FAME-I and FAME-II (‘FAME India’ stands for Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles inIndia) the Department of Heavy Industries has sanctioned 3,397 public EV charging stations in India.
The government has allowed the setting up of public charging stations without the need for a license.
Tax concessions are also being announced.
The government has also allowed the setting up of EV charging points at residential buildings and office complexes.
The above chart shows EV sales in India from 2016-2021.The highest sales is from the 3W segment. Second highest is from the 2W segment.Electric 4W segment while making up for relatively small size in terms of annual units sold has started showing good growth this year.Tata Nexon EV sold 1000 units in August 2021.
Key issues around EV ecosystem
80% charging currently occurs at residential place.This is due to the lack of public charging facilities. Total length of the road network in India is around 6,215,797 km, as of March 2020.From these data, we can arrive at a very theoretical estimate of the average distance between two public EV charging stations in India right now, which is more than 6000 km.Distribution of EV charging station is unequal across the country. Majority of charging infrastructure facilities available in tier -I cities.
Another important issue is the lack of standard connector standardization.No common APIs mapping charging infrastructure across the country.Also power outages ,voltage fluctuation and absence of net metering.Proper charging infrastructure has to be in place for mass EV adoption.
India does not have any known reserves of lithium and cIndia does not have any known reserves of lithium and cobalt which are required for battery production.Dependency on other countries for the import of lithium-ion batteries is an obstacle in becoming completely self-reliant in the battery manufacturing sector.
Lack of Technology and Skilled Labor
Way forward
A report by Grant Thornton Bharat and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) suggests that India will need more than 400,000 EV charging stations for the projected 2 million EVs likely to be running on its roads by 2026.
The Indian Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Market Forecast Report for FY 2026 depicts a broad and complete study of the potential of India's electric vehicle charging equipment sector.This report analyzes the current EV landscape and state of charging infrastructure in India, profits and returns from EV charging equipment, and charging segment from charger types such as ultra-fast chargers, fast or DC chargers and slow or AC chargers, and charging station types.The future growth of the electric vehicle industry has already attracted significant investment globally and new EV-dedicated startups are coming up day by day. Investment in this sector was approximately $6 billion in 2021 and this figure is expected to grow to $20 billion by 2030. One aspect of the electric vehicle ecosystem is funding and investment to enable stakeholders to benefit from this emerging segment of the automotive sector.
With recent technology disruptions, battery storage has great opportunity in promoting sustainable development in the country, considering government initiatives to promote e-mobility and renewable power (450 GW energy capacity target by 2030).
Conclusion :There is scarcity of charging infrastructure in India right now and the demand for charging stations is going to skyrocket in coming years.Electric vehicle sector is soon going to redefine the way road transport works.Considering that there are around 1000 to 2000 EV charging stations currently operating in the country, a massive ramp-up is likely to happen in the next 10 years.
