Maruti wants a public charger in a radius of 5-10 km for a customer. "This even when our study says that 95% of existing EVs use home charger."Car companies are preparing a grid of chargers, similar to telecom towers, to power electric vehicles as top players, such as Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and JSW MG, start expanding their green offerings.
An assessment of preparedness by companies shows almost all manufacturers beefing up the public charging network, including at their own dealerships, and tying up with external vendors. Apart from these initiatives, a customer already gets a home charger. Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing & sales) at Maruti, said creating a charging infrastructure is paramount before the company launches its first EV eVitara. "A customer needs peace of mind and thus, while getting a home charger, he or she will also need access to a robust public charging system, especially when travelling between cities," he told TOI. While Maruti will target 100 cities in the initial launch phase, it will set up a charging network in around 1,000 cities. "It will be like the set-up of telecom towers. We want to promise after-sales support and charging infra. Customers should travel beyond cities without hassle."
Maruti wants a public charger in a radius of 5-10 km for a customer. "This even when our study says that 95% of existing EVs use home charger."
A robust public charging infra is also needed as over 90% of car users are estimated to not have a fixed parking space. "This means that it will be difficult for them to have a dedicated place for installing home charging and bill metering. Thus, to take EVs mainstream, a strong public charging set-up is required" an industry executive said.
