To encourage the adoption of electric vehicles, the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi, in collaboration with World Resources Institute, India, unveiled the Residential Electric Vehicle Charging Guidebook, a move aimed at boosting charging facilities in residential areas of the national capital.
Inaugurating the guidebook, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the goal was to reduce pollution and also to do away with the issue of charging anxiety. "The bigger goal is zero emission," Gahlot said, expressing hope that resident welfare associations would be inspired to have chargers installed in their neighbourhoods.
The Delhi government would be first in the country to make RWAs and residential areas an integral part of the EV movement, he said, adding the aim was to set up a charging station at every 3 km.
"By launching this guidebook, we welcome RWAs to become the change agents of Delhi's switch to electric vehicles," said Jasmine Shah, vice chairperson, Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi, a government think-tank.
The Delhi government announced the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy in August 2020 to improve the city’s air quality by driving the shift to EVs so that these account for 25 percent of all new vehicle registrations by 2024.
RWAs can contact discoms for the installation of chargers under the government’s single-window process. Executive director (integrated transport), WRI India, Amit Bhatt, said that according to the US Department of Energy, over 80 percent of EV charging happens at home. Home-charging was a must for scaling up EVs and with the launch of the guidebook, the Delhi government had closed the loop for EV charging infrastructure, he said.
“The Delhi government has special tariff for charging vehicles which is at Rs 4.5 per unit plus people also charge service fees. These RWAs are not going to charge anything extra. People will only pay for the unit that they will consume,” he said
The guidebook talks in detail about the planning, installing and managing EV charging stations in the parking space of the societies. “We urge all residential societies to promote EVs by adopting community EV charging facility which can be used by all the EV owners in a society,” the guidebook said.
As per Delhi Development Authority's amended United Building Bye Laws (2016), 20 percent of the parking capacity in buildings must be provided for charging infrastructure.
In March 2021, the Delhi government directed all commercial and residential institutions with a parking capacity of 100 or more vehicles to reserve 5 percent space for EVs with suitable chargers with a minimum output of 3.3KW.
The Delhi government shall provide a grant of 100 percent for the purchase of charging equipment up to Rs 6,000 per charging point for the first 30,000 charging points as well as a special EV tariff for EV charging, it said.
BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) and Tata Power-DDL (TPDDL) consumers can get a private EV charging point installed through an online single-window portal at their homes, group housing societies, multi-storey apartment complexes, RWA offices, etc, the guidebook said.
The infrastructure should be planned in consultation with the discom and the charge point operators (CPO). The safety of the EV chargers is the responsibility of the CPO and the RWA should ensure that the safety measures are adhered to, it said.
“The location should preferably be close to the main electrical panel, this will reduce the wiring/cabling costs. The parking should either be covered or should preferably not be exposed to direct heat. “EV charging space should be easily accessible to residents and visitors. If the EV chargers are put in a high-visibility area, it may boost the confidence of the residents and encourage EV uptake,” the guidebook said.
EV owners should be able to make a reservation for charging through the mobile app, which should provide information on the availability of chargers and type of charger. For payment, the guidebook said that most EV chargers come with integrated payment solutions using RFID cards, mobile wallets etc.