NewsGate Press Network

There is good news for Delhi on the EV front.

Nearly 10 per cent of the all the vehicles that were registered since January 2022 are on electric mode.

To be precise, according to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, 9.3 per cent of all vehicles bought in the city so far this year have been EVs (electric vehicles).

On Wednesday the 27th of July 2022, while inaugurating seven EV charging stations at bus depots across in Delhi, Kejriwal said with this piece of information it could safely be stated that National Capital is leading the country in introduction of EVs.

Delhi has more than 2,000 charging stations, according to official figures.

The new charging stations have been developed at DTC’s Rajghat, IP Estate, Kalkaji, Nehru Place, Mehrauli, Dwarka Sector-2 & Dwarka Sector-8 bus depots. They will be open for all EV owners with low-cost slow & fast charging setups.

A tariff of Rs 3 per unit has been fixed for slow chargers and Rs 10 per unit for fast chargers.

Kejriwal said the Delhi government had implemented the Electric Vehicle Policy in 2020.

“At that time, we were not expecting such a huge response which we have received. In the past two years, 60,846 electric vehicles have been purchased in Delhi. Last year, 25,809 were purchased and this year, only seven months have passed and yet 29,845 vehicles have been sold already.

“This means that there has been an increase of 115 per cent and we’re anticipating that this will further increase by the end of the year,” he said.

Noting that the people of Delhi have started to accept electric vehicles as a mode of transportation, he said once the people accept anything, cultural change sets in as they are replacing their older vehicles with electric vehicles.

Sharing data about the sales of electric vehicles, he said out of all the vehicles purchased in the city in 2022, 9.3 per cent were electric vehicles. Mostly, these vehicles are two-wheelers as there has been an increase of 57 per cent in the purchase of two-wheeler electric vehicles.

“We have already purchased 150 electric buses and we will procure 2,000 more such buses by the end of 2023. Today, seven charging stations are being inaugurated in DTC bus depots. Already, 2,000 charging points are operational in Delhi. The charging stations we have inaugurated today are an addition to that infrastructure,” he asserted.

The chief minister also said the One Delhi App developed by the government displays nearby charging stations in case one needs to charge their vehicle.

“I request every electric vehicle owner to download this App. The App also displays which charging station is fully occupied and which charging station can accommodate a user at any point of time. The App is very efficient and people are benefiting from its services,” he said.

“It is a modern charging station with all the facilities. Delhi is becoming the EV capital of the country. The growth in purchase of electric vehicles in Delhi is the highest in the country. We have already surpassed the target for this year as people are buying the vehicles in a huge number. We will receive 75 electric buses next month. Impact of switching to electric vehicles will be huge in the near future,” he said.

Officials said out of 60,846 electric vehicles that have been sold in Delhi, two-wheelers comprise 41.7 per cent.

They said the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and the state-run Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) have entered into an agreement to provide charging facilities for EV vehicles to the people at DTC depots.

The Delhi government has already set up charging facilities for EV vehicles at seven DTC depots while the government also plans to provide infrastructure for EV charging at all bus depots wherever it is convenient.

“At the state level, the share of EV vehicles in total vehicle sales is 7.5 per cent in Assam, 5.7 per cent in Karnataka, 4.9 per cent in Maharashtra, 4.3 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 4.2 per cent in Gujarat,” an official said.

To promote the purchase and usage of electric vehicles, the Delhi government is also increasing the number of charging points. At present there are around 2,000 charging points and battery swapping points in Delhi.

At the same time, 500 charging points have been installed so far under the single window facility. In addition, the public charging infrastructure is being further upgraded for the convenience of EV vehicle owners. For this, 100 charging stations will be built in the next three months to cover every corner of Delhi, he added.