Tata Power announced its plan to set up electric vehicle charging stations across Mumbai, and has set up the first one at its compound in Vikhroli.
These chargers would facilitate electric car users to charge their cars (Battery Electric Vehicles such as the Mahindra e2O, Nissan Leaf, etc) at any time safely and conveniently. The chargers can also monitor the car battery charging status and units consumed while charging a car.
The company plans to set up charging stations at various locations in Mumbai and is already in discussions with various stakeholders. It is believed that over time, all petrol and diesel pumps will have charging or battery swapping facilties in them, and eventually, petrol pumps will be completely converted to battery centers.
Battery swapping centers allow an electric car to ride in, have its drained batteries replaced by fully charged ones and drive out within a couple of minutes. Charging centers, however, are less practical as it takes hours for a single car to be fully charged.
The Narendra Modi government has a target of stopping the sales of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 and switching all new vehicles to electric power. Tata Power, together with its subsidiaries and jointly controlled entities has an installed gross generation capacity of 10613 MW, about 3.5 percent of India’s total power generation capacity. It is also one of the largest renewable energy players in India With a clean energy portfolio of 3141 MW.
By Baishakhi Dutta
